Pillow finish and WIP

Yup, another finish. This one was not on my Q4 list. . . next one isn't on the list either. . . there have been a couple of squirrels visiting my house ;) First up, I had some left over animal fabric and I knew I probably wouldn't be using it any time soon so I decided to sew up a cushion cover to go with the quilt. Very quick. Big chunks of fabric, and this time even though the quilting required a ruler, it required NO marking so it was quick - but very effective. . . IMHO :)

I love how the mustang fabric looked in the quilt BUT are those pigs not just the cutest thing you have ever seen??

I really really like how this design looks in a bigger block. Now to remember it when I'm wondering 'hmm, what should I quilt here. . . ' :)

Happy little piglets ;)

The last bit of flannel leftover from the backing of the quilt.

I just liked this picture, so I put it in ;)

And one more look :)

 I used the left over flannel for the back of pillow. So soft! AND there is NO flannel left! I'm not sure that I'm so excited about that - I might have to order more of it in different colors. ;)

I used the same Angela Walter's design from her Shape By Shape book in the animal squares and used matching thread. This design is SO cool on large blocks (these are 9" blocks) and they don't take long to do because they can be done with no marking - bonus :D I did use my circle template for the circles in the sashing, not because I wanted them perfect, I just happened to have the right size that would evenly space them. And the marking took no time, another bonus, gotta love that! This pillow is a little bigger than the others I've made. It finished at about 23" square. The pillow form is 24"x24". I always use the Amanda Jean's tutorial for envelope back pillows. The only thing I do differently is that I bind mine. I kind of dig how it looks. I also put a piece of fabric on the back of the quilt sandwich when I quilt. I don't know why. . . it really is not needed. I am finding however that this practice is using up some of the fabric in my stash that has me thinking "what were you thinking?!" :)

What am I working on now? Another pillow :) This one is for my husband. He has decided he needs more things made by me. . .and I think I have finally convinced him that garment sewing by me is not happening ;) Here are a couple of pictures of where I am at right now. This stage will hang for a day or two more as Roseanne (my sewing machine) is in the shop for a much needed spa day (or three). I had drawn out several free motion designs on paper and none seemed to thrill him much. Then I remembered a stencil I had purchased right after taking that class with Cindy Needham last January. I brought it out and showed it to him. The smile said it all :) This looks really wonky right at the moment. I think it will be OK once all of the thread is applied ;) Oh, and it is going to be a cushion cover so it will have good support for straightening it out - probably a good thing! LOL

Still pondering the face. . . this is a bit wrinkled but I'm thinking if I leave it unquilted, the face will pop out. . . kinda creepy for sleeping on but it might look kinda cool :)

Every other space between the rays will get sunshine, moonshine, sunshine, moonshine :) For the sunshine, I'm using first a red thread, then an orange and finally a yellow thread. Kinda digging how that looks!

The moon portion of the face is a light blue Aurifil 50 wt cotton. I just kept going back and forth until I was satisfied with the 'thread saturation' . . . I think that is a technical term isn't it? ;)

My machine comes back home tomorrow. . . or Saturday. This will be finished within the week (OK, a few days, there's not much left to quilt and once that's done, putting the pillow together is a snap. I have #4 on my list ready to quilt. I'm going to be scrambling to finish #5. . . I can do this even though there have been more than a couple of squirrels visiting!!

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish it Up Friday. If you are here from there, welcome! :) And if you haven't been yet, go check out all of the fabulous finishes that are linked up to this great party. If you are looking for me, I'll be spending Friday afternoon checking out the links!