When I heard that my good friend, Keera, had designed some fabric, I just had to get some for myself from Spoonflower! The saturated colours of Rose Gold are right up my alley, and pink with navy? Yum! But being Spoonflower, it’s not the cheapest place to buy fabric, so I came up with a plan.
Spoonflower fabrics come as an 8″ square sample or fat quarter (and larger yardage). I knew I wanted to make a pillow to use for my sewing chair, so that meant I was going to be making an 18″ block. I also knew I wanted to use half-square triangles, because duh. So, what size and how many HSTs can I make with an 8″ square? The answer is twelve 1.5″ (finished) with some scraps leftover, or eight 3″ (finished). I paired it with a gorgeous warm-toned Shimmer print to lend that rose gold shine.
So knowing my plan, I carefully chose the prints I wanted to use for the top, and then bought a fat quarter of my favourite print to use for the backing. And then very slowly took my time to finish it off! It was a purely “selfish sewing” project, so I’d knock off a step at a time. This week, I just wanted to get it done. I wanted to sew something fun and to finally finish a WIP.
All that remained was to add some quilting to the pink sections. I went with some curves, to counteract the straight geometric lines everywhere else – some scallops in the centre, and some lotuses in the corners. I added an envelope backing- a fat quarter isn’t quite enough for this, but you can make it work by not quite cutting it in half (I think I did one about 10″ and the other at 12″) and adding a few inches more of different fabric to the shorter piece, which is then placed on the inside so it’s hiding.
Believe it or not, this is also the first time I’ve added binding to a pillow. I don’t know why it took so long, because I LOVE the look. I’m so happy to have this finished! To have a piece of the inspiring, talented Keera all for myself. This isn’t a gift, it isn’t for work, it isn’t for anything other than to make me happy. Something I do not do enough of anymore!
Aaaand now it’s unstuffed and folded up ready to get packed up for Melbourne in a couple of weeks, haha! But I can’t wait to unpack and restuff it. And then make some more binded cushions for our new house to make it our own.
Susie says
This is gorgeous! Fabric and cushion
Alyce says
Thanks Susie! It was so fun to use her fabric 🙂
Margaret (margiestitcher) says
a pretty cushion talented designer loving the navy fabric and blue is not usually on my like list
Alyce says
She’s very talented!
VickiT says
Great looking pillow Alyce! It’s really quite stunning.
Alyce says
Thank you so much!
Anja @ Anja Quilts says
Its’ beautiful. Those are great prints.
Alyce says
They’re so sweet 🙂
Ioleen says
Love the hsts- dark to light. Beautiful pillow.
Alyce says
Thank you, it was a lot of fun to play with fabric placement!
Susan says
Beautiful fabric line. I love what you’ve done with this pillow. It never occurred to me to bind a pillow, but it does look good!
Alyce says
I’ve “known about it” it for years, but just never did myself quite yet. But a cosy handmade pillow for a sewing chair demands the quilty touch 😉
Kathleen says
Very pretty! Love the lacy look the HSTs give the cover.
Alyce says
Thank you! It was fun to choose the prints!
Jackie Gillies says
Gorgeous Alyce! And that fabric is devine xx
Alyce says
Thanks, lovely!
Serena @ Sewgiving says
Love the print on the back … it’s the perfect shade of navy 🙂 It’s a shame that Spoonflowe fabric prices aren’t more competitive.
Alyce says
Yes, hence keeping my design to one that can use the cheaper swatch sample size, lol!
Sue Kaiser says
I love it!! I’m going to check out Spoonflower. Maybe design something of my own.
Alyce says
Thanks Sue! Have fun!
Stacy says
That fabric is to die for! Oh my goodness Keera needs to get picked up by Art Gallery or Moda! And your pillow is absolutely gorgeous.
Alyce says
She absolutely does, and I have no doubt that one day it will happen! She’s so talented!
Amanda Weiberg says
Very nice pillow and beautiful fabric! I wish their prices were more reasonable…
Alyce says
Thank you! Yes, hence making the most of the 8″ swatch samples… And keeping it all for myself! 😉