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I’ve contemplated depleting my vintage sheet stock pile. They’re tricky to sew with. I have to cut around the rough or stained spots. They’re not always easy to find in great condition.
But there’s just something a bit freeing about them. They’re whimsical and colorful. You can’t just buy them off the shelf at the local home store. You can’t really duplicate a project made with them. The patterns are bright and cheerful. You’re likely not going to see the same pattern at your neighbor’s house.
I’m just not completely ready to give them up, but I’ll have to decide soon if I’m going to restock. I’ve used up almost all my favorite prints in my stash.
I dug through the scrap bin two weeks ago and started pulling out my favorites to make use of them. I finished up a hand quilted log cabin pillow last weekend. I also machine quilted another eclectic larger sized patchwork pillow.
They’re both listed in my Etsy Shop.
Below is the log cabin pillow.
I’ve taken an extraordinary liking to the log cabin pattern. I think I’m drawn to the scrappy look of it. I have not attempted a log cabin quilt, though, because it is quite time consuming for me to make the log cabin pattern. One large block for the face of the pillow takes me a good bit of time.
If I add the log cabin pattern on top of my hand quilting enjoyment (obsession?), I’d never finish any other projects. I am indeed still a bit smitten with the look of hand quilting. It just makes the project a bit more ‘real’ to me.
Then there’s the second pillow I just finished.
This one was supposed to be hand quilted as well, but my needle kept gumming up with basting spray. I’ve never really had that trouble before, but I think I figured out why. That’s a story for another day.
Pushing and pulling a sticky needle one stitch at a time through three layers did not meet my requirements of relaxing hand quilting.
I actually like the way this pillow turned out. I love it when there are virtually no puckers at the quilting intersections. This was one of the times I thought the machine quilting turned out crisp and straight.
I’m still a big fan of basting spray, though, and I don’t plan on switching back to only pin basting.
I’m slowly using up my favorite blue and green sheet on the back of these pillows. I found this sheet for only a couple dollars and it looked brand new. It has sat on my shelf for a long time waiting for the right project. It was a twin size fitted sheet, though, and the right big project just never came along. Using it on the backs of the pillows has been perfect.
I think the shade of blue is so pretty.
These small projects are such nice breaks from all the larger quilts I sew. They were a breath of fresh air amidst the full size quilts I’m always starting and never finishing. 😉
