Summer Road Trip Pillow Tutorial

I'm glad to hear there are others out there like me, who thrive on visuals! Here is a tutorial for the super-soft travel pillows from my previous post.

You will need:

12" x 16" pillow form (sold at JoAnn's and other craft stores)
1/4 yard "main print" fabric (or at least 8 1/2" x 44")

1/6 yard of a second print of fabric (or at least 5"x 44")

rotary cutter or shears

iron/ironing board, spray starch (optional)

straight pins (optional)

and your trusty sewing machine

*I recommend pre-washing your fabric for this project, since you'll be fitting a pillow form. If you're lazy like me and would rather wash afterward, you might want to add a 1/2" to each of the following measurements to allow for shrinkage...

Out of the main fabric (polka dots), cut:

-one piece 8 1/2" x 17 1/2"

-two pieces 8 1/2" x 11"

Out of the secondary fabric (yellow), cut:

-one piece 5"x 17 1/2"

-two pieces 5" x 11"

Put your pieces together, matching them up by size. Place them right sides together.

Sew a 1/4" seam across the top, so that when you unfold each set, it looks like this:



Do this for each of your three sets of pieces and press the seams open:

At this point, You should have three pieces:

-one 13 1/2" x 17 1/2"

-two 13 1/2" x 11"

Next, use your iron and some spray starch to press a 1/2" hem on one edge of both of your 13 1/2" x 11" pieces, making sure that the hems end up facing each other when the pieces are side-by-side:

I like to use a zig-zag stitch to sew the hem:

You are ready to line the two smaller pieces on top of the 13 1/2" x 17 1/2" piece, placing right sides together. The two hemmed edges will overlap, becoming your envelope flap to insert the pillow form.

Once you get your pieces "sandwiched" and lined up, it's a good idea to pin it all in place. (The two pieces on top tend to slide around.) Sew a 1/4" seam around all four sides, reinforcing your corners with some back stitches.

Remove the pins and turn your pillow cover right side out.

This is a great travel pillow for adults too :)

Enjoy!

Going "Bye-Bye"...Summer Travel Pillows

Summer vacations for my family growing up, consisted of waking at dawn to get a "head start" on a lengthy roadtrip...maybe to leave by 10am, spending hours and hours in the "woody" Chrysler minivan, my brother in the middle seat, and I, stretched out in the backseat. I got carsick easily, and remember sleeping for hours and hours just to take my mind of being in the car. One thing that kept me comfortable and feeling relaxed was my soft, cool, pillow and a soft baby quilt. You know that feeling of extra soft cotton that is cool to the touch?? I love that feeling...

It's almost the season for family roadtrips, and now having my own family, I felt it was time to make a travel pillow for my little guy.

I used fabrics from Heather Ross' Lightning Bugs line. I've never felt quilting cotton as soft as this...it's perfect for this project. You can find several Heather Ross prints at great prices at one of my favorite etsy fabric stores, Down Shadow Lane.

Leave me a comment if you would be interested in a tutorial on how to make one! This is a super simple project for beginning sewers.

Toddler Room Decorating

My little guy turned 18 months old at the end of April, and I am just now getting his room decorated....a sad, sad thing for a gal who paints murals for other people and never painted her own kid's nursery. I never had the motivation to get it done while I was pregnant, but I am finally feeling like myself again after a year and a half!

Here are some of my favorite things from the T-Man's room...

English Alphabet Cards from Bibitty

The little Gnome Moss Terrarium from yesterday's post

Three Bears print by Sarah Jane Studios

Finger Painted Whale cut-out, tutorial by Sarah Jane Studios

Family Tree by the infamous, Sarah Jane Studios

White wooden bookrack...I love how the titles face out and it's easy for little hands to pull books and put them away.

A "big boy" mobile...letters and numbers! "T" loves this!

And, my most favorite addition to the room.....my best little buddy :)

Moss Terrarium How-To

Have you seen the little moss terrariums that are back in style? I remember having a big retro plastic terrarium in our house during the early 80's....they're making a comeback!

I've had this antique lidded glass jar on a shelf in our dining room forever and keep thinking to myself that I should use it for something. It dawned on me that it would look really cute as a tiny "gnome land" in Titus' room....so here's a little "how-to" that I put together, just in case you have a clear glass container and would like to try this yourself...

You'll need a jar or glass container that has a lid. I think lightly colored glass is okay, but probably not the dark green, etc. I washed it with soap and water and rinsed it really well to get all the soap out.

We are "lucky" enough to have quite a bit of moss growing in our backyard in a little "valley". If you don't have any in your yard, it grows in lots of public places, such as cracks in the sidewalk, cemeteries, etc. If you're really into this project and can't find moss, I hear you can order sections of it online...try a google search.

Place a layer of pebbles in the bottom of your clean jar. (This picture ended up being too full of rocks, so I ended up removing some later. I think a layer that covers the bottom in one layer of stones is sufficient.) You might also like to add some charcoal as an "odor eater", since this will be an enclosed environment.

Add a layer of loose topsoil, about 1/2" thick or more (depending on the height you prefer). Moisten the soil, unless you're like me and it has rained in Indiana for several days and the ground is already saturated.

Dig up a section of moss (or several pieces) from your moss patch. If you're using moss that is dry, moisten it too. Layer it on top of the soil and press down, making sure the moss is touching the soil.

Here is another great place for those fimo pins...I used my gnome and mushroom pins that I made in previous posts. You can also use tiny figurines or leave your terrarium simply moss.

Pop Garden Quilt

One month late, but here it is...the Pop Garden Quilt for my momma's birthday :) I'm very excited to see it finished. So much hard work and a lot learned on this quilt. My free-motion quilting skills have improved and I am getting more creative with making up my own patterns.

The aqua, red, yellow, and green remind me of my mother. She is an optimistic gal and I wanted to create a quilt that summed up her personality. She loves gold finches...my grandmother also loved gold finches and they remind me of both of them...warm and bright ladies whom I love so much :)

Contest Winner

Y'all, it was a good day...a visit from my momma, I finally finished quilting the Pop Garden Quilt, and we have a contest winner!

I used Random.org and #39 is our winner of the Heather Ross fat quarter set, courtesy of Down Shadow Lane.

#39.....Barbara Myltschenko said: Wow what a great and generous giveaway! I love the Fat Quarter Bundle of 4 - Amy Butler Mix in Lime - Olive - Camel - Lime in her store. I might have to go back and pick it up!
Barbara has a very cute blog on quilting and sewing...check it out!

Look for an email from me soon, Barbara...Congratulations!

Thank you to all who entered and check back again for more fun!

New Things Learned

During little T's nap this afternoon, I sat down for some much-needed time to free-motion quilt my Pop Garden quilt. This quilt has been taunting me for weeks, crying "finish me! you're soooo close!" But, I frustrated myself over and over with free-motion skills picked up from the Internet. I should have just taken a class, but I've always tended to be a "let me do it by myself!" kind of brat.....

....until I broke my very last needle on the very first stitch...

We live a bit out of town, where it takes a good 30 minutes to get to Jo-Ann's or even, dare I say it, Wal-Mart. I was at my wit's end of stinkin' up the place with my free-motion mess, so I decided to drive to Avon to visit the nearest Janome dealer. Avon Quiltery was very kind to host me for an hour of free assistance and advice. I learned a lot in that one little session (as well as a free needle because I'm sure they felt sorry for me...walking in without a needle to my name). I also learned that it may be close to time for my little Janome "Jane" 415 to retire from free-motion and become my "piecing and straight sewing machine". I have my eye on a Bernina for the future (don't tell Jane...let me break it to her gently) but need to earn a little extra $$$ to justify its place in our house.

My question for you is: What is your machine's name and how is he (or she) workin' for you??

Any recommendations for a good machine to mainly be used for piecing and quilting, but not necessarily a whole bunch of fancy stitches or embroidery??

As always, I love your input!

Happy weekend :)

HEATHER ROSS FABRIC GIVEAWAY ends Sunday at midnight! Haven't entered? Go HERE.