Felt circle tree pillow

Here is a peek of something I have been working on, on and off for a bit now. 

I am hand quilting and enjoying the process and slow pace of it. 

This little pillow is going to be a gift to someone so very very special!

I love giving handmade items...especially pillows. I really hope the receiver likes it lots.

What do you think? Should I add something more or leave it simply the tree and grass?

I will show you the finished product...whenever that is. ;)

In my little west corner,

Becky

Scrap fabric pillow with a pop

Here is what I have been working on....

I was determined to only use my scrap pieces of fabric for this pillow, minus the back. 

The result was a pop of color and vibrancy.

I tried a few new things with some of the left over pieces. 

I don't know all the rules to piecing and applique, however this time I really wanted to use that to my advantage instead of feeling inferior or uncertain. Sometimes not having all the details allows for more experimentation.  I see how I can do a few things different next time. But overall I am pleased with it.  

Would love your input..what do you think?

Dear following along friends, I have decided when I hit the 299 mark for followers and readers that I would like to do another giveaway. I think I am about 10 away..so keep an eye out.  I have a real surprise this time. I am so honestly humbled that you all have joined up to make this journey here in the West Corner so much more full for me. Thank you.

In my west corner,

Becky

linking up at these great Parties  click here 

A 'little' batting a 'little' applique pillow

Homemade gift ~
I am starting to feel more and more confident sitting behind my sewing machine. Self learning comes with soooo many mistakes I feel, especially me who doesn't like to read directions. lol. I have started to realize however, that I am the creator of my creations.  One of my newer goals in sewing is to be willing to explore doing things in ways that I don't normally see.  I figure no inventor ever invented anything without risk and doing things differntly. So I will experiment as I go because I have noone to tell me 'no thats not the way you do it'. ;)

Here in Turkey there is not 100% cotton batting and I like it so much more than anything else. Batting is the stuff you put on the back of a quilt that actually makes it a quilt and gives it that puffy, cozy look. (fyi because I didn't know that one year ago. );) My friend gave me some of her small stash of batting this last Christmas, for me to quilt my first pillows. (here and here) Well now I have very little pieces of that batting left and I used a bit to make this small applique house on this pillow.  I made it for my firend who just moved into a new place..it was a house warming gift I guess. :)

I really like the way it looks frayed but I think next time I could do better.
The word : 'EVIM'  means 'My home' in Turkish

     I hand stitched this little quilted house, I just followed the pattern on the fabric.

Truth is I have no idea what I am doing and I am learning while I go.

The word Evim was hand stiched with a thicker thread.

Sewing the pillow this way with the mouth of the pillow open was much easier for me and quicker so I decided to do it the way I wanted and I like the way it turned out.

A sweet gift of fabric. 

I loved getting this fabric from our friends. I had a riot going through it all and there are some pieces that are just perfect for me!!! I am sosoo grateful for this sweet gift that weighed a lot for luggage allowance.

Ever since we had some friends come from the States and bring over all these bundels of fabric (most 100% cotton) I have had more inspiration to sew.  All the patterns are not my personal choice however what I like about not getting everything at my fingertips is that I get to become a more a diverse sewer (that is my hope anyway)and learn to experiment and put colors and such together that maybe I normally wouldn't.  I figure if I can learn to 'use what I have' regarding my fabric and not wait until I have everything that I want then I will be more versitle and when I do have more choices I won't waste them. :) 

Well that is all for now. Thanks for following me on this 'use what you have' journey. 

over here in the west corner ~Becky

For those of you newly visiting "Use what you have" is my theme for this season. I would love to have you follow/subcribe to this blog if  you too are at a place where you would like to thrive at 'using what you have'  instead of being discontent with what you don't have.  If you are simliar in this then please conisder joining me. Hopefully we can inspire eachother.

~~~

Car pillow out of cloth napkins

I have been slowing trying to make my little guys room a place fit for a boy.  I made this car mobile a bit ago and have wanted to make him a pillow for his bed. I made quilted pillows for the girls for Christmas see here and here.  Truth is it is easy to come up with girly things so I am determined not to leave my little guy out of my creativity.

I didn't have to buy anything new for this just 'used what I had' and what I had were these two cloth napkins that I had bought in the States for like $1.50 for both over 2 years.  While I was looking through my fabric I came upon them and tada a perfect size and color for a  pillow and they are already hemmed and ready to be sewn together.

I made a little template for a car and designed two little cars for the pillow that would match the mobile  I made.

I bought a roll of this stuff that makes material stick when ironed on..and so I used that for both the cars and then hand sewed around them.  Hand sewing can be theraputic I think so I didn’t mind.

However I tend to create along the way when I sew so I also did a little patchwork to cheer it up and make it more colorful. 

I ironed down the sides, cut to size and then pinned it on and sewed it on with my machine.

I wanted to not just stuff the pillow but have a lining pillow case for the pillow because truth is my little guy sweats like it is 100 degrees in his room everyday.  So I took some thin cheap material I had and made a quick pillow case. This would be easy to if you had an old pillow case just cut to size and then sew the open part together – again not as much sewing an measering for us new sewers. J

I then inserted my pillow lining into the car pillow case and then stuffed it.  I then sewed the lining pillow case together and then the car pillow case. I did leave an opening though and plan on sewing on two small ties to close it up. (because I still don’t know how to do buttons on my sewing machine ;))

Here is my little guy ~ he pointed and said “car, car- two cars!” I love giving my kids the creations I made especially for them.



Autumn's quilted pillow

This is Autumn's pillow.  I  really had fun putting together these colors. It was fun to pick colors and design to match my girlies .  However I feel like the pics don't do justice .. (but that's probably just me since I worked on them for a solid month and 1/2 ;))  I am the kind of person who learns by doing. Wow did I make a bunch of mistakes and have to start over on this or that,  but after Lydia's pillow which was more complex anyway, this pillow didn't seem to take me as long and the actually quilting (sewing) part was a lot of  fun.

This is the back.  I need to fix the one side  however the back is Autumns favorite part right now.
It was fun to do applique for the first time with this.

Christmas morning ~ with the pillows.
(yes that is our homemade doll-house in the background.
I want to blog on that soon too.)



Christmas 2010 ~ In our west corner,

Becky

Quilted pillows

Well I did it.Quilted pillows for my two sweet girlies for Christmas. Lydias pillow was the most challenging.  This is my first real quilted anything.  My sweet friend Consuelo gave me some real cotton batting, it is sooo much nicer than the polyester batting that is found here.  I would love to import some of it.  I learned a lot about sewing and by the 2nd pillow I was able to sew much quicker and make less mistakes. :)

 

Lydia's pinwheel pillow.

 

I tried to do triangles on every side but I didn't have a cutter and board

and it was taking forever so i only did two sides.

Ta daa this is the back. I tried applique on this
one. Don't know if I did it right but it looks cute and is well secured. 

I love quilting because even if you make a mistake you can fix it with something fun.
 Nothing professional coming from my house, but lots of fun learning.

From our west corner,
Becky