Quilted Pillow Case

This is not a Kawandi.  It did use up some of my scraps, however.  I love how it looks, but I know when I wash it there will be threads galore.

This is one side of my pillow case.  It has a travel sized pillow form inside.  I started by measuring the width of the pillow and adding about 1/2", then I cut it from WOF, then lay the pillow on it and rolled it end-over-end to determine the length.  I left about five inches extra on one selvedge end, for the piece you tuck over the end of the pillow, once you put it in there.  Then I made a backing the same size, from the same fabric and I cut the batting about 6"shorter.  I sandwiched them and adhesive basted the layers, so they would not shift while I added all the raw-edged scraps on top while I quilted back and forth.

Then I surged around three sides.  This is what it looked like before I folded it to make the pillow case.

This photo shows the back side aka inside.  I just sewed down the two sides that have pins, and it was finished!  The selvedge edged flap will be on the inside, once it is turned right-side out.  SMILEY FACE!!

This is the other side of my pillow.  Once I got started sewing the quilting lines, with my walking foot, it went pretty fast.  All the pieces are raw edged.  Some have selvedge edges on them, some are flannel, some are batiks, but all are scraps, some from Jane's recent Hatchi quilt tutorial.  Just click on any photo to enlarge it.

Eyes of the World Shelf

I never imagined being alive in 2025.  It had always seemed so far off.  I am retired and have time to do many things I have always wanted to do.  I have recently discovered I have been making art quilts longer than I thought.  I love making quilts and trying new techniques.  I do not always have someone in mind when I make a quilt, so I keep it for me.  I have a lot of quilts. After a while it gets tricky to store them.  I decided I needed to make a special place to store my quilts.  The lion's share of my quilts have been stacked atop my arch top trunk, which was given me when my grandmother passed away in 1973.  Quilts are "heavy", even the doll quilts get heavy when you stack 70 in a pile.  

This cannot continue.  I took my friend, D-F, out to lunch in November and then we stopped in at "Eyes of the World" just to have a snoop around.  It turns out they were having a sale, due to the owners retiring.  All the fixtures were marked to be sold.  They had marvelous fixtures, and one massive metal curly one really called out to me, but I knew there was no way I could ever get it home.  So, I looked around and found a very sturdy, solid wood unit with adjustable shelves that was painted lavender and purple for the awesome price of $24.  I paid for it, and they put my name on it.  They said they would call me to come in get it just after the new year; after they closed.

Last Friday they called and said I could come on Monday.  We took the truck down and they loaded it in.  I was worried about how the two of us were going to get it into the house, down the hall, and into the master bedroom.  We did just fine with a very minimum of cursing.  I wiped the whole shelf down and replaced the shelves.  I spend the rest of the day, folding most of my large and medium quilts to fit on the 22" wide and 14" deep shelves.  I love how it smells like Eyes of the World.  

It has 36 quilts in it, with zero space for any kitty wanting to repose on any of them.  I could not find my bandana quilt, so after the shelf was full, I went on a hunt and located it in our walk-in closet with two other gianormous quilts.  I decided they could stay there.  I started a list of locations in our house and noting how many quilts were in each location (i.e., hall closet, my office, quilt studio wall, under the cutting table, etc.)  I have 184 quilts in my house, not counting a handful of small art quilts that I know are mixed in with the doll quilts.  The quilt that was on my design wall in my November 25 post (below), is with my long-arm quilter.  When I get it back, it will be #185 in my house.  That is a good name for a quilt.

My grandmother's trunk is a lot less stressed now.  It has 25 small quilts on it, mostly wall hangings/art quilts, and of course, the wonderful rug my quilting niece made for me.