Christmas Pillowcases

Hello and Welcome

For Christmas I made pillowcases for some friends.  I would quite happily have kept these for myself had I not made them specially for these lovely ladies.

Each pillowcase is very different and I used some new-to-me techniques, and I love how they turned out!

Beware, this is going to be a long post ... I want to share as much as possible of these pillowcases.

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Dream Low Volume Patchwork Pillowcase

Dream Low Volume Patchwork Pillowcase

The first is a simple patchwork with some embroidery.  This was chosen for M as she already has a gorgeous handmade quilt on her bed and I didn't want to try and coordinate and have it clash. 

To make the patchwork as low volume as possible, it's quite likely I committed a quilting crime - I actually used the reverse (wrong) side of the majority of fabrics.

Dream Low Volume Patchwork Pillowcase

I kept the quilting and embroidery as simple as possible so enable the pillowcase to work with the gorgeous quilt that M made rather than compete with it.  The quilting is a simple cross hatch working diagonally through the 2 inch finished squares.

I love how this turned out.  I've wanted to create a low volume quilt for my bed but wasn't happy with the fabrics I was pulling - now I know how great it can look I will definitely be putting it back on my to do list!

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Triple Porthole Dragonfly Pillowcase

Triple Porthole Dragonfly Pillowcase

The second pillowcase for B was chosen because I knew that another friend is making a quilt made of predominantly purples with some teal, having not seen the fabrics I wanted to make choices that would coordinate.  I also know that she loves dragonflies, so this fabric was a no brainer.

Porthole close up

Porthole 2 Close up

The pillowcase was inspired by this gorgeous quilt by Lu Summers, I followed the basic tutorial that can be found here. I absolutely love how this turned out and will definitely see a quilt using this technique in my future.

I echo quilted around the circles with my walking foot, I love the texture this gives.

Triple Porthole zip detail

I added a zip to this one rather than the usual flap closure as I envisage B leaving this out during the day on her sofa and I wanted it to look like a cushion too!

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Teal Impracticality Pillowcase

Teal Impracticality Pillowcase

I love how this pillowcase for J turned out.  I used the impracticality tecqnique outlined by Angela Walters here.  This is the first time I have done anything remotely improvisational and I loved the process, though it did use a LOT of fabric.

Teal Impracticality Pillowcase - quilting detail

The texture from this technique is amazing, especially towards the centre where the pieces are all very small.

Teal Impracticality Pillowcase - quilting detail

 I free motion quilted this pillowcase.  I began by doing pebbles (circles) in some of the triangular rings in matching threads leaving some unquilted to add to the amazing texture.

Teal Impracticality Pillowcase - quilting detail

Once I got to the larger 'open' area I quilted spirals and pebbles. In the green band I quilted a loop-de-loop. I love this, the colours are amazing and the texture, believe me you need to touch it to believe it!

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I finished these pillowcases Tuesday morning, just in time for lunch with these lovely ladies, I'm glad to say that they liked their gifts ... and their gift to me - sewing supplies, so you'll be seeing pin cushions and a bag in the near future!

I have linked this to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday and
 

Thank you for popping by,
Vicki