when i first began this post, i was going to tell you about the second pillow that i just made, and reference the first one, that i made back in march. but then, i couldn’t find a post about that first one, so now we are going to talk about them both.
so. back in march, after enough time had passed from another heartbreaking defeat in the playoffs, i was ready to partake in fan related activities once again. a few years ago, i made hazel’s teacher a class gift, using a geometric bison pattern from nerdy and quilty. since then i have wanted to make it into a bills themed block, and with my friend (and fellow western new york ex patriot) jude’s birthday coming up, i had the perfect opportunity….
i pulled all the best reds from my stash (and added some more from my shop) and bought a massive amount of ruby star speckled for the royal blue, and i was off to the races.
i quilted it with a diagonal grid and bound it with some hoarded spoonflower zubaz print. i loved it.
but then. i put the pillow insert in. and while it was still pretty awesome, i was disappointed with how much was lost to the curvature of the pillow. jude loved it, so i have no complaints. i almost didn’t give it to her, because i loved it, but i vowed to make another.
fast forward to december. i’ve been hobbled by some stupid injuries/health nonsense and we are in the thick of another football season with hopefully a deep (superbowl) playoff run. i didn’t have much sew mojo, but if anything can snap me out of a slump, a paper piecing project can. so, i printed out another pattern, cut all the tiny pieces, pulled out a lot of the same fabrics, and got to work again. it came together quickly. ripping out the papers is still the worst.
this time, i spent some time with somewhat custom quilting. my quilty friend suggested a grid inside the buffalo and vertical lines outside. also, i switched thread colors. look at me go… it took a bit longer, but this sort of quilting is for sure easier on smaller projects. it’s harder to see on the front, but the back shows the details. and the loose threads that graciously do not have to be buried or pretty in a pillow where no one will see the back (unless you post it on the internet).
i also added a huge border to this one, to avoid the curvature situation that befell me on the previous pillow. and used an enormous 24″ pillow form that has been taunting me, begging to be used. then. same zubaz border. and a pillow (cushion??) was born.
the big question is. will there be a third???