September 3, 2013

Liberty Granny Square Pillow

Today I'm so excited to be a part of the 
Liberty Stiles Pillow challenge,
hosted by Sew Mama Sew blog.

It's always a great day when fabric arrives at my door,
and this special delivery all the way from London
was received with a big old "Yee-haw!"


There were 8 fat quarters of the lovely
Liberty Stiles fabrics shown here.
For the Sew Mama Sew challenge,
we were asked to use at least four of them
to make a pillow.

{I chose to use the top 5 prints in the stack.}


I had a vague plan in my head,
and I cut a whole bunch of little pieces...
1" squares of white
stitched into triangles on opposite corners
of printed 2" x 3" rectangles.


When I put the rectangles together, though,
I was less than impressed.
The whole block only finished to 9" x 10"
and I was already too bored to make more
of those little blocks.

{Here's how they looked, lined up on my cookie tray, before I stitched them together.}

I pouted for a while...took a nap...then paid a visit 
to my Pinterest boards for inspiration.
Look what I found on my Pillows board...
a modern granny square pillow from s.o.t.a.k. handmade!

From s.o.t.a.k. handmade blog
I have a soft spot in my heart for the Granny Square
quilts lots of folks made last year,

Svetlana used a single Granny Square block to
make such a simple but dramatic pillow!
It seemed to be just what I was looking for,
to show off the vibrant prints
against a fresh white background.

I spent next to no time cutting out the 3" squares
and stitching them into the block.


Once I trimmed the block,
I added mitered borders using two of the green prints.


I backed the finished block with some Pellon 987F fusible fleece
and a square of muslin to make a quilt sandwich.
Quilting was simple...
straight lines 1/4" away from the seams of the granny square
and parallel stitching along the borders.


Sweet!
Uh-oh...this pillow needed a good-lookin' backside, too.

{Don't we all?}

I picked up my rejected block,
stitched on some wide white borders,
and added soft support with Pellon ShapeFlex 
SF101 fusible interfacing.

Normally I make a pretty flap to cover the zippers
on my pillows,

This time I didn't need...or want...a cover
for that hot pink zipper.

{Wow!}


I left the zipper exposed,
and I am so in love with the way it sets off the back.

{My little "eamylove" label looks pretty cute, too, I think.}


I always enjoy a good challenge,
especially when it involves pillows and pretty fabrics.
Thank you, Sew Mama Sew, for choosing me to participate!

I think I'll settle down now with my Granny Square pillow
and a nice cup of tea in my white Cath Kidston mug.
I'm in the mood for a little bit of hand-stitching these days.


Stop by any time to see what else I'm making.

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23 comments:

  1. You rose above the Liberty Challenge and soared! What a gorgeous pillow! The Granny Square pattern did show off the beautiful Liberty fabrics!! And that's a great way to use the ("boring") pieces... on the back with a zip to set them off!!
    Love it.

    Susie

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  2. How do I love thee Liberty pillow? Let me count the ways!! L.O.V.E!!!!!!!!!!

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  3. Your Liberty pillow is so beautiful! You made a lovely granny square and it all works perfectly!
    Helen x

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  4. Oh, that is so pretty!! Well done :)
    Cindy

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  5. that turned out beautiful. You rose to the challenge very well I say. Thanks for sharing

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  6. Standing Ovation!! You go girl on making a "mishap" a Masterpiece. That pillow is gorgeous and Definitely LOVE that hot pink zipper! Pizazz!! I am looking for zippers in bulk... any recommended size? (See I am inspired with the pouches then to tackle the pillow)

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    1. I love to buy zippers from Zipit on Etsy. You can pick and choose colors to make up a bundle. For bags and small pouches, I usually buy the 9" ones, and they can be cut to size, if necessary. I bought 14" ones for my zippered pillow backings. They work great for a 16" finished pillow, but I might go to the 16" size next time, since most of my pillows are 18" or 20" these days.

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  7. Pretty. I'm not really flowery person but bit of pink and that zipper makes it :-)

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  8. Your finished pillow looks great :-). Perfect.

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  9. Beautiful pillow! I love Liberty fabric, so heavenly and you did a wonderful job. The modern Granny Square pillows are so fun.

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  10. Really, really love this pillow. The colors in the fabric are so fresh and pretty. I like hearing how you had to stop and rethink how you were going to put this together. I do that too!

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  11. Sometimes Plan B is the best way to go! I love both sides of your pillow and the hot pink zipper gives it a modern touch. Beautiful, Amy!
    Julie @ The Crafty Quilter

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  12. Wow Amy - this is gorgeous! You know I love green and this is especially awesome! And what a genius idea with the zip - very striking!

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  13. A beautiful finish. very fresh an perfect for spring!!

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  14. Lovely pillow. Love that you left the zipper exposed.

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  15. AWESOME!!!!!!! My friend just brought me back some liberty fabric from London this summer. I haven't had the heart to dive into it yet!!! Great Great pillow!

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  16. Oh it turned out great!!I LOVE it! I am such a fan of Svetlana from S.O.T.A.K handmade - she is as clever as you!

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  17. Well look at you!! Congratulations on being asked to represent! :) YOU ARE AMAZING!! This pillow is GORGEOUS! Front and back. You know....if you get tired of looking at it, I will happily let you send it my way. :)

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  18. Ohhhhh - simply STUNNING!!! Just love it!!! Now I feel very inspired to make a Granny Square block for a cushion too... this really is gorgeous!!!
    www.nicolaforemanquilts.com

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  19. Beautiful pillow - I absolutely in love with your blog! Lets stay in touch and maybe we can do something together in the future!

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  20. Beautiful pillow - I am absolutely in love with your blog! Lets stay in touch and maybe we can cook up something special for your readers! Hint... :)

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I look forward to your comments and will read each and every one, even if I am not able to reply to all of them.