Parakeet Pillows

 My friend in Japan received her Christmas present in eight days. Not only was I super on the ball, sewing these up,  but the postal service (& customs) gods were smiling too.

A month or so ago, I saw this Parakeet fabric at Fabric Depot. I immediately emailed my friend a photo and she loved the fabric. We settled on housewarming pillows for her new house she is building in kyoto.

 These are the perfect neutral color with just a hint of pizazz in the matte metallic blue budgee.
Her pillows are 15" square so I made these 14.5" square with a two-inch flange.

I added a zippered backing for easy laundering. The back fabric is the same as the front but it's not the same. The original fabric I found at Fabric Depot is a Waverly home dec fabric. When I was at Joann's Fabrics to purchase more interfacing, I was looking around and here was the same design printed onto burlap!

Instant design decision to do the fine waverly weave on the front and the coarser burlap weave on the backside. Two different looks.

  I have it stuffed full with a 16" pillow form to take photos as we don't have 15" forms in the usa.

I still have one more gift to finish that needs to fly off to Singapore. We'll see how long it takes now that the Christmas mailing rush is on.

Rainbow Sewing

I finished two items today.
A rainbow heart bunting and a vinyl zippered pouch with a rainbow on the back.

Sewing with vinyl can be curse-worthy.
But interesting.

I used  my clover clips to hold the bias binding in place. I also utilized the paper that came with my vinyl to help sew it easier. Then I tore the paper off the stitches. The trick with vinyl is a fresh needle, and something to help make it move - whether it be a teflon foot, tissue paper or K-Y jelly. Yep, Pencil girl told me that one. She sometimes sews for Michael Curry Design in Scappoose, Oregon.
They sew a lot of weird stuff. Where you need some tricks up your sleeve.