Tuesday, September 23, 2014

A Feather Sketch Pillow : :

Lily's keeping watch over my Wild & Free fabric finishes! ♡

This weekend I finished up my first Wild & Free quilt top and it's a big one, measuring a 70" square!

Wild & Free quilt top finish!

This quilt top now makes four finishes for my Quilt Market booth. I know that's not much, but I'm feeling pretty good considering I'm working from just the strike offs right now, which amounts to maybe a 1/2 yard of each print, minus my stars print Midnight Roof that's still being tweaked. Working with my own fabrics is unlike anything I've experienced since I began this sewing journey. There's so much excitement and lots of nerves that come along with this chance to truly create things from the heart. But I'm trying my best to just go for it, just as I would when working with any other designer's collection. More than anything I am having so much fun, as I see the projects I've been dreaming of take form and as I check them off my to-make list!

Wild and Free feather pillow

In the time between finished fabric designs and actual printed fabrics, I've shared here a few sketch stitch pieces, one of a feather and the other a set of arrows inspired by my Fletching Chant print. Now those thread drawings have been framed with fabric, spiffed up with more embroidery, and made into a comfy stack of pillows. They're my first Wild & Free fabric finishes and the first things I want to share here!

Wild & Free Pillows

First up, my Feather Sketch Pillow!

A Feather Sketch Pillow

This sketch began with a rectangle piece of Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Element in Sweet Mint quilted to a scrap piece of Therm O Web StitchnSew fleece. Next I pulled an Aurifil thread color story that matches my collection, and I began to freely sketch stitch a simple feather.

Feather Sketch & Aurifil

Using a narrow strip from both my Woven Path and Sun Tracks prints I finished one side of my feather sketch with a simple quilted striping. The other side I left soft and sweet piecing together a few HSTs leftover from my quilt top making, adding more texture with my favorite triangle satin stitch!

woven path & sun tracks stripe

satin stitch detail

I used this stitch again around the inner edge of my pillow binding and I love the result! It's a little time consuming, but that extra texture and color is so pretty, I might have to finish a quilt this way sometime soon!

satin stitch binding detail

I have lots of new finishes to share in the days ahead including an Emmy Grace quilt that still needs a name, my Autumn Sun quilt, and I plan to share all the Wild & Free projects I'm working on as I prepare for Quilt Market. I really hope you'll enjoy following along with me!

Maureen

47 comments:

  1. This is sooo pretty!!! This is one that I would love to try sometime. Thank you for sharing it with us!!!

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  2. it's AMAZEBALLS Maureen!!! =D

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  3. Your pillow/technique is stunning...I can almost hear your cat saying LOOK AT ME! :) I too would like to try something like this.

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  4. Stunning project, beautiful workmanship

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  5. So so so pretty! Can't wait to see the rest :) And get my hands on my Intrepid Thread pre-order in November :):):)

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  6. Absolutely stunning, Maureen. Beautiful. Love your fabrics, your sketch stitching and machine embroidery stitches. Totally amazing!!!!! And, of course, your beautiful kitty! (We are cat lovers too!)
    XXXXXXXXX

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  7. I did have plans to go to the International Quilt show in Texas but my son is a senior and it is his last home football game that week! Very inspiring work. So proud for you. Look forward to purchasing when it all gets available. Thank you for all you do.

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  8. Love the feather pillow and your gorgeous cat.

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  9. Maureen, you are one talented and inspiring lady! Thank you for sharing your creativity!

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  10. I am absolutely crazy about that feather pillow, Maureen! It couldn't be more perfect!

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  11. That feathered pillow is absolutely stunning!!! You go with your mad skills!!

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  12. Love your thread painting -- and your use of the triangle satin stitch was a perfect accent.

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  13. Just beautiful! Looking forward to seeing all your new projects.

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  14. This is the most gorgeous home crafted item I have ever seen! I am so excited for you about your new fabric line.

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  15. Love all the detail you put in that cushion. Absolutely beautiful.

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  16. my 3yo son just walked in and saw the cushion over my shoulder. "Oh mum! They're cool cushions! Can you make one of them?"
    They are gorgeous!

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  17. WOW - I love it! That is beautiful :)

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  18. Your fabrics are really coming to life as you make them up - great stuff!

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  19. Love your kitty ~ she's very photogenic! And that feather pillow ~ it's beautiful!

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  20. The feather pillow is stunning! I saw the beginnings on Instagram but the finishing touches really make this an extraordinary project. I need to go to using all those stitches on my machine too. Congratulations again Maureen, looking forward to seeing the rest of market prep.

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  21. Both the quilt and pillows are just beautiful!
    davis6620@gmail.com

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  22. That triangle satin stitch is great! It sets off the edge and the HST, just perfectly!

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  23. very pretty . . . you put so much detail into your pillows.

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  24. That feather is awesome, you put so much detail into it! And I love the pretty stitch on the binding. Nice work.

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  25. WOW! I just noticed the binding stitched on with embroidery stitching - wonderful!!!! How clever you are. Gorgeous quilt.
    Pauline

    perry94022 at hotmail dot com

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  26. A cushion that is a work of art. Very cool. I'm sure as you 'play' with your fabrics it will inspire your next collection.

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