1 Xmas Item a Month February 2015 Finish

In June of 2012, I made this block for my first Crazy Quilting International (CQI) Round Robin. (If you crazy quilt or plan to learn how to crazy quilt, you may join CQI on Yahoo or on Facebook.)

The center rose was cross-stitched on black fabric using the Leisure Arts Pamphlet "A Regal Rose and Distinctive Floral Alphabet." (There is a link to the pamphlet under "My Favorites" at Amazon.com on the sidebar to the right.)

The round robin began in July of 2012 and ended in January of 2013. This is how it looked when it returned home. Absolutely stunning! What a talented novice group.

Embellished by Crystal S., Hazel T., Shannon C., and Mardeen L.

I mailed the block to Shannon C. in ID and she framed the center rose with a lace trim, ribbon and added lovely seam work as well as the beautiful silk ribbon border along the bottom of the block.

I believe Shannon mailed it on to Crystal S. in OH. Crystal added the lovely wisteria and the dragonfly among other lovely details.

Hazel T. in MO received the block next. She added the amazing Brazilian embroidery in the upper-left, along the top, and (if I remember correctly) in the lower-right corner.

Mardeen L. in CO completed the block with the delicate hanky, the lovely button cluster flower, and leafy vine with flowers along the right side of the block.

Until now, the block has been tucked safely away, waiting for me to transform it into a 12-inch pillow. I used this pillow tutorial (again) at lemontreecreations.blogspot.com to transform the block into a pillow cover. (It was a little tricky, as the embroidery pulled the 12-inch block in to about 11.5-inches, but I made it work!)

Embellished by Shannon C., Crystal S., Hazel T. and Mardeen L.

It is SO much prettier in person. The temptation to keep this for myself is pretty strong, but it has other plans this Christmas.

Please stop by the 1 Xmas Item a Month blog to see more lovely gifts and Christmas projects!

1 Xmas Item a Month January 2015 Finish

1 Xmas Item A Month January 2015 Finish

Last year, I discovered the 1 Xmas Item a Month blog 

and had a wonderful time following all of the lovely finishes 

the "elves" created and shared.

This year, I contacted Narelle and asked if I could join in the fun.

In December, I discovered this "Christmas Spirit" fabric by Geoff Allen for Springs Creative Products Group and just fell in love.

I have a couple of 12-inch crazy quilted blocks 

I have wanted to make into pillow covers.  

And, I have always wanted to make a couple of Christmas throw pillows.  

So, I found this tutorial at Lemon Tree Creations, 

and tried it out with this lovely fabric.

I made a few modifications.

Rather than making a pattern, I used my 15-inch square ruler and rotary cutter to cut a 13-inch by 13-inch square 

(I centered the snowman about 6.5 inches from both sides and the top and bottom.)

and I cut two strips of fabric 13-inches long and 9-inches wide.

A half-inch seam (folded twice to tuck the raw edges away) was stitched along the center 13-inch sides of the smaller pieces of fabric. 

A half-inch seam was stitched all the way around.

I was a bit paranoid (not trusting my sewing skills), so I made sure the pillow form fit before clipping my corners.

I was SEW excited to have a cute little cover for my 12-inch pillow form!

The snowman is happily centered on the front.

And the back turned out perfectly.

Not only did I end up with a cute Christmas throw pillow, 

I discovered a pattern that should work perfectly for 

a project I have been putting off for AGES. 

Who knew it could be SEW easy?!

Thanks for stopping by!

Renee

If you are looking for my Grow Your Blog post, you may find it HERE.

If you are looking for my We Support You post, you may find it HERE.