First Pillow - a few lessons learned

I decided to make a pillow for my secret partner in the For the Love of Solids Swap. I don't really know why since I've never made one before, but I dove in and went for it. I had a few parameters. Most were taken from my partner's sign up form with dashes of her mosaic mashed in:
- Ohio stars pattern
- make it improv/wonky
- include log cabins
- use blue, green, lime, aqua, grey, etc
- use only solids (obviously)
- make each block different in some way.

So here is the front:

Yep, my small item is a zippy pouch!

 For the back I used her mosaic as inspiration:
- abacus blocks
- use a berry colour + those above
I decided that I wasn't confident enough to attempt a zipper in my first pillow, so I opted for an envelope style adding binding to each flap sewed on with one of the machine's fancy stitches I rarely use. I found one with blocks (greek keys?) and went for it. Well, it adds to the wonky and a little character that's for sure. I think I'll need a bit more practice on how to get those stitches straight.

Here is the back:

Lots of wonkiness in these blocks

 Hubster helped me out with some photos so they would have decent lighting, but then the camera battery died and I haven't been able to find the charger. Sheesh. So these photos will have to do. Hopefully my partner will be a better photographer and share some photos with me.

Next up: the small item I made. You can see it in the collage of the pillow front. I made my second zippy pouch. Good thing I have had recent practice with the Mouthy Stitches Zip Pouch Swap.

Lessons Learned:

• You do have to have a game plan when making something a certain size. I was aiming for a pillow about 16" and ended up with it at 22" (I trimmed it down to 20")
• I'm not so good at teeny tiny piecing
• I'm an over presser. There are some seams where the threads show more than I would have liked
• I love solids, but I still need practice with values so I get them a little more varied
• I really need to plan out the placement of blocks for the pillow - the back on this pillow is where the abacus blocks needed to be centered a little better
• I spend too much time playing on Picasa, and should invest more time in taking better photos to begin with. I sense an online photography course in my future, or a search for useful info on blogs...I know I've seen a few recently. A light box will be in my future as well.

Well, maybe I'll still spend time on Picasa for things like this:

Love the neon filter

 Now I'm off to watch the red carpet coverage for the Oscars - lame I know, but it is a tradition. I need a Tim Gunn fix for the night.

Delayed and Determined

I have been sick since Thursday with a bad cold and sometimes flu-ish symptoms. As I type this my head is throbbing, nose is stuffy and my sinuses are screaming. I hate whatever it is I have mostly because it kept me from getting anything done this weekend on my 3 swaps. Argh. So, here is what I'm behind in now:
1. fabric for iSPy Charm Swap purchased (what I was going to use didn't end up being enough) and cut and shipped

2. fabric for For the Love of Solids Swap sorted and ideas sketched. I've got some stuff on paper, but nothing i'm willing to show at this point. All i know is that I am likely making a pillow or 2 and something smaller. Although I could also make baskets/containers but they scare me with the pins required to keep them lined up - so not my style.

3. I did manage to pull some fabrics for the Mouthy Stitches Swap swap after getting my partner assignment Saturday or was it Sunday? Anywho, I know that will be in blues, oranges and some greys so luckily I have some of those colours in fun fabrics. I just have to decide now between a scrappy log cabin or paper pieced front and what style of pouch I'm making. I think I will need to order some zips as well, so I'm off to zipit to order supplies and look at the zipper pulls.

4. Finish up my strip pieced Innocent Crush quilt. I managed to score fat quarters for $1.50 and yardage for $6.00 from a canadian supplier I love - Pam at Mad About Patchwork.
I get annoyed at the price of shipping to Canada from US Etsy peeps and even some of the bigger US fabric shops. I know its not necessarily their fault with the prices, but adding $5 or more on top of the flat rate pack price is a bit much.

If I get anything properly sketched out I'll make sure to post it, but right now I'm just enjoying the rest since the only time me head & sinuses don't hurt is when I lie down. Bleh. The only benefit of this is that I have had several lovely days of snuggles with the dogs. Ruby & Crosby are lovely nursemaids - if only i could teach them to make me food.