Purple? Me?

Saturday, the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild had its first Sew In.  I was only able to attend for a few hours, but I had lots of fun and I am happy with my day of work.

 

First off, my Canadians Quilt {bee} block.  I made a couple extras for me... I just could not stop after one.  Not quite sure which one I will send to my bee mate - likely the red or the orange because she asked for bright "plus" and the middle one is a bit on the light side.

 

Other project... a pillow.   Are you surprised?

Now, before I show you the result, I have to say that I am pretty indifferent to this whole Pantone Colour of the Year thing.  I just don't know what the fuss is all about.  Pantone says Radiant Orchid is in, and we are all supposed to start quilting in purple? 

Coincidentally, I was going to make another birthday cushion, for my favourite 12 year old.  When asked about her favourite colours and patterns/themes, she said "purple" and "zebra".

I did not have much purple in my stash (and definitely no zebra), so a little trip to my local quilt shop was in order.  (I may have broken my Fabric Fast resolution just a tad, but it was for a good cause!).  I did not find an actual zebra print, but I found these instead:

So, purple lovers out there... how did I do?

My normal size for cushions is 14" or 16", but this girl deserved a bigger pillow, so I used a 20" form.  My original plan was for 5 columns of 10 rectangle 2" x 4" (minus the larger rectangle for the name).  However, I forgot the number one rule of sewing stripes:  make the stripes slightly wider than desired, trim after they are sewn together.   I did not do that, and my strips ended up too small, hence the vertical purple strip in the middle.  As for the horizontal lilac stripe on the bottom, well I guess it's a seam allowance issue.  We'll call those design elements...

For the back, I did a zipper closure.  Oh and I used a piece of the funky zebra-type print, just for fun.  I am loving this back!

One side of the zipper is close to perfection.  The other one, not so much.  I decided I could live with that...

I quilted "straight" lines about 3/4 inches apart.  They are definitely "organic" lines (aka not so straight).

Another unintentional "design element": I ran out of one colour thread and had to move on to another...

I never get tired of these pillows.  So satisfying!  I bet my husband is happy I am actually making them for other people, and not to dress up our couches!

 

 

Now this purple thing is starting to grow on me...  What about you?

 

 

Linking up to