Welcome to the final day of the Holiday Lane Pillow Blog Hope (and my birthday, as it just so happens). And, for those of you who are new here, welcome to my blog. This is not normally a crafting or quilting blog, it's a potpourri of angst, hospice stories, failures and celebration. I can't predict what I will write next week because life is full of surprises, right?
I would be remiss is I didn't mention my thanks to Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt for this and many other amazing ideas that keep these Blog Hops rolling, and to Pauline from Quilt n Queen, who is our hostess for the Holiday Lane Pillow Hop.
The adorable Holiday Lane pillow featured today was designed by Jill Finley of Jillily Studio, and the pattern is quick and easy to follow, and fun to make, even for a newbie like me. EVEN for a newbie like me who isn't always good at following instructions. Where I live, Christmas flies by, but winter seems to linger forever, so I decided that my pillow should be less Holiday and more Winter. I mostly used fabrics from my stash.
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I did run into a few problems, having to do with inexperience rather than the pattern. I tried machine quilting my pillow top but my thread kept getting tangled and rolling back on the spindle, so I decided to outline the houses by hand with sparkly thread. I guess I didn't pull the fabric as tightly as I thought I had, or maybe didn't use a thick enough batting, because several of my houses ended up with puckers after the pillow was stuffed. My embroidered attempt at icicles also ended up looking like
puckers. Live and learn. (I opted against the flange and, in retrospect, that might have helped avoid
some of those puckers. I might make a summer version of the pillow
after Christmas, and I'll investigate that theory then!)
I used a shirt button for the door knob. The little snowman came from a piece of fabric given to me at a memorial service for one of our hospice patients, who was an avid (and very talented) quilter.

Having to post my results on the last day of the Hop is a lot of pressure, because anyone who has followed along this far has seen some fantabulous pillows in the past few days. Trust me, this is not false modesty -- some of the creativity in this Hop nearly blew me away, and I have tons of ideas for what to do on my next pillow! This is my first blog hop, and my first applique pillow, and like so many, many things in the World of Never-Did-This-Before, it didn't turn out exactly the way I expected. When I compare myself (and yes, sadly, I do compare myself) to the blogs of experienced seamstresses I follow, my results are lackluster. I finished in plenty of time and I know that many of you would have scrapped the first pillow if you weren't satisfied and started over, but I've never had that kind of discipline with anything. Like so much of my life, it works or it doesn't and that's that (dusts hands).
So I didn't scrap, or frog, or undo my first project, but since I wasn't thrilled with some of the puckery finish on my pillow, I decided to make a second, mini pillow using only felt applique.
Felt is so easy to work with that it feels like cheating. Although I now have many ideas, after seeing the other bloggers, for how to jazz this up, I am a simple person, and I kept the pillow simple. I finished the edges of the small pillow with Martha Stewart Crafts glitter eyelash in crystal (an idea I stole from Carrie P's Halloween pillow on A Passion for Applique! Thanks, Carrie!)

So there it all is, pillows big and small. Thanks a lot for stopping by. I really enjoyed my first Blog Hop, and I really encourage you other wannabee-lurkers to give it a try -- whatever you (or I) think of my pillows, the important thing is that I tried something new, I finished it, and even if my results doesn't quite compare to the Best In Show, I like my pillows a lot and I'm very happy I made the effort. Because I didn't add any "Holiday" to my pillows, I will plan to leave them out all winter, even after my other decorations are put away. Perhaps the more important thing is that my grandchildren (after I applied a little pressure) were VERY impressed. Besides, I smile every time I see my Holiday pillows perched on my living room couch, and really, what more could I ask of a project than that?!
Be sure to visit the rest of today's Hoppers --
Friday November 30
Linda - that other blog
And, for those of you who are still here, thank you again for stopping by to see my effort (blush), and it seems like I should offer you a snack or something before you go. Sewing and quilting are all very well, but a homemade cookie, straight from the oven, is nothing to sniff at. One thing about the internet, though, is that it's hard to hand a cookie across, so I'm afraid you will have to bake it yourself. To help you do that, my giveaway is this dandy and adorable set of measuring cups --
I got a set of these clever little nesting doll-cups as a gift a year or so ago and thought they were so cute that I bought another set for you! For a chance at winning my prize, all you have to do is leave a comment. If you are one of my followers -- and I don't blame you a bit if you are not -- just leave an extra comment saying so for an extra chance. I'll draw a winner in a day or so. If you are a quilter/crafter, let me know that, too, and I'll toss in a bit of fabric.
Enjoy the other Blog-Hoppers!