Wednesday, 24 April 2013

WiP Wednesday: The one with pillows

I have been wanting to make a blooming pillow ever since I saw this pillow at Let's Eat Grandpa. Then the Bloomin' Quilt as You Go tutorial came and I was in! I started out with some summery fabrics

 

Following the tutorial (which is great by the way), I started the quilt as you go process. I LOVE THIS! I can see myself doing more quilting as I go!

 
 

But then things started to go awry

 

This little gap meant some seam ripper time. 


That was fixed and then I started to notice that my bloom was less bloomy and more log cabiny. It looked like this

 

It should be like this, so it all looks a little lopsided

 

What I leaned through this process is that I am not so great at "improv", I am more of a structure kind of girl. This is not bad, it is good to accept who you are. It is a lot easier on your brain :) So I continued on and made  my way to the edges of my square. I ended up pulling a lot more fabric to finish off the panel. Not sure if this is because I did not know what I was doing, or because I did not pull enough at the beginning. 

Anywho, the square was complete and then I started to notice more "errors". 

There was this one, a rogue corner and a whole friggin raw edge that did not get covered

 
And then this one, another rogue corner, that could use a little camouflage


I was not super happy about all of this, but I actually still really love the finished panel, flaws and all


I am going to finish this project and make it into the pillow I dreamed of. It will stay with me. It's bright colors will make me happy, and it's flaws will remind me to SLOW DOWN and enjoy the process. When I get frustrated, stop, take a breath, or have a beer and come back to it.

I will be back to show you the finished product in a couple of days. Have you worked on anything that made you almost crazy but in the end taught you a lesson? Would love to hear about it.

Before I go I would like to say that the tutorial that I followed for this pillow was really great and I would recommend you try it. I am certain that all of my issues are mind alone :) 

I'm linking up today at Freshly Pieced.

Talk to you soon!
Adrienne

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14 comments:

  1. Anonymous24 April 2013 at 22:43

    I know how frustrating it can be when nothing seems to be going your way. I do think the finished panel is fantastic, though! Hopefully the fact that it's a pillow means the raw edge won't be a big deal in terms of how it wears.

    I love when you said, "When I get frustrated, stop, take a breath, or have a beer and come back to it." I definitely need to keep that in mind. I can't stand beer, but if I substitute 'lovely mixed drink' where you said beer, it's perfect! Perhaps I'll mix myself up a drink before I do any more frogging. Maybe then I won't be so grumpy about it.

    Thank you so much for sharing. It's a lot easier to share things that are perfect, but I really appreciate seeing the real process. It makes me feel less alone in all of the mistakes that I make.

    -Bobbi

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    1. Adrienne25 April 2013 at 08:51

      Thank you for your lovely comment Bobbi. I would be happy with a lovely mixed drink as well :) Nothing of mine is ever perfect, always room to imporve, and sometimes I need to step back and take stock. I quilt for fun, it is my relaxing time. It is ok to not be perfect if you love it. We are never alone out there!

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  2. Anonymous25 April 2013 at 01:55

    Your pillow is beautiful! And the little "flaws" are not flaws at all, but character! I love that you shared the entire process, "flaws" and all. I try to do that too, because my quilting has lots of character. :)

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    1. Adrienne25 April 2013 at 08:52

      "Character", that is a perfect description for most of my projects :) I am going to adopt that. Thanks Connie, in the end I love what I create becase the process does make me happy, even when I have "off" days :)

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  3. Mareenchen25 April 2013 at 07:14

    I second the other commenters and, on top, you took away a lot of lessons from this. Lovely colour combo, too!

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    1. Adrienne25 April 2013 at 08:53

      Thank you! I have been quilting for what seems forever, but I am always learning, that's one of the reasons that I like it.

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  4. Jenn @ A Quarter Inch from the Edge25 April 2013 at 07:41

    It looks amazing... love the colour selection! I think I have that project pinned too!

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    1. Adrienne25 April 2013 at 08:54

      Thanks Jenn. Of course you have this pinned - our brains are connected in some way... I think this type of panel would be good on a bag too...

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  5. West Michigan Quilter25 April 2013 at 12:40

    Beautiful pillow. I can't wait to try this. Thanks for the link to the tutorial. It's a great way to use up those scraps.

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    1. Adrienne25 April 2013 at 21:37

      Thank you! Would love to see your finished project :)

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  6. Renee25 April 2013 at 15:37

    Love the color combo! It will make a fabulous pillow!

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  7. ipatchandquilt9 May 2013 at 11:05

    Fabulous colour and I love the finished panel!
    Ipatchandquilt dot wordpress dot com

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    1. Adrienne9 May 2013 at 13:13

      Thank you Esther, I gave this away as a Creative Pay It forward gift, in the end I figured it could still be loved with all of it's flaws. My friedn got it in the mail today and she LOVES it :) Happy endings all around

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