Posted on by agilejack

A Pillowcase Diversion and Other Stuff

I can’t believe how quickly this weekend has gone by. Here I am on Sunday night and it’s nearly time to go to bed. It started raining here yesterday. It’s supposed to rain for the next five or six days. It seems too early to have the rains start, but I’m hopeful that we’ll have a lovely Indian summer once the rain leaves in a few days.

My sister in law, the one I made this Aboriginal quilt for, was in town today. When I was at her and my brother’s place a couple weeks ago she decided she wanted me to make some pillow cases to go with the quilt. So today we visited my local quilt shop that has a nice selection of those fabrics and chose a piece for the main part of her pillow cases.

We chose the same fabric that we used on the back of her quilt, and combined it with the fabrics I used for the sashing and corner stones. I had these two fabrics in my stash.

Here’s one of the finished pillow cases, modeled by my sister in law, who happens to share my exact name, except no E in Ann.

Here’s a closer view of the fabrics in the finished pillow cases.

I just love these fabrics. I mean… look at how gorgeous this one is!!!

And a closer look…

I’ve made a good number of pillow cases over the years. Here’s the tutorial I use. It includes a video.

It’s done with the burrito method, which means everything is rolled and sewn into the cuff. It starts with the cuff, the accent band, then the main body of the pillow case.

Then you roll it all up and fold up the other end of the cuff…

Then pin it all together…

Then sew that long seam.

When this was all sewn, my SIL got to turn It all right side out.

Once that’s done, you finish it all with French seams. They turn out beautifully and all the raw edges are enclosed. I love the finish on these.

Here’s some eye candy on my ironing board.

Yesterday was a day mostly of fun. I took Rico for his sheep herding lesson in the morning, The sheep were waiting for him when we got down to the field.

I hit a fabric store on the way home to look at some home decor fabrics… thinking of a table cloth my SIL wants to make.

Once home I hit my sewing room and finished up another set of napkins.

The final piece of fabric I need to finish my Libby quilt arrived on Friday. Look at all this color!

With the rain we’re going to be having this week, I should be able to finish up the corners in an evening. Might be able to get this thing put together this week. It will be a lot more time consuming without my pressing friend here.

Last night I went and played pickleball at a wonderful indoor facility. One of the pickleball clubs I belong to rented the entire facility. There are a ton of courts there so I played pretty much the entire two hours. I’m glad I got to play because there won’t be much pickleball this week with all the rain.

Our fall radio fundraising drive starts on Thursday. So a hectic couple of weeks coming up.

30 Replies to “A Pillowcase Diversion and Other Stuff”

  1. I would have never thought of the fabric combination for your SIL’s pillow case I absolutely love it! Also I have the blue aboriginal fabric with the birds. It will be a focus fabric for the quilt in my head. Interesting go-toghers with it. Like those, too!

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  2. The aboriginal prints are so versatile, they work with everything. Good idea to pick the backing fabric, it ties into the quilt with either matching if the back is showing or complimenting the top.

    Napkins are luscious!

    Stay warm and dry. Rest to gear up for the fund raising. And just like that you’re back in the swing of things

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  3. Have made many a pillowcase. Yours look wonderful. One step I have added is washing the fabric before hand to allow for shrinkage. I typically donā€™t wash my fabrics before quilting. Nothing worse than your pillow popping out of the case.

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  4. I love the burrito pillowcases! I make a ton in flannels, some for Christmas stocking stuffers, some for the charity “A Case for Smiles”. As for the weather, ask a beekeeper! If you use the Accuweather page for your location, you get a pretty accurate long term forecast. October is going to offer some nice warm and sunny weather but it will also have a bit of rain, increasing toward Hallowe’en! https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/portland/97209/october-weather/350473?year=2023

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  5. I love making those pillowcases! So easy and a great way to continue the ‘pop’ that a bed quilts makes! I add the extra but quick step of sewing down the accent band to avoid having it curl up in the dryer. Also seeing your Libby quilt in progress over the past couple of posts reminds me that it is in my queue!!

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    1. You can find some on Etsy. Just search for “aboriginal fabric.”

      Also, my local quilt store has a pretty good selection. Pioneer quilts in Milwaukie, Oregon. You can find them with a google search.

      Anne

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  10. Good morning Anne, that aboriginal fabric is stunning isnā€™t it? Love it.
    Iā€™m back to sewing group this morning. Today Iā€™ll be hand quilting my friends 40 th anniversary quilt. Iā€™m hoping to get it finished for the weekend when we see them for roast club.
    Iā€™m a bit post holiday blue but sewing will help! Hope the fundraising goes well.
    Lindy x

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      1. I thought about you yesterday as we watched ā€œ One man ( sic) and his dog ā€œ championship on Tv. I was very pleased as the Welsh handler and his dog won. What an extraordinary skill – both for the handler and the dog. Amazing. I have never seen sheep dog trials before but was really impressed. I find the hand quilting much easier than fmq but it is time consuming. Getting a quilt long arm quilted here costs around Ā£200 so is reserved for a very occasional treat! Iā€™ll send a pic when itā€™s done.. hopefully by the weekend. Have a good day, Lindy x

        Sent from my iPhone

        >

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      2. It’s really amazing too watch a well trained dog with a good handler. I live stream trials when I can. The US Border Collie Sheep Herding Championship is taking place this week and I’ve been live streaming when I can as I work. It’s very peaceful!!!

        I’ve never quilted anything larger than a baby quilt on my domestic machine. I find it very frustrating and I don’t love the result I get. So I’m happy to pay my more reasonable long arm quilter!

        Anne

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  12. Hi Anne: Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your emails! Haven’t been able to comment back in a while so Im doing it now. You have a real flair for writing… so don’t stop LOL…even if you do one email a month, it’s still good hearing about your adventures and about your friend. Wish I had a friend like her who liked to “press” and sew. My son lives up in Beaverton and I don’t get up there to see him often enough (I live in Los Angeles) but need to get up there to see everything you have commented on, especially the beaches and the fabric shops. Also, you will LOVE retirement once you get there..(I think I mentioned that to you before) and once you do, the days will FLY by and they are so much more enjoyable than working. I retired 1.5 years ago and haven’t looked back. And you will too once your time comes. šŸ™‚

    Susan

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    1. I think about retirement more and more as time goes by. I’m really ready for it.

      I’m going to try to be more realistic in how often I post. It’s a lot to keep up with daily posts. But a few posts a week is definitely doable.

      Thanks for reading!

      Anne

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