I said I'd be back Sunday and it's Tuesday. Life, you know.

I didn't manage any pillow action on Saturday as I was busy hosting a paper doll birthday party for Kate.  More details on that later.  But, back to the pillows... Sunday night I whipped up one more for the family room couch.  It's 18" square with piping and I'm kind of kicking myself for not buying more than 1 yard of this fabric because I really want to make one more just like it.  I probably could have made it work had I thought it through before I started cutting, but I didn't.  Oh well.

That brings the grand total for the week to 11 pillows - not too shabby, if I may say so myself.  I have two more I'd love to finish before our holiday guests (hi Mom and Dad!) arrive next week and I am going to try to fit those in between Fatty's birthday, dentist appointments, hair cuts, swim meets and the like.  I'd also like to make another dog bed, but I'm not counting on getting a chunk of time big enough for that endeavor. This is me trying to be realistic, you know.

I'd like to thank you all for following along and making pillows with me.  I know that it is not the most exciting of blogging topics, but I hope you maybe learned a little something.  I really enjoyed having a crafting focus and a reason to use all the pillow forms hanging around the sewing room.  And, bonus, my family room is looking pretty darn good at the moment.  Photos forthcoming. Pinky swear.

It's been a busy few days around here, but I've still been working on my pillows.  I cut and chain pieced the blades for these dresden plates on Wednesday.  Yesterday, I sewed them together and appliqued them to the pillow fronts.  This afternoon I put the zippers in and sewed the pillows.  The blue and white ticking is the same fabric as the chairs in the family room and the dresden plates are made entirely from scraps.  I tried to keep to blue/red/green/gold color palette, but it's loosely interpreted.  At 24" square, these pillows are going to be used as floor pillows.  The girls can scoot around on them, sit on them while they read and draw, and the rest of my new pillows will stay on the couch.  That is the goal anyways.

It's Kate's 9th birthday today and we have some celebrating to do.  Back on Sunday with a pillow week wrap up.  See you then.

I tackled Kate's pillows yesterday.  They are meant to be like Euro shams that you see in catalogs, but they measure 22" vs. the standard 26".  I just like the look of two pillows behind her monogrammed sham (which I did not make nor monogram myself) better and two 26" pillows is too much.  So 22" it is.  Kate has two twin beds in her room so I made four pillows.  They all have zippers and I pre-washed this seersucker fabric so they could be laundered without worrying about shrinkage.  The fabric is a match to her window seat and will look fantastic with her quilts if I ever finish them.

Again, I wanted to put piping on these pillows for some detail, but I ran out of fabric.  Instead, I did a small flange (I guess that's what you call it).  I cut the fabric to 23" square and sewed the front and back together with a 3/8" seam.  Once turned outside, I pressed the edges flat and then topstitched all the way around 5/8" from the edge.  It's kind of like a reverse french seam.  I like how it gives a little interest to the pillows without commanding too much attention.

That's eight pillows for the week.  I'm trying for two more tonight.  Back tomorrow with details on those.  In the meantime, check out the flickr group for some really great inspiration.

The video tutorials put me a day behind on my show and tell.  No big shakes, but I am going to keep posting what I did the day before so I can keep track.

I made two of these pillows for the family room couch.  They are 22" square and were supposed to have some of that red and white tassel trim shown in the photo a couple of posts down so I didn't add any piping.  I hated, really really hated, the way the tassel trim looked so I left it off.  I'm wishing I had put piping in, but I didn't have enough fabric anyhow so there was no turning back.  I do think they look good, especially with yesterday's pillows so yay!  I'm well on my way to a very spruced up family room.  And maybe a new Christmas tree skirt so I can use that trim after all.

Back tomorrow with Kate's pillows - I knocked out all four of those today!  Woot!

Here are the two pillows I finished yesterday

They'll end up on the couch, not this chair.  I've got something else planned for the chair.

And now, here is the zipper tutorial in video form.  It's long - 17 minutes - so you'll need to settle in to watch it.  The fact that I can show you how to do a lapped zipper and finish the pillow in that amount of time should tell you just how fast you can do this.  Also, please excuse the coughing fit.  If I could figure out how to edit better, I would have cut that bit. ;)

For more specific instructions, including how to determine the length of your zipper and how big to cut your pieces, refer to the photo zipper tutorial.  It's the same as the video, just not in motion picture format.

Put a zipper in your pillow tutorial by House on Hill Road from Erin Harris on Vimeo.

There are some pillows popping up in the flickr group.  Can't wait to see what you all make!

Here are the two pillows I finished yesterday

They'll end up on the couch, not this chair.  I've got something else planned for the chair.

And now, here is the zipper tutorial in video form.  It's long - 17 minutes - so you'll need to settle in to watch it.  The fact that I can show you how to do a lapped zipper and finish the pillow in that amount of time should tell you just how fast you can do this.  Also, please excuse the coughing fit.  If I could figure out how to edit better, I would have cut that bit. ;)

For more specific instructions, including how to determine the length of your zipper and how big to cut your pieces, refer to the photo zipper tutorial.  It's the same as the video, just not in motion picture format.

Put a zipper in your pillow tutorial by House on Hill Road from Erin Harris on Vimeo.

There are some pillows popping up in the flickr group.  Can't wait to see what you all make!

I received numerous requests for information on piping so I decided to do a tutorial.  A video tutorial. Gulp.  I'm totally nervous, hate the sound of my voice and apologize for my hand hogging most of the screen in part of it.  I do think, hand and all, you can still see what I'm doing.  It's kind of long - sorry about that.  But I think it will be helpful so here you go.

How to make piping by House on Hill Road from Erin Harris on Vimeo.

* * * * *

I've also set up a Flickr group so we can all see what everyone else is making this week.  It's right here.  I'll be back tomorrow with the pillows I finished today and another video - this time how to put the zipper in. I swear it's easier than you think.

See you then!

I received numerous requests for information on piping so I decided to do a tutorial.  A video tutorial. Gulp.  I'm totally nervous, hate the sound of my voice and apologize for my hand hogging most of the screen in part of it.  I do think, hand and all, you can still see what I'm doing.  It's kind of long - sorry about that.  But I think it will be helpful so here you go.

How to make piping by House on Hill Road from Erin Harris on Vimeo.

* * * * *

I've also set up a Flickr group so we can all see what everyone else is making this week.  It's right here.  I'll be back tomorrow with the pillows I finished today and another video - this time how to put the zipper in. I swear it's easier than you think.

See you then!