a pattern review and the ramblings of a sleep deprived mama

Do you ever wait to the absolute last minute to decide to make a gift? No? Just me, huh? It's not so much that I waited to the last minute and more that what I thought would be a quick and simple project ended up an all nighter. It started easily enough. I decided to order a pattern for a really cute personalized pillow that I've been eyeing for a while. When I realized it would make a cool gift for the birthday party we were going to today, I downloaded it here and got started. Things began to go downhill about 9 pm. I ended up having to use Wonder Under (purchased for another project) since I was out of Steam a Seam to make the letter appliques. That stuff is NOT cool. The paper backing did not want to peel off! I had to retrace several letters several times and still ended up with raggedy, half fusible letters. Sigh. Once I got through that, I thought I was home free. Nope. I guess I underestimated how hard satin stitching the inside of some of the letters would be. By 1 am, I was trying to unpick the stitching on the A's. That didn't go so well. That's where the little hearts come in. . . camouflage! Once I had the letters sewn on I was able to add the patchwork border rather quickly. That part's easy peasy.

There were a few moments where I was ready to just throw this thing in the trash but the idea of having to get up early to get a gift was motivation enough to keep on trucking. I finished up (sans stuffing and slipstitching) about 3am. I think the birthday girl really liked her pillow! Whew. All's well that ends well.




What did I learn? Start earlier. No more Wonder Under, ever. Blanket stitch instead of satin stitch, maybe? It really is a simple project, just time consuming, and with the proper supplies, you end up with a really cool pillow. If anyone has any tips or tricks for machine appliqueing, do share because I really do want to make another one of these pillows.


Thought I'd share a photo of my kiddo. I treated myself to a new camera this week and took a zillion photos today. This is one of my favorites. Hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm off to bed!