No cooking, just quilting

I blame my mother:

She’s a quilting fanatic and it looks like her fanaticism has finally rubbed off on me. This is my first attempt at real quilting, and I have to admit, I’m a wee bit proud of myself. I’ve done other “quilt-like” projects, but none have involved batting, or stippling the fabric, or binding edges with bias fabric.

The design of the pillow is not my own. A few months ago, I was stopped cold by the cover of a seasonal sewing magazine called Stitch, put out by the Quilting Arts folks. The photo of the pillow on the cover is what grabbed me. It was designed by a fiber artist in Austin, Texas, named Malka Dubrawsky. Go check her blog — she does amazing things with dyes and fabrics, and if you love this pillow design as I do, you’ll love her aesthetic.

Anyhoo, the directions for the pillow couldn’t have been easier. They were well written (something I find lacking in a lot of craft magazines) and everything was so clearly explained that even I, a home ec flunkie, had no trouble turning out a beautiful pillow of my own. I was so proud of my work when I finished it up last night that I carried the pillow around room to room so I could let my eye catch the colors as I tidied up.

I told my husband I was making it for a gift, but come on — it’s my first real quilting project. I can’t give it away now! Besides I made a couple of mistakes (the binding is not as lovely as I would like it) — the next pillow will be better.

Here’s the back:

P.S. This pillow is also my inaugural sewing project to receive a custom label from my workshop. I ordered them last week from Hong Kong. I feel so Seventh Avenue.