A Handmade Christmas - Garland Pillow cover

While I have made numerous handmade items for Christmas gift giving I have made very few items that are intended for Christmas decorating despite having several beautiful Christmas fabric collections in my stash! In an effort to work from stash and get into the Christmas spirit this week I have pulled out a favorite Christmas collection - Garland by Cotton + Steel - and have made a pillow cover. 

I recently purchased a small kit of paper pieces for English paper piecing (EPP) from my local patchwork store.The design is based on the La Passacaglia Quilt (from the book Millefiori Quilts by Willyne Hammerstein) which features an intricate quilt layout of interlocking rosettes. The kit of paper pieces was for just a single rosette (papers only) which I thought was a great introduction to working with tiny paper pieces and a more complex design. (By the way, Willyne Hammerstein's books are an inspirational resource and I own both Millefiori Quilts and the more recently released Millefiori Quilts 2 - both published by Quiltmania).

I spent quite some time playing with fabric, choosing a contrast background fabric and fussy cutting elements from the fabric to feature. The actual paper piecing took way longer than anticipated and I have a whole new respect for the many quilters that are working on or have made the La Passacaglia Quilt.

Once the rosette was completed and the papers were removed I hand appliqued the rosette on a linen background fabric that I had already quilted (the background fabric was layered with batting and a backing fabric, prior to being quilted). For the back of the pillow cover I have used a canvas fabric also by Cotton + Steel (from the Picnic collection by Melody Miller). The pillow cover also has a zippered side seam for easy insert removal and cleaning. As always, the thought of sewing the zipper was more stressful than the task itself.

ALL THE DETAILS

Garland Pillow Cover

Pillow Cover measures 19 inches x 19 inches.

English paper pieced rosette (glue basted).

Features fussy cut fabrics from the Garland Collection by Cotton + Steel.

Linen blend fabric is Robert Kaufman Yarn Dyed Linen in Flax.

Aurifil 80wt cotton thread for applique.

Aurifil 28wt cotton thread for quilting.

The Bottom Line 60wt thread by Superior Threads for EPP.

Loft loft Warm and White cotton batting by The Warm Company.

The countdown to Christmas and the Summer holidays is on!

Thank you for stopping by,
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Sunday Stash #330 Garland by Cotton + Steel 
A Cherry Christmas Quilt - July 2012
Christmas Crafting - Mini Quilt November 20112

RPQ English Paper Piecing Projects:

• The Daisy Chain Quilt
• The Wagon Wheel Quilt

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