Homemade Printed Pillows

Pin It

Fabric, pictures and pillows.  That is something I have been working with lately.  Being just a tad bit behind on my homemade Christmas gifts, I started with the easiest of them all.  

I have been checking out Pinterest and other blogs that have been using the trick of printing pictures on fabric.  There are a gazillion tutorials out there and trying to find just one that was easy to follow and cost effective was an enormous task.

All I wanted was to make a pillow out of this picture ...

I had taken it this summer when I was visiting with Lucas and Sarah.  It was Sarah's first time in a lake and she was quite apprehensive.  I think the shot is quite touching. 

So I continued with the hunt and found a tutorial that Monique posted over at Pocketful of Whimsy a year ago!  Here directions were clear and simple and the best part was the only item I needed to buy was the freezer paper.  Therefore it was quite frugal. 

First I searched through my stash for some plain white cotton fabric ... found some.  Then for a suitable homespun fabric that would match their decor ... found it.  Now for the scary part.

Ripping off a piece of freezer paper .....

 

I then ironed my piece of freezer paper to the back of my white cotton fabric.  The fabric was roughly 10 inches by 12 inches.  I didn't measure it but made sure it was larger than 8 1/2 by 11 inches.

After the freezer paper was ironed onto the fabric, I then trimmed them to fit into my printer.  8 1/2 by 11 inches .... a standard size piece of printer paper.  Taking a deep breath I placed it face up in my printer so the picture would be printed onto the FABRIC, not the freezer paper.  After two tries ( the printer did not seem to want to grab the fabric ), I gently guided the fabric through and it then worked great.

Watching the fabric come through the printer and looking good was exciting.  It actually turned out better than I expected!

Peeling off the freezer paper was easy and I had my picture for the pillow printed on fabric! 

Cutting the homespun cotton I had chosen to a generous size of 15 by 18 inches, I carefully trimmed the photo portion and sewed it all together.  

Being short of time, I didn't piece the fabrics together, instead I ironed over the edges of the picture and sewed the picture to the center of the front piece of fabric.

Adding a blanket stitch to the edges of the photo fabric in a coordinating thread color and choosing a vintage button, finished the pillow off nicely.  

I think it will be cute addition to their little living room.

I enjoyed doing this project and can see limitless possibilities that I will be playing around with in the future.  If you like sewing, give this a try.  You won't be disappointed.  Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Autumn Curtains and Pillowcases for the Bedroom

Pin It

As mentioned here, it was time to get moving on those autumn curtains and pillowcases for the bedroom .... soon the snow will be flying and the quilt will need to be changed out to the winter one!  Yikes, time moves way to fast for me ... as do the seasons.

Last year when I picked up this autumn-themed quilt on sale for only $6.00, I had made a set of pillowcases for it to match and a little nightstand table runner (if you can call it that, it is so small) but the hubster and I use two pillows each so another set of pillowcases was needed as was the curtains.  These quilts are from a big box store and I have picked up one for autumn, one for summer, one for winter and one for summer so far ... I just need one for spring!   They do not come with pillowcases or pillow shams.

My fabric stash is getting out of control and I want to tame and lighten it a bit before buying more soooooo that means I have to find something to sew!  New curtains and pillowcases are a great start.  Since I have to make the same for all of my quilts, it should help reduce the stash a bit.  

Old curtains .....

Found some gingham ....  who doesn't love gingham?  New curtains!

Then I had enough of the gingham (if I added a large matching hem) for the pillowcases.

The autumn set is DONE!  

Now I better get started on the Christmas set ..... that will be here before I know it.

Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Frugal Gift Idea

Pin It I love our Goodwill Store. Many times you can find new items that still have the tags attached for a very reasonable price. The other day I was able to pick up a set of 3 Valentine's place-mats for 99 cents. They still had the tags attached and were so cute that I had to try my new idea with them.

These place-mats are the kind that are double layered.







First you need to carefully take apart the seam on one end. Just an opening large enough to be able to stick your hand into it.




Next, take some cotton batting stuffing and begin to stuff, making sure that all corners are well stuffed.

The last step is to hand sew the hole back up and voila!

You have perfectly stuffed pillows! I was thinking seasonal pillows would be so reasonable to have throughout the home. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, July 4th, Halloween....... oooh, the possibilities!

Have a great day everyone, I am off to finish a new table runner that I have been working on.

Remember to give your loved ones a hug! =)

Been Busy

Pin It Wow, it has been busy around here at the old homestead. My sewing machine has never worked so hard as it has this past week.

I have to apologize to all my blog friends. The lack of comments on your sites is not intentional. I have very limited opportunity to use the computer lately as Bob is using it so much for work that it makes it difficult for me to pop in and say hello. I have been reading faithfully from my iTouch however to comment is difficult on that blasted little machine. So I am still there...just not talking! =)

I wanted to show you what I have been working on...







A set of tapestry pillows. This will be given as a Christmas gift. I cannot mention names as she might read this site so I will keep quiet on the receiver.

My Christmas gift box has been started and these made their way into it. I am happy to say that the box is filling up quickly. This excites me as during the summer, it is so difficult to get any crafting done.




This little needlepoint pillow will be another gift for a special little girl whose parents are friends of ours.

I am hoping she likes it.

Here is a quilt top that I just finished today. The blue flowered material is a vintage material that I discovered in my stash. After picking up the red (it does have little dark blue polka dots on it) and the yellow material, it took very little time to whip it up.

After ironing all the creases, I made my way to the old farmhouse to find my quilting frame that I had purchased last fall at a garage sale. I had never put it together and was hoping all the pieces where in the box like the lady told me.

A few hours later and a little tweaking on the one stabilizer bar (the wood has split but I used an angle bracket to fix it) my $3 quilting frame is ready to go!

The backing material is just finishing up in the dryer so tomorrow I can spend the time layering the top, batting and backing and pinning it together. I need to re-read the instructions (yes, they were still in the box!) on how to lay it all on the frame so it stays nice and taunt so I can begin hand-quilting it.

This is my first attempt at such a big quilt project. My blocks that I showed you a week or so ago are still sitting waiting to be made into the top. I am a little apprehensive about cutting the material for the sashing......maybe I will get the courage up to cut it this weekend.

A storm is headed our way starting tonight. Sleet, ice and snow are expected with accumulations of 4 - 6 inches. Perfect time to enjoy a cup of tea, bake some treats and quilt my time away.

Have a great weekend everyone and remember to give your loved ones a hug! :)