hand applique pillow

hand applique pillow

hand applique pillow

I think I’ve fallen in love with needle turn applique

….and maybe hand quilting too.

hand applique pillow

Learning needle turned applique has been on my sewing bucket list for a little while. I did a little at Carolyn Friedlander’s Quilt Market booth a couple years ago and I wanted to do more. But life, as it always does, gets busy.

Then there was a class on creativebug by Carolyn for this stunning needle turned mini quilt.

I pulled out some of my favorite fabrics and some Aurifil thread and set to work.

hand applique pillow

It took a while, but I really really enjoyed it. One of the reasons I loved it was that I could take it anywhere. So portable. Then when it was done, I wanted to hand quilt it. I loved the contrast of the applique design against the text background. I didn’t want the quilting to take away from the design (and I felt like my applique skills needed a bit of addition support) so I hand quilted it with 50wt Aurifil in coordinating colors.

I used simple diagonal lines in each direction to create a delicate cross hatch. And of course the color of the threads matched the fabric.

hand applique pillow

hand applique pillow

Part way through the hand quilting process, which took a while, I seconded guessed all that work without being able to see it well. But now that it’s done, I LOVE it! It is subtle, which is exactly what I wanted, and it adds a beautiful texture to the pillow.

hand applique pillow

hand applique pillow

For the pillow I made small piping with the scraps of my center fabric. And then I used some of my favorite fabric for the back….. and added buttons for fun.

hand applique pillow

 

Details:

  • Applique Fabric: Franklin in Glade by Denyse Schmidt for Free Spirit
  • Background: Unknown (It was a gift from a friend and I saved it for something special. Anyone know what it is???)
  • Back: Cotton + Steel XOXO Night Owl by Rashida Coleman-Hale
  • Thread: Aurifil 50wt in 2588 and 2000

hand applique pillow

hand applique pillow

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