I’m excited to be joining in the fun with Mathew aka Mister Domestic’s Aura Blog Party celebrating his Aura fabric line for Art Gallery Fabrics (AGF). Fridays are always reason to party, but when you add Mathew’s energy and enthusiasm for life, the party is impossible to resist! I figured I’d throw a pillow into the ring since a pillow fight seems like a great addition to any party, right?
When I first saw Mathew’s Aura fabrics, of course I immediately dreamed of meticulously cutting them for days. I decided that a Pollen Pillow would be the perfect project to showcase these gorgeous fabrics while maintaining a tropical vibe that does the Hawaii-inspired fabric line justice. The Pollen Pillow is the EPP pattern that is included in the 2019 Quilter’s Planner magazine, and is a baby version of my Pollinate Quilt, distributed by Karen the DIY Addict.
I’m so thrilled with how it turned out!! AND pillows are hard to photograph! I just solved that issue by taking lots, and hope my single monstera potted plant can help bring a bit of tropical vibe to the mid-winter Maine photos.
With fussy cutting on my mind, my initial plan was to meticulously choose individual flowers from the Laki Island Daylight fabric, using 5 individual flowers in the center and then a radiating spiral of each individual flower in the outer piehex shapes. However, the scale of the flowers on the fabric were a *bit* too big to make that happen (or maybe my templates/pattern is too small?), so I had to come up with Plan B.
Looking at the varied and gorgeous flower bundles on Laki Island Daylight, I really didn’t want to chop them up tooo much, so I decided to go wild and fussy cut the fabrics so that the piehex looked like it was an uninterrupted flower bouquet, but with a blue section radiating from the center. I taped 3 templates together for the top half, and fussy cut the bottom 3 so that the fabric pattern was continuous when stitched.
They aren’t all perfect, but I’m mighty happy with the result! I also love how the blue section emphasizes the center star, while also helping blend into the Endless Paradise AGF denim background. One of my favorite aspects of the Pollen Pillow & Pollinate quilt patterns are how incredibly versatile they are.
Here’s a look at the pillow top after it was pieced and quilted, but before it was stuffed as a pillow, so that you can see the fabric placement details a bit better. Here are the Aura fabrics I used: Laki Island Daylight for the center star and outer piehexies, Hawaiian Honu Dusk (turtles!) and Hula Dolphins Ocean (tiny dolphins circle around this one) for the star, Loulu Fans Sand for the outermost triangles, Hawaiian Honu Dusk for the turtle diamonds around the outside edge, and AGF Denim in Endless Paradise for the accent pieces in the outer piehexies and the background. I LOVE the fabric names, too!
I used coordinating 50wt thread to hand stitch the full Pollen Pillow design, stitching during travel to QuiltCon, in cafes, or in the car while waiting for preschool pickup. I adore the portability of English Paper Piecing (EPP)! When the Pollen Pillow design was fully stitched, pressed, papers removed, etc., I then stitched it to the backing using 50wt thread in 2000-Light Sand and 1320-Bright Teal. I quilted the pillow with some minimal quilting to secure the pieces while still letting the fabrics shine. I quilted a fun geometric echoey pattern in the background using the walking foot on my Bernina 560, and making it up as I went along. I love using the wide width of my walking foot as a gauge when quilting, since I avoid marking fabrics whenever possible!
Even having made multiple pillows, the insertion of a zipper still gives me the willies a bit before diving in. This time I used this fabulous tutorial by Suzy Quilts and am incredibly happy with my zipper! Mental note for next time, though: when creating a side zipper pillow, you need a zipper that is at least 2″ shorter than your pillow panels. I bought a bunch of 18″ zippers, one of which is shown in the progress photo, and none of which were used for this pillow because they were too long. I settled for a 14″ turquoise zipper, which coordinates enough to seem intentional (shhh).
Those of you familiar with my Pollen Pillow pattern may have noticed that I included some extra diamonds on this pillow. The sea turtles just begged to be included more, so I borrowed the center diamonds after stitching the pillow center down, and made a few more sea turtles to swim outward around the edges. I love the effect!
Here are just a couple more photos to round out this post. The first is of my daughter Maddie, who really wanted to be a pillow holding model (so helpful!). You can see the most pattern details in this photo, I think, so I’m glad she wanted to help!
Finally, here is a photo of my original Pollen Pillow duking it out with this newbie for the prime spot. It’s so fun to see both of these pillows next to each other, since it’s a perfect example of how different fabric choices and color placement can result in very unique aesthetics with the Pollen Pillow pattern.
Thank you for swinging by to help celebrate this Friday finish, and be sure to check out the other stops on Mister Domestic’s Aura Blog Party. The projects are all stunning!
MISTER DOMESTIC’S AURA BLOG PARTY
- Monday February 11: Amanda Woodruff of A Crafty Fox
- Tuesday February 12: Kylie Gersekowski of Little Moo Designs
- Wednesday February 13: Sharon Holland of Sharon Holland Designs
- Thursday February 14: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim
- Saturday February 16: Sarah Maxwell of Fearless with Fabric
- Sunday February 17: Natalie Santini of Hungry Hippie Sews
- Monday February 18: Carolina Moore of Always Expect Moore
- Tuesday February 19: Isabelle Selak of South Bay Bella Studio
- Wednesday February 20: Elizabeth Chappell of Quilters’ Candy
- February 21-24: Intermission
- Monday February 25: Tara Curtis of Wefty Needle
- Tuesday February 26: Monica Tetteh of That’s Sew Monica
- Wednesday February 27: Nicholas Ball of Quilts from the Attic
- Thursday February 28: Lucy Brennan of Charm About You
- Friday March 1: Robbin Flockhart of Sew Farm Quilter
- Saturday March 2: Evie Jespersen of EV Quilts
- Sunday March 3: Kelly Liddle of Jeliquilts
- Monday March 4: Maureen Cracknell of Maureen Cracknell Handmade
- Tuesday March 5: HollyAnne Knight of String and Story
- Wednesday March 6: Mimi Goodwin of Mimi G Style
- Thursday March 7: Angela Wolf of Fashion Sewing with Angela Wolf
- Friday March 8: Kitty Wilkin of Night Quilter <— YOU’RE HERE
- Saturday March 9: Sharon Burgess of Lilabelle Lane Creations
- Sunday March 10: Emily Dennis of Quilty Love
- Monday March 11: Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill of Whole Circle Studio
- Tuesday March 12: Elina Temmes of Elina Temmes
- Wednesday March 13: Jennifer Strauser of Dizzy Quilter
- Thursday March 14: Saija Kiiskinen of Saija Kiiskinen
- Friday March 15: Brittany Jones of Brittany J Jones
- Saturday March 16: Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth
- Sunday March 17: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim
- Monday March 18: Sharon McConnell of Color Girl Quilts
A few months ago when Sharon asked me to be a part of her book tour, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. I had made Sharon’s block for the Splendid Sampler 2 and loved it, and English Paper Piecing (EPP) is quickly becoming my go-to style of quilting because of its portability and versatility. A Stitch in Time is a fun book including 18 small projects that combine EPP with vintage linens, embroidery, appliqué, patchwork and quilting. It’s a great resource for hand-stitched gifts that won’t require a year’s worth of stitching.
As I flipped through the beautiful book trying to decide what project to make, I fell in love with the mousie pincushions immediately. I opted to make the larger of the two, and thus my Mummy Rosie came to be.
I used a bunch of turquoise/teal scraps to piece Rosie’s back, and realized that this project would make SUCH a great scrap buster. I might just start making 3/4″ hexies and throwing them in a jar to make mousies!
Any project that involves cutting through a hand-stitched panel always is painful, but I forged ahead with gritted teeth and it was worth the pain of trimming. As you can see, I marked the template plastic with guides around some of the hexies so that when I cut each panel, they would be symmetrical. It worked well!
I love how so many of the projects in Sharon’s book include little embellishments with embroidery, cute ribbon, and vintage lace. Rosie not only has a scissor pocket on the bottom, which makes use of a pretty coordinating ribbon I bought from my local quilt shop 
I decided to pull out the 
Here’s a peek at the process. You can see how well the lines transfer onto the fabric. It’s reallllly easy to use, too. I used a selection of 
I think it’s a good look, don’t you?
The pattern calls for attaching 2 1/2″ scissors, but I opted to attach my 4″ 
Rosie’s ready for action, don’t you think?
Once again I was honored to have the task of doing the quilt photography for the 
This year, we were definitely a lot more relaxed and peaceful during the photoshoots, which I’m sure Garrett appreciated!
With projects photographed all through Maine, next year’s planner is sure to inspire, and if you haven’t ordered yours yet, I definitely recommend doing so! As an added bonus (and added irons on the fire) I also contributed a pattern to the 
Perhaps the most exciting and monumental project I tackled over the course of the summer was the design of my very first English Paper Piecing pattern with 
Perfect for both beginner and experienced EPPers alike, Pollinate is a diverse pattern that has endless possibilities for design and color play. Plus, the “filler” sections look like bees!! You can see the many different Pollinate quilts taking shape on Instagram by checking out the 
This summer I was honored to work with 
I photographed all 9 different weights of thread offered by Aurifil in a variety of stagings, and truly enjoyed the process. You can scroll through the photos on the top of the Aurifil Thread website to see a selection of my photos, and I’ve included a couple of my favorites here. There’s also a fun interview with me on the 
This summer I also tackled the 
I’m excited to be one of the 
Here is a screenshot showing some of the blocks I’ve made so far. You can see all of them on 
I headed off to QuiltCon with an English Paper Piecing (EPP) project–the Mandolin Quilt Block by Jodi at Tales of Cloth. I had gotten a bit further than 
While I was traveling, the mending on my most-worn jeans began to wear through, but fortunately I was able to pick up a mending kit from the 
I used the 12wt 
My long flight back to NJ after QuiltCon allowed me to finish both of these hand stitching projects, which felt pretty amazing since I typically make progress at a snail’s pace.
I’m using *gasp* 
I have a highly technical approach to selecting fabrics when it comes to a project like this. I place my center on the floor, surround it with all of the Alison Glass fabrics I can find, and then play.
I audition fabrics not only in person, but also through the screen of my phone’s camera, since oddly, some fabric arrangements look different from afar. Alison makes it pretty easy since her fabrics are such a vibrant spectrum of tone on tone color that already transition so well through the rainbow. It’s still fun to decide where to put each bright little bit, and mixing fabrics from new and old fabric lines.
I love English Paper Pieced patterns that have acrylic templates, since I’m a big fan of meticulous cutting (aka 
Even with a project focused on the color flow and not so much the individual pieces, I still fit meticulous cutting in where I can. You *might* notice that the squares around the center are all meticulously cut from Compass from Sun Print 2018, alternating designs since I only had fat eighths of the fabric, which didn’t include a full repeat of the design. The triangles are also meticulously cut, alternating between Latitude from Diving Board and Link from Sun Print 2017.
I’ve been using 
Today I’m excited to be the first quilting stop on Patty’s Flit and Bloom Blog Tour, where I get to show you what I’ve been working on these past couple of months using her newest fabric line for 
I began with one of my favorite EPP patterns, 
Aren’t these peacocks fun as they dance in pairs around the block?
While I was stitching my Moonstone block, Mathew (aka 
I knew I wanted to incorporate the hummingbirds into this flower block, since hummingbirds and flowers go together like rock and roll, but couldn’t fit them onto any of the individual shapes. Then I realized that I could split the hummingbirds across two background fabrics and decided to go headfirst into meticulous cutting at its best.
I labeled the humming bird front-back pairs since the Flowermania block is pieced in such a way that they are only joined right at the end as the segments are stitched together. This fussy cutting feat was no easy task, I might add. From the careful cutting to make sure the hummingbird halves would seamlessly meet when stitched together, to basting the pieces *just* so, to then stitching it all together and having it meet perfectly around the green diamonds, this was a challenge. They are not all perfectly matched up, and I learned a few tricks along the way that I’ll keep in mind next time, but overall I’m happy with the outcome.
Some hummingbirds match perfectly, but even the imperfect ones are perfect in their own way. Hummingbirds are happily flitting around this Fowermania bloom, and it seems to me that it’s the perfect poster-child block for Flit and Bloom fabrics. Right!?
Finally, I started to dive into a Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses block, since what is EPP without Lucy Boston? I love how rotating the fabrics creates even more meticulously cut geometric fun, and I look forward to seeing how this block shapes up.
One of my favorite parts of planning with Lucy Boston blocks is in the outer pairs. I like to make a few “test pairs” with different fabrics and arrangements to see which ones I visually like best.
I love that Flit and Bloom has plenty of opportunity for mirror image fussy cutting, since those are my favorites–can you see why?
Which arrangement is your favorite?
I used 
Be sure to visit the rest of the stops on the Flit and Bloom Blog tour to see what everyone has made with this fun fabric:
In the spirit of setting myself up for success, I opted to make four (4) blocks to make a pillow rather than a full sized quilt, and I dove into my bright Alison Glass stash to put together a fully saturated, smooth rainbow gradient. You know how I feel about rainbows. Alison Glass fabric rainbow + Giucy Giuce EPP project = heaven on a summer’s day!
I used mostly 50wt Aurifil thread, with a few 80wts thrown in, using coordinating colors so that the stitches blend right in with the blocks. The threads shown here are (from top left clockwise): 2535-Magenta, 1154-Dusty Orange, 5015-Gold Yellow, 5017-Shining Green, and 1125-Medium Teal, all 50wt. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as matching the perfect thread to your fabric!
Alison’s Art Theory print from her Ex Libris line (still my ultimate favorite fabric ever) was my color inspiration, so I planned my 4-block panel around the color flow in the center octagon. Throughout the course of the summer, I finished the four blocks and completely stitched them together!
Now I am at the point in the game where this could lounge in the works in progress pile for a while, but instead, I am going to use my excitement to forge ahead and aim to finish this beauty, which is sure to be my most favorite pillow of all time.
My next step is to choose background fabric, press the pieced panel thoroughly, remove the template papers (so that I can use them again!!), and then hand stitch the panel down onto the background fabric. Just last week, I visited my local quilt shop 
After looking at those options, I still felt like I needed to see the Insignia before deciding, and with the encouragement of a few friends on Instagram, especially Erin who said, “I’m a strong believer in first instinct=best instinct!”, I ordered a yard of Insignia in Charcoal from Alison Glass’s shop. (Thank you Erin!). Clearly, my first gut choice is the winning choice!
Next I will hand stitch this epic panel to the perfect Insignia background using Aurifil’s monofilament thread in Smoke. I plan to quilt this with the Smoke monofilament thread, too, and I’m so excited just thinking about how amazing this pillow will be. This will be my first time sewing with monofilament thread, either by hand or machine, so I’ll be sure to share how it goes.
As for me, I’m nearly finished piecing my next rendition of a Moonstone block, going with the Gems layout and a more nautical theme. I plan to make only one block and top stitch it to a large zippered pouch for a friend to whom I owe a quilt. I’m hoping the consolation diaper pouch/zipped pouch will hold her (and her nearly 1 year old baby) over until I manage to make the quilt!
As you can see, I’ve been absolutely struck with Moonstone Madness and it doesn’t appear to be tapering off just yet. I’ve had a wonderful time piecing together these blocks, and the portable nature of English Paper Piecing ensures that it is still very much on the top of my “summer stitching” projects list!
Night Quilter 