Handmade Teacher Thanks You Gifts

With all of the sewing I was working on for Quilt Market, the last week of school really crept up on me this year and I was scrambling for what to give my kids teachers. Both of my kids teachers were phenomenal and I wish I would have had the foresight to make quilts ahead of time for them, but as a perpetual procrastinator, that wasn't really realistic, right?!

I knew that I want to do something with apples. I love apples and rarely get the chance to sew with an apple theme, so you better believe that my kids teachers get something "apple" every year. (I have heard teachers get sick of apples, but how could you not love a fabric apple?!)

I loved this pillow that Heather of Vintage Grey Handmade made a few years ago, so I used her pillow as my inspiration. I got searching and realized that the pattern she used to make her pillow was a free pattern offered by Bustle and Sew- perfect!! It's called the Appley Dappley Cushion Cover.

I used the apple templates that were available in the pattern from Bustle and Sew and raw edge appliquéd them onto a 16x16 inch background fabric for the pillow front. I tacked the apples down with just a bit of elmers glue (yep- the white washable kind) and then stitched them with black thread to give it a bit of a pop. Super easy.

I just kinda winged the rest of the pillow and added jumbo rick rack to the edges and created an envelope closure on the back side. I ran to Joann and used a coupon that they have going this week for 60% off of a pack of two- 16x16 inch pillow forms, so with the coupon, they only ended up being a couple dollars a piece for the inserts. Score!

 I made two pillows, one for each of their main teachers and then wanted to make something smaller for their "specials" teachers- gym, librarian, music, technology, art, etc. I saw @mommy2lu on IG made some darling little patchwork apples for Lunden's teachers so I knew that would be the perfect thing. I used the Scrappy Apple Pincushion & Ornament pattern by Retro Mama and I was so impressed with the pattern. The apples turned out darling and the pattern was very clear and easy to follow. Which is always a a plus when I fork out $ for a pattern. :)

I wrapped the pillows up with a thank you for their  teachers and then for the teachers that they rotate to throughout the week, I wrapped up the little patchwork apples with a cute soap from Bath and Body Works and added a tag that said "We could not have 'PICKED' a better (gym, art, library, etc) teacher this year!" to the ribbon. They looked really cute all wrapped up and the teachers loved them when we ran them around the school. 

Whew! Glad that I finished everything up in time! I fly out for Quilt Market in a few hours so I better run and pack! (Procrastinator as always- remember?!?) 

If you are at market, I would love to meet you!!

Have a great week!!

Happy Sewing!

xoxo, Ashley

Marcelle Medallion Pillow

A few months ago, I decided that I wanted to make a Marcelle Medallion quilt- even though I had about a million other projects going on at the same time. 

I am kinda weird about finishing things when I start them, and I tend not to have too many W.I.P. (work in progress) projects lying around. Instead, I try to work on something until I finish it before starting another project..... but this time I threw caution to the wind and started my Marcelle Medallion since I was so excited and everyone else was doing it! ;)

I loved making my center medallion for the quilt, but once I finished it, other projects took precedence and I was forced to put my budding Marcelle away. For months it was eating at me that I had such a beautiful WIP that I couldn't get to and knew I wouldn't be able to get to for a while. So, one afternoon, I decided to turn her into something smaller than originally planned and got to hand stitching...

I knew a pillow would be the perfect project and I had a dear friend that moved across town, so a house warming gift was in order... 

I used double fold bias to finish the edge of the pillow and give it a pop of pattern/color. I opted for an envelope closure. I used a cute little twill tape label that says "stitched with love" that I found at this darling etsy shop.

I definitely have plans to make a full Marcelle Medallion quilt in the near future. I love, loooove the pattern and I have been so inspired by the other quilts I have seen in the land of sewing blogs. I can't wait!

Easy Pom-Pom Pillow Tutorial

I am in the middle of giving my bedroom a makeover... Just a few more things that I need to get done and then I am ready for the big reveal! Last week I shared my lamp shade makeover and 

today I am sharing a pillow I whipped up to go with my bedding. 

It was super easy... only 5 steps 

***The pillow cover that I made is for an 18x18 sized pillow, so all of the supply measurements and cutting measurements coordinate with this size, but you could do this for any size/shape of pillow and just take your own measurements to come up with how much fabric you need and what size to cut your fabric!***

Supplies:

---2 fat quarters {if you want to use different fabrics for the front and back of the pillow} OR 1/2 yard of fabric {if you want them to be the same fabric}

---72 inches of jumbo pom-poms {I use a 50% off couple at Joann's when I buy these so they aren't too pricey!}

---16 inch zipper

---thread

Cutting your fabric:

For the front panel of the pillow- cut one 18x18 inch piece of fabric

For the back panel- cut two 18x 91/2-10 inch pieces of fabric (depending on how much room you need to put your zipper in)

 Step 1: Zig Zag or serge around all of the edges of your fabric.

Step 2: Sew in the zipper on the back panels. I like to use Make It and Love it's zipper tutorial!

Step 3: Set your back panel aside for a minute and take the front panel and pin the pom-poms all the way around the edge (on the right side of the fabric) with the pom-poms facing towards the center like this....

 Step 4: Sew around the edge of the fabric- tacking down the pom-poms. {You can totally skip this step if you are super great at sewing- but I like to do this when sewing on pom-poms just to make sure they aren't moving around when they are pinned in between two layers of fabric. }

Step 5: Lay your back panel on top of the front panel {right sides together} and pin. Then sew all the way around the edge... Make sure that your zipper is unzipped a little bit so that you can turn the pillow cover right side out when you are all done. 

Turn your pillow cover right side out and insert your pillow form.

That's it! Super easy and cost me less than $10 to make {not including the pillow form}