pillows

I've been so restless lately, wanting to try new things - things like block and screen printing, sewing with waxed canvas, as well as trying my hand at using leather in my pouch making. And, I have not been that successful, I must admit :(. I keep reminding myself learning new skills takes time, and patience, and practice, and letting myself fail, but all that is so much easier said than done.

So, today I decided to disregard all the many shapeless pouches and ruined fabric in the corner of my sewing room and concentrate on what is going quite well. 

♥ ♥ ♥   block printing   ♥ ♥ ♥

I enjoy the whole process a lot, and I absolutely love carving my own geometric stamps. I love that I don't need to be "artsy" or to know how to draw, yet I can still print my own design on fabric.

Actually, the design on the pillow above is not really mine, it's based on the one Krista shares in her fantastic new book Beyond Cotton. Have you seen it? It's such a great resource and my very favorite book at the moment.

I've been on a mission to replace older, way too colorful pillows in our family room with more "grown-up" ones for quite some time now, and this morning it was my very favorite granny square one's turn. Quite a change, isn't it?

Here's the back. I installed a zipper closure (tutorial here) and bound edges the way I would a quilt. Super easy and functional.

Do you remember this pillow I made a while back also using my printed fabric? I loved Margaret's idea of adding some stitching to the pillow so I decided to go for it.

What do you think? I quite like the way it looks.

Oh, I feel so much better now, thanks for listening. I might even give that pesky leather another try this afternoon :).

Svetlana