Inverse Pillows

My Labor Day weekend was full of sunshine, and frolicing (how they hell do you spell that, frolicking?), and picnics, and smiles. Okay, that's a big fat lie. I had a few nervous breakdowns, drank some beer, knit half of a shawl, napped, made a friend endure a low-fat supper, drank some wine, watched the first of the Lord of the Rings (my ex got custody of the second and third ones), and I QUILTED. I actually quilted a lot. I finished my top, got some help basting it to fend off an additional breakdown, and got all of the quilting done, and well, finished it. The pics will come when I can go somewhere to get some decent pics. My sketchy apartment complex just isn't a great backdrop. It is living on the back of my couch. The pillows were an awful fail in matching in any sense of the word, so I made some "complementary" pillows out of some left over fabric from the quilt.

The design is different. I just couldn't bring myself to have them totally match the quilt. I already felt a bit like I was living in a Fons and Porter photo shoot sitting there with them all together last night.

I also didn't want them to totally match, so the pattern is kind of inversed. So they match, but not like, identical twin match.

While I have admired many a quilted pillow on Flickr, this was my first go at actually making some. I made pillow cases, really, for 18x18 inch forms because I am sick of my pillows splitting and this way I can trade them out.

A big unknown for me was how to really quilt this. Not the sewing part. Well, that part turned out a little differently than I planned. I also intended to do horizontal lines, but I didn't want them to be too stiff. I wasn't sure if I layered batting behind the pillow top or what. I went with yes. And I like the results. So, top + batting=okay by me.

P.S. I'm single today. So, if you know any guy looking for a snarky crafter with a strong attachment to her cat, too much yarn, a closet missing doors due to a fabric explosion, committment issues, and who bakes too much and likes locally brewed beer, send him this way. (Yeah, yeah. I'm hiding my feelings a bit.)