This Bed Needs Pillows

 After buying a new quilt for my bed, I had to figure out pillows that would go with it. It was advertised with matching shams but they were a bit much for me.

I thought the best way to do this would be to find fabric and make them myself.  I scrolled through a few fabric sites online and ordered three samples from three different companies.  Then I waited, and waited for them to arrive.  This was in December and the post office was overwhelmed, so the wait was understandable...to a degree.  

Finally all samples did arrive but none of them were right for the project.  I had no idea how difficult it would be to find fabric in black and creamy white.  I considered tea staining one of samples to take the background from white to creamy white. I gave that a few days to rumble around in my head. While trying to figure out the best method, I began to wonder if the result would really be worth the effort.  That's when another idea struck me. I realized I had some very nice quilted shams in green and maybe it would be possible to bleach the color out of them and they might turn out a creamy white. I immediately tried a little bleach on the back side of one sham and it seemed like that could work, although the fabric on the backside was lightweight and not quilted. 

The color is slightly greener than it looks here.  I bleached the tie on the left and overbleached the area above the tie. This idea could work but....

 I thought I better take a better look at the backside of the quilted fabric.  When I turned the sham inside out I was pleasantly surprised to see that the backside was not green but a very light creamy color.  Suddenly this project got easier.  

With that problem solved, I now needed smaller pillows to place in front of these to blend everything together.  Since I had already been down the road of "finding fabric,"  I decided to try another route.  I grabbed my mask and headed out to Hobby Lobby.  Why Hobby Lobby?  I don't really have an answer.  I have learned not to question the thought that just pops up.  This is what I found.

Now, not ideal, but I figured I could find a way to make them work for me.  I thought about removing the muslin rectangle which would have been a piece of cake.  It was attached with long stiches. One pull on the thread would probably have it off in seconds, OR I could turn them around and use the backside.

  I wanted to repeat the black circles on the quilt in some way.  But I needed a very faded black.  Turns out faded black fabric is not trending right now. 

 That forced me to Plan B. It occurred to me that a thrift store might have an article of naturally faded black clothing that I could tear apart. Once I latched on to that line of thinking,  I realized I might have some FBF in my own box of paint clothes (A lot of my clothes accidentally become paint clothes.) By turning a very paint spattered pair of pants inside out, I had the fabric needed for circles. 

Now, I just needed to determine the size and the number needed.

 Experimenting a little convinced me I wanted to use the muslin rectangle  that was already there if I could cover the word "Family." I settled on two circles for each pillow.  A little closer to having a plan pushed the project forward.

I cut double the amount of circles I would need for two pillows.

Two circles held together with a blanket stitch in embroider floss gave them a little body.

I needed the extra weight of two layers because the plan...

Yes, now I had a firm plan.

And that plan was to use a few of the thousands of buttons I have collected over the years. I'm just showing the whitish ones here. 

But first I had to find the right font on the computer, enlarge it to fit the size of my circles, and then trace my selections onto the fabric.

Next it was time to sort buttons to find the right color and size that would fit nicely within the borders I had traced.  I selected white for obvious reasons, but not bright white and not any with a yellow tone. In this case variety was also important.

I will point out that most of the buttons I actually used for this project still had the wire that had held them to the button card. Some had thick layers of thread left from cutting them off a garment.  Needless to say that slowed things down a bit and added to the buttons that hit the rug. While removing the wire, I actually broke the bridge on two really small buttons. Drat! I was so eager to use those tiny ones because they fit so perfectly.  

The secret slipped out earlier. And it is numerals, not letters that I used.   

Then came the job of sewing each of these little buttons in place. That many buttons is a job by itself, but holding onto some of the smallest buttons ever made while trying to secure them to the fabric proved to be a little frustrating. There were times when the same button popped away from me two or three times before I succeeded in stitching it in place.  There were a few times when I reached for another similar button to avoid crawling under the table to retrieve the runaway one.

One down, three to go.  I admit this took some time. I really needed to do it in the daylight because even my eyes are aware that 2020 is over.

I hung in there and the  sewing of the buttons is now finished.

The circles are not yet attached to the pillows in this photo.  I got sidetracked by some other projects.  I will wrap this up shortly and end this post.

The circles are attached in this photo, not that you can see any difference.  No real reason to rush this project, and consequently, these took longer that necessary to finish.

There are still a few more details around the room that need attention.  I have only one thing hanging on the walls, so that's my final goal for this room.

Happy to move into 2021 which is proving to be a much better year.

A little late but....HAPPY NEW YEAR!