The Big Pantone Reveal! (hint: it’s a pillow)

Have you ever participated in the Pantone online quilting challenge?  Two years ago I decided to delve right in and created this beauty for Tango Tangerine.  It was my first online competition and so much fun!

It hung in my sewing room until my daughter recently took it for her room.  That’s what I call a  happy ending for a project.

Then last year the color was emerald so I came up with this quilt, which qualified for the finished tops category, and it hasn’t moved past that stage.   I’m sad to say that this 2013’s project outcome isn’t as happy as 2012’s. Destined to be a WIP forever???

But, on the bright side, I was able to make this table runner and enter two categories! 

It was hard to part with, but I sent it to my sister for her table.

Do you know this year’s Pantone Color?  Radiant Orchid!!!  A beautiful shade of purple which just happens to be my favorite color ever! 

I entered two projects for this contest.  First up is a baby quilt that qualifies for the Finished Quilts Category.  This quilt measures 42” x 42” and is made with mostly stash fabrics (I had to purchase the binding online).  It was fun to make and I liked pairing up the yellow and gray with shades of purple, from orchid to plum.

The blocks are made with some awesome fabrics by Thomas Knauer, Joel Dewberry, Denyse Schmidt, and Anna Maria Horner to name a few.   And there’s even fabric designed by DC Modern Quilt Guild’s own Jessie Aller for In the Beginning Fabrics--two prints from her line Jasmine Tea.

You can see there’s a nice selection of various plums, orchids, magenta, and fuchsia colors.  I just love this quilt!  I made another larger version of this design and tweaked some of the construction in a quilt called Dreamcatcher. 

The back has a nice large scale print by AMH with plum, orchid, and a peachy shade bisected by a gray, yellow, and white Amy Butler print.  I think all the colors on the back nicely mimic the colors on the front but do it in “large scale style,” which can be more appropriate on a back.

And then, I have one more project to share for this year’s competition.  I really held nothing back on this last project.  First off, it’s a Jen Kingwell pattern, which means it is completely amazing!  It took me a long time to piece this baby together.  I used a combination of hand and machine piecing.  Did I mention it has curves?  That I picked nearly every single curve and sewed them all at least two times?  And a lot of hand quilting?  Okay, time for the big reveal…

The pillow measures 19” x 25” as per the pattern, which should fit a standard size pillow case plumply.  I used some stash fabrics for the hearts and letters, plus quite a few new purchases of fabric including Safari Moon, True Colors, the backing print by Joel Dewberry, and the Couture Orchid fabric by Michael Miller for the binding.

I am thrilled to pieces with how this pillow turned out.  The hearts look like hearts.  The seams aren’t perfect, but good enough for me! 

I used perle thread to outline the hearts and letters, but decided the linen background needed something more, so I used some thicker 12 wt Aurifil threads in pinks and purples to add a pop of color. 

I quilted tiny v stitches all around the “love” section of the pillow to bring more attention to that section.  After a while it became apparent that the v’s look like little hearts.  Yay!  Just the perfect embellishment! 

Always, with the very few things I’ve hand quilted, I only quilt through the top and batting, then add the back later and machine quilt in the ditch to secure the layers together.  I used Aurifil #2324 which matches the Essex linen in natural perfectly.

It did take someone who machine sews everything (including binding) many, many movies to do all the hand stitching on this pillow.  But every few minutes as I could see progress, I was motivated to just keep stitching and before I knew it, the pillow front was done.  And I think my husband kind of liked my company while we watched a few movies I would have otherwise skipped if I wasn’t hand sewing.

A piece of muslin was added to the back of the pillow front and I stitched in the ditch around a few sections.  Then I did one outline around the perimeter and was ready to add on the envelope back pieces and binding.

The binding is machine attached to the back then brought over to the front and elegantly zig-zagged down.

This sweet pillow is destined for my daughter’s room as soon as I get that thing painted.  New bunk beds have been sitting in boxes in our garage since January, but I haven’t had a chance to prep the room yet.  Soon, I promise, this pillow will find it’s new home.

Thanks for reading this long post!  Go check out all the other entries at On the Windy Side if you want to get your purple fix for the day and see all the gorgeous entries.

Linking up to Fort Worth Fabric Studio today.