This all began when the hubby and I put down an offer on a house. As we are (not so patiently in my case) riding out the interminable time the banks and mortgage companies are taking I have, without warning, become alarmingly domesticated. I am unexpectedly enamored with bed linens and have (may the saints preserve us!) taken to watching hour upon hour of HGTV. I have, however, set up a private firing quad to take me out the moment I finger my first swatch of pink floral decorating fabric with ruffles.
To this end I have been desperately trying to avoid falling into the monochromatic void of suburban decorating. Sure eggshell, taupe, sand and beige are fundamentally appealing to all types of people, but what self-respecting (and self-proclaimed) artist could live in a beige asylum like that? Granted I own the most immense tan sectional, but you got to work with what you have, right? Well a trip to the fabric store took care of the expanse of tan!
Three of the pillows were existing pillows that matched our couch. Those were quickly covered with more appealing fabric in reds and black. To add more interest I made two pillows with upholstery fabric and fiber-fill. On the most plain cushion I tried my hand at appliqué. I cut three leaf shapes from some scrap corduroy and sewed them onto the pillow front with a zigzag machine stitch around the border of each. Trusting myself to fate I went ahead and free handed the twigs as well, using my sewing machine.
This was a very fun and inexpensive way to put more color into the couch!
I thought my little foray into decorating would end there, but I had left over fabric from all the pillows and the sewing machine was still out…
A quick jaunt online gave me a few ideas and before I knew it I was cutting blocks of fabric.
Now I know that quilting is a very exact craft, but I am not an exact person. I just cut and sewed, no measuring and no ironing. Of course that meant that there were a few mistakes and some craftily hidden botches, but overall it turned out beautifully for my first quilt. Who ever said quilts have to be frou-frou concoctions of floral prints in crazy diamond shapes?
-Lyzard
