Some small progress

I am slowly getting my quilt quilted.  It is taking me MUCH LONGER than I anticipated to finish this quilt.  I am a bit more than half way done, but ran into the problem of the backing shifting on me.  I laid out the quilt again and repinned it, ugh!  But, it is still shifting a bit.  I will keep working on it between chauffeuring duties.  My children have had camps at opposite ends of the county this week.

In the meantime, I did get my pillows finished.  I have two square European pillows for the bed that we use to lounge on while we read or watch a movie.  I wanted to get new covers made for those.  Originally, I had thought to use flower prints that I made in the main quilt, but as I got started and was laying the quilt out on the floor I decided that I did not like them mixed in.  Having the flower prints mixed in the main quilt made it too busy looking for my taste.  We have a very spare and modern house, somewhat Scandinavian in feel, so I like spare looking pieces.  So as not to waste the prints, I used two of them in the pillows.  These are prints that I made late last summer.

I used the prints in the middle of the pillow top, and then used the scraps I had left from the quilt to surround them in the log cabin type of layout.  I then sewed them onto a cotton muslin and then made the pillows from this fabric. To fasten the back, I reused the buttonbands from two white shirts.   I know that the fabrics don't match exactly, but the button bands are on the back of the pillows and will not be seen.  Plus, as an "old fashioned" quilter, I prefer to use "old" materials rather than buy new, plus I hate making buttonholes and these served me well.

Finally, I then sewed the binding on around the pillows.   I do admit I bought new fabric for the binding.  Otherwise, I already had the white fabric for the pillows and quilt back left from another project from years ago when I was lining curtains.  And, the shirts were damaged ones from my husband in one of our favorite colors, blue.  (yes, I know, how boring to have the same favorite color as most other people on the planet, but I can't help but love the color of the sky and the deep blue sea!)  Here are the pillows in place, just calling me to use them to finish my latest read, The Language of the Hive by Laurie King.  (Here is a plug for these books.  I don't usually read mysteries anymore, especially since Dick Francis passed away, but I found this intriguing looking book in the new section of my library and looked it over.  The premise is that Sherlock Holmes has retired to the country and meets a very smart teenager and takes her on as an apprentice.  The teenager grows into a young woman named Mary Russell, and comes of age just as WWI begins.  These books are fun, well written, and witty.  I decided to start with the first of the series rather than the one I found in the new book section.  If you are interested, the first book is The Beekeeper's Apprentice.)

Now, back to sewing on my quilt.