SCRAPBOOK OF QUILTS:PILLOW ALONG WEEK #1

Welcome to the first official week of our SCRAPBOOK OF FRIENDS PILLOW ALONG. Be sure to check out what my friend in crime, Carrie [HERE on Instagram] has to add to the festivities too.

SPECIAL GUESTS

We have a fun line up of special guests who will join Carrie and I each week and we are really very excited to sew together each week… wish we all lived in the same town and we could all sew together in person but I guess this will have to do!

Kimberly Jolly will also be sewing with us each and every week so a big high five to Kimberly [Click HERE or HERE]! In addition, we will have Susan Ache [Click HERE], Anna Dineen [Click HERE], Susan Vaughan [Click HERE], Greg Jones [Click HERE], Melissa Corry [Click HERE] and Chelsi Stratton [Click HERE].

Each week Carrie and I will post a new pillow design or idea on Instagram, here on the blog and in my Facebook Group and our guest designers for the week will also post their interpretations of the pillow for that week!

Save all the inspiration and any hints or tips they give you and you will have a treasure trove of pillow information when we are all done!

I have to tell you that I haven’t seen anyone else’s pillows for this so I am just as excited as you!

WEEKLY THEMES AND INFO

We are going to work through all 6 of the quilt blocks in the book and we have chosen six special Seasonal themes for the pillows as we go. And they will be PATRIOTIC, HALLOWEEN, AUTUMN, CHRISTMAS, TWO- COLOR and NEUTRAL. Each week we will match up one of the 6 blocks in the book with one of the above themes.

So for example the first week just might be the Patriotic theme with the Vintage Spools… but that might be a spoiler so you didn’t hear it here and you will act surprised next week when we talk about it and show our photos :-).

Also EACH WEEK we will share our tips and tricks for how we make pillows. You know that Carrie and I don’t agree on most things [just kidding, we actually do but there are definitely some things that we do WAY different] so we will both be talking about how we do something. We will share how we prepare the pillows, how we close them, favorite fillings, favorite finishes, how we use them, etc. etc. etc.

WEEK #1: GATHER YOUR MATERIALS

So technically we are just organizing ourselves this week but as most of us know, good organization is really the key to quilting success so this week is just as important as any other.

Step 1: GATHER YOUR SCRAPS

Since this is a book filled with scrap busting projects… Carrie and I both suggest you start with your favorite scraps.

Start organizing them into the THEMES I mentioned above. So when you are done, you should have 6 piles of scraps that inspire you in the 6 themes we will be working on. This does not mean that you will have to make all 6 pillows in that theme. It just means that you are organizing your creative brain.

You can start by organizing by color and then create the themes if that is easier for you. I love organizing by color and by theme… it all makes me happy!!

… organizing photos by color is just as satisfying as organizing your fabrics into colors & themes

For me, it helps me to visually see fabrics together to let them “speak to me”. That might sound kind of funny but fabrics look different depending on what they are paired with. So for me, my little piles of the six themes- PATRIOTIC, NEUTRAL, TWO-COLOR, HALLOWEEN, AUTUMN, and CHRISTMAS- will inspire each of my pillows and help me decide what I want to make.

WHAT IF YOU DON’T HAVE A LOT OF SCRAPS:

… we often have SCRAP BAGS in the shop and many of your LOVE to grab them up to have some extra scraps to work with in your piles. You can always check to see what we might have in the shop.

No worries! Start with what you have, just to get yourself started, pull from your stash to add [ I always do that]. And if you would like, find a few charm packs of your favorite collections and separate them out into the themes.

Time wise you have plenty of time to order some charm packs and still get them in the mail [maybe not for the first week, but for all the rest] and charm squares will work for many of the patterns in this book. If they don’t work for some of them, then the colors and fabrics in those charms will help you decide what you need more of for your projects.

So literally by the end of this “organization time”.. you should have 6 little colorful piles, each with its own theme. For most of us, this will be a happy creativity exercise. Whether you end up using all of those piles is secondary!

How to organize? I suggest 6 little baskets or favorite bowls or something else that makes you happy. I am working remotely this week so can’t show you photos of mine, but I will show you next week for sure!

STEP #2: GET YOUR BOOK

Many of you guys pre-ordered your book through Kimberly or some of you through me or your local quilt shop. Books have started shipping and will continue to arrive this week to many of you so don’t worry!

You don’t need the book to get ready this week. If you still need one, I am furiously signing and shipping this week CLICK HERE.

If you have your book… go make a cup of tea. Sit down. Take a deep breathe. Enjoy some time perusing. Read all the fun tips and hints we have given you throughout the book. Pretending that Carrie and I are there with you, arguing… I mean, giving you various points of view on how to do something :-).

THINGS TO EXPECT

  1. Weekly inspiration
  2. Weekly hints and tips
  3. Weekly prizes
  4. Weekly friendship as we sew pillows together! Since they are pillows and they are small, you can actually finish a pillow each week and have a fabulous collection by the time you are done… really!!

Sounds like a perfect way to spend the summer, don’t you think?

Step 3: Other GOODIES TO GATHER

  • Batting: Scraps of batting or fusible fleece. I use fusible fleece but more about that next week!
  • Neutral Solid: I use ivory solid for the back of my front. LOL. More on that later too.
  • Thread: 5o wt or 80 wt thread that is neutral or coordinating to your predominant color
  • Zippers: Go see what Carrie has to say about that on IG. She is all about the zippers.
  • Point Turner: For sure, for sure. I am in love with my new point turner from MODERN AMERICAN VINTAGE on Instagram. He makes such beautiful tools!
  • Pillows Forms: You might want to wait on these until you decide what sizes you are making.

Be sure you follow us on INSTAGRAM for some instant announcements and pics. Click HERE and HERE for Carrie.

Join our FACEBOOK GROUP if you haven’t already [CLICK HERE] as we will be working on it there as well as here on the blog each week.

The fine ladies from ITS SEW EMMA will also be joining us so be sure you are following them HERE on INSTAGRAM as well as us.

See you next week with the first pillow ideas!

Joanna and Carrie too.


Scrapbook of Quilts Pillow Along:

Week 1: Set Up

Week 2: Patriotic

Week 3: Neutral

Week 4: Two Color

Week 5: Autumn

Week 6: Halloween

Week 7: Christmas

About The Author

joanna@figtreequilts.com

7 COMMENTS

  1. Join us for A Scrapbook of Quilts Pillow Along! - The Jolly Jabber Quilting Blog | 22nd Jun 21

    […] for eight weeks. We’ll have some special friends joining us, and some fun giveaways, too! Join Joanna over on her blog for all the details and inspiration throughout! Joanna Figueroa (@figtreeandco) and Carrie Nelson […]

  2. Cory | 22nd Jun 21

    Thank you so very much for posting this pillow along on your blog! I don’t do Facebook or Instagram and have no intention of starting. I really appreciate the quilters who still blog. (For the record, I am not that old, just don’t care for the drama and such on social media.)

  3. Patricia | 22nd Jun 21

    Sounds fun. Have my book. Followed along with Carrie and am ready to get my scrap piles started!

  4. Cindy Wolfe | 22nd Jun 21

    My book arrived today. It looks great.

  5. Diana | 26th Jun 21

    Oh my gosh, what a beautiful book! I love it! It has everything! Pillows & Pincushions, here I come! Thank you for the inspiration & the sew along.

  6. Nicki | 28th Jun 21

    I don’t do Facebook, but do follow along on Instagram, and have loved all the pretty photos of the quilts, pillows and pincushions. Not sure I am pincushion material …. oh my word, all those tiny bits! But the pillows will make great gifts for Christmas; my girls are always adding new pillows to their decor, and changing them out with the seasons. I have to make one for my sister-in-law, too, as she is just the BEST. 🙂 I have some precuts in Strawberries & Rhubarb, Figs & Shirtings, and Pumpkins & Blossoms, so that will be the base of most of my pillows. Such beautiful fabric collections! Thanks for doing the quiltalong!

  7. theresa | 5th Jul 21

    Dear Joanna and Carrie, I am such a fan of both of you, such talent . I hope to follow along with your lovely book.I have read it cover to cover, I am so inspired . Wish me luck. Thank you both.

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