Thursday, May 1, 2008

Nice set of pillows ya got there.





Two blog posts today! This one is about a project that I just finished. My mother in law was given a chair cushion by her grandmother when she was a little girl that was made for her little wicker rocking chair that is now in our sons room. The cushion was adorable, with an appliqued kitten in a basket done with a yellow 30's print fabric. The problem was that it was extremely stained and had mildew spots on the muslin background. After taking the cushion apart, I carefully washed the cushion cover in OXY. This got the main stains out and cleaned it up very nice. Then I meticulously took each piece apart and found that the muslin was appliqued to the yellow background (so there was extra fabric back there to use on another project!) I cut new muslin and re-appliqued the kitten and basket to it, making sure to match every stitch hole so that it would not be obvious that it had been taken apart. I then appliqued the muslin kitten/basket block back on to the yellow print exactly as it had been, except that I cut out the back of the yellow fabric to omit thickness. With this 'extra' fabric, I made another block using the 'Pride of Ohio' block pattern since that is where my mother-in-law lived as a little girl. I put batting and muslin to the back of each block and hand quilted them both. I added a matching border to the blocks then sewed a back to them that buttons so that the pillow cases can now be removed for washing. Please enjoy the following pictures as an idea to use if you have something special that you want to save but do not have enough for a quilt. P.S. I found after research that the kitten pattern (called "Kitten Basket")came from both Alice Brooks (#6218) and Laura Wheeler (#604) of Old Chelsea Station Needlecraft Service in the 1940's. It was a pattern that you would get by mail order from an ad in a newspaper.

6 comments:

Rhonda said...

Girl.....I don't know how you have the patience to do what you do...it is beautiful work......

Shaana said...

Hey Monica,
I am so jealous!!! You are so talented!!! Your work is awesome and your knowledge also amazes me. Where do you get it? Keep up the good work, I hope to get together sometime and have you teach this old lady something!!

Kath said...

Girl! You never cease to amaze me! They are beautiful and you are a great inspiration! Keep'em comming!

Kathy said...

Love those pillows! You are so talented! THanks for Sharing.

Monica at Buttoncounter said...

thank you everyone! all of your comments mean alot to me since I consider you all to be my role models. Emphasis on the models.

Molly Mandeville Fryer said...

Monica--great job!! And you did research too--I am impressed!! Matching the stitching holes was that extra step to perfection.