Plain Trip Around the World (February 2016 UFO)

I'm keeping this image small because it was dark when I took the picture, and it's grainy. This is the February UFO for this year. It's finished according to my definition. There are still a few things to be done to it - wash out the markings, add a sleeve and a label, and maybe put a line of quilting between the border and the inside. But once I have the binding on and I can take a picture of it, I call it done.

Thanks to bygone astronomers for adding an extra day to February this year.

Home Deco

I made these large pillows over the weekend. I fell in love with the fabric when we reupholstered the sofa (the one in the picture). I bought enough for a few pillows but left it at the store for about a year, eventually picking it up last summer. I cut it into triangles that I sewed together to get the square pattern.

It's hard to see the actual color in this picture - the back is a fine grayish-brown corduroy. It was maddening to sew it to the squares, because it would crawl in the direction of the nap. The corduroy fibers were like thousands of little ratchets. Any movement would slide the back in one direction only. So I had to fight with it.

Eventually I prevailed. I didn't put a zipper in the back - I sewed together two half backs closely near the edges and loosely in the middle, and pressed the seam open. Then after I sewed the front to the back, I removed the loose stitching, inserted the pillow, and sewed it shut by hand. I love these pillows but I caught myself repeating "The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good" many times. But it's true, these are good pillows with a few imperfections.