The abundance of cold temperatures this winter has kept me cuddled up close to the fire this winter.
And in my book, sitting by the fire and hand work go.., well.... hand in hand.
I picked up a FQ bundle of Dowry in the Rubies & Pearls colorway from AMH, and I immediately felt drawn to stitch up some embroidery with the fabrics. I wanted something that would accent the colors in this floral print.
I also wanted something "quilty" even though I was going to be embroidering the motif. I settled on stitching a granny square on Kona Ochre. I sketched the square in Touchdraw and racked my brain for different "filler" stitches to put inside each square.
I'm especially fond of this little flower. I think my satin stitching is improving!
To make the embroidery into a pillow, I framed it with the AMH inspiration print and then quilted in a square only on the framed portion of the block. I didn't want the quilting to distract from the hand needlework.
I am loving envelope back closures for pillows right now! It's so easy - simple to sew and simple to trade out one cover for another.
I hope to make a couple more pillows from that bundle of Dowry - but I'm only allowing my self one hand project at a time.