Today I have another tutorial up at the Moda Bake Shop blog, and I’m excited to share the project here with you, too!
March was typography month at the Bake Shop and, as an inveterate type geek, I found the challenge too much to resist. I’m one of those people who are compelled to find the perfect font for every project, even if it means sorting through 30+ pages of free fonts online. I *loved* the process of matching typefaces to different Moda fabric collections (I used Brigitte Heitland‘s Comma, Eric and Julie Comstock’s 2wenty Thr3e, and Basic Grey‘s PB&J, and they were each charming to work with). It’s possible that I’m the only one tickled pink by the resulting pillows, but they will definitely be gracing my living room for a long time to come. I may even need to make a few more.
Jelly rolls were the perfect precut for the patchwork panel. I knew I wanted the type names to fit within a single strip, and figuring out a way to stitch the sometimes very small raw-edge appliques was a challenge. I followed some very good advice from fellow St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild member Cara (you should go check out her blog, Me, A Mom?), who suggested that I use embroidery floss instead of clear thread to stitch on the letters. I ended up using a single strand of floss to blanket stitch around each letter, and using a size 9 quilting needle also helped to minimize the visibility of the stitching. I’m really pleased with how the stitching eventually turned out, and with how well the floss colors matched and blended with the fabric colors.
Although I don’t have many great pictures of the backs of the pillows, they are one of my favorite features. I wanted the effect of having the pillow backs be “negatives” of the fronts, so I reversed the letters and cut the appliques from fabrics that matched the front stripes where the letters appear. I couldn’t resist adding an additional pop of color to the backs with the coordinating zippers. They’re normally hidden beneath white plackets, but I love the surprise of seeing a hint of green or yellow peeking out when you lift the coverings.
I’m really happy with how these pillows turned out, and I had a blast making them. I hope you’ll visit the Moda Bake Shop to see the pattern and, maybe, make a couple yourselves! (If you do, please make sure to share pictures in the Casey York Quilts Flickr group!) Thanks for sharing with me!
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Love them, Casey!
Thanks, Cindy!
These are fantastic! Being married to a type designer myself, I know how thick the love for type can be. So combining my love for quilting, pillows and type. Oh, I am so loving this :)
Thank you, Ann! I’ll warn you that making them is rather addictive :)
What a fun project!
Thanks, Leila! It’s nice to hear from you!
These are awesome, Casey. Isn’t it amazing there are soooo many fonts (and I waste way too much time trying to find “just the right one”) and you have created these stunning beauties with three of the classics. Love your blog and website, thanks for all the great inspiration.
Thanks, Sandy! Although I’d characterize the time spent searching fonts as well spent :) It’s nice how often we keep coming back to the classics, though!