Hesperides

It's amazing what a whole bunch of couch time will do for your hand-sewing game. Just before we headed to the beach in July, I managed to finish up my Hesperides pillow (pattern by Carolyn Friedlander).

I simply adore these Little Town fabrics by Amy Sinabaldi. I mean, seriously, look at those little houses and critters.

Most of the appliqued fabrics are from Little Town, with some solids, Carolina gingham, a bit of Carolyn Friedlander, and a Dear Stella crosshatch thrown in. The silver metallic dot background is from Cotton + Steel, and the rest of the background is metallic Essex yarn-dyed in Water.

I decided to keep the quilting simple and stuck with some big-stitch quilting using embroidery floss and perle cotton in a variety of coordinating colors.

I made this pillow as a sample for the needle-turn applique class I taught at my LQS last weekend. To show off the pointier templates in the pattern, I decided to do a little quilt hoop.

The 12" hoop is big enough to showcase all three of the pointy shape sizes and was a fun alternative to another mini quilt or pillow. I had intended to add some quilting or embroidery to it as well, but in my excitement, I trimmed off the extra fabric too soon. Oops! Thankfully, I still like it the way it is.

The class was a great success and lots of fun. I had eight wonderful students who took to the techniques right away. I'm excited to teach it again soon!