About ten years ago—though I cannot remember exactly when—I came across a free pattern for a “relaxing neck pillow.” It was quite simple to make, with three bone-shaped pieces sewn together using mitered seams, so I decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, I did not find it comfortable for my neck, so it ended up as a decorative pillow. Recently, however, I discovered its hidden potential. When I stuff it behind my lower back while sitting on a chair, it prevents back pain! I began carrying it from chair to chair, but eventually, one of the cats claimed it as their own, curling up against it. That was when I realised it was time to make a few more.
I made two new pillows—one for the chair at my sewing machine and another to leave on a random dining chair for the cat to snuggle with. Amazingly, I even found the original pattern piece I had traced onto freezer paper when I made the first one! The new pillows were quick to sew and finished in an afternoon. In the picture, the new ones are at the front, while the original pillow from ten years ago is the yellow one in the back.
The free pattern is still available! If you are interested in making one, just follow the link below.
I am still catching up on pattern writing, and here is a design I came up with in 2022. You might remember my Happy Hippo Hop quilt—the original was made for a friend who is a square dance caller and was expecting her first baby. It was inspired by the song I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, which she loved to sing during dances in December.
But her true love are Holstein cows. She has a huge collection of stuffed cows and cow-themed items, and for her birthday, the hall is usually decorated with cows while everyone wears black and white. So after her son was born, I said to my husband, If Heather ever has another child, I am going to make her a Holstein cow quilt.
In the summer of 2022, she announced that she was expecting again… and guess what? She was expecting twins! The Holstein cow theme was actually perfect for twins—black and white pair well with any colour. I ended up making two quilts for her and one for myself as a pattern sample, each with different feature colours. Her twins, a boy and a girl, received the turquoise and orange quilts, while I kept the purple one as my sample.
When I thought about a matching pillow, I could not decide whether I liked the full cow block or the smiling cow face with the daisy better. So, I ended up with two different pillow designs—and I love them both!
All three patterns are now available for purchase in the pattern store! I have created a discount code—enter MOO20 at checkout to receive 20% off. The code is valid until February 21, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. PST and applies exclusively to The Moo Crew quilt, the A Whole Lotta Moo pillow, and the Blossom Belle pillow patterns.
Diese Anleitungen sind auf Deutsch nicht verfügbar, und auch zukünftige Anleitungen – einschließlich des Safari BOM – wird es nicht mehr auf Deutsch geben. Bisher habe ich zumindest für kleinere Projekte noch deutsche Anleitungen mit metrischen Maßen geschrieben, aber mit der Schließung von Makerist zum 1. April fällt mein Hauptvertriebsweg weg, und der Aufwand lohnt sich für mich nicht mehr.
If you would like all three patterns, I have also created a discounted bundle, which will be available until further notice.
The two pillows are also available as a bundle with a discounted price until further notice.
I finally cut into my New Zealand fabrics! Choosing a pattern was challenging because I usually work with smaller pieces and tend to avoid fabrics with larger-scale prints. The breakthrough came when one of my customers picked up a quilt just before Christmas. Seeing her reminded me of a quilt she had brought in a few years ago. Out of the almost one thousand customer quilts I have worked on, I don’t know how that specific one came to mind—but it did! It was her Illusion quilt. I looked it up immediately and decided to give it a try. I even went out to buy some white fabric for the background and had more than enough of the black Maori scroll fabric from New Zealand to use for the drop shadows.
I spent a lot of time sewing over the holidays and finished the blocks quickly. With 34 different Kiwiana fabrics, each appears at least twice in the quilt—some even three times. I laid the blocks out on the living room floor and shuffled them around until I was happy with the layout. That is when my silly cats decided it was playtime. One of them dashed in, leapt onto the layout, and slid across the hardwood floor on the blocks. I was not amused and had to start over. Eventually, I found a layout I liked and snapped a picture right away—before my two little clowns could ruin it again.
The quilt top has been finished for a few weeks, but the quilting will have to wait. While I usually prefer custom quilting, I think this one calls for an all-over pattern. The fabrics are the star of the quilt, and I do not want the quilting to overshadow them. I have a vague idea of using a scroll design inspired by Maori patterns, but I doubt I will find exactly what I am imagining—so I will probably have to draw it myself. There is just one more issue: I do not have any backing fabric. I know exactly what I want, though—it is a Nutex Kiwiana design that my favourite New Zealand quilt shop received about a month after our visit. Who knows, maybe I need to go back there to buy it. That is a good excuse for another trip to New Zealand, right?
