A New Merry Christmas Pillow

As part of my ongoing

"Christmas Through The Year 2015"

project,

I proudly present my latest pillow...

Merry Christmas!

This pillow will be mine to keep!

I love the way it matches

our brown couch.

I used my 4th and last (sniff...sniff)

"ink swatch" from Sweetwater.

You may recall the other pillows I've made,

using the other 3 ink swatches.

This "Let It Snow" one really works!

We have a few inches of pretty white stuff now.

I love the sentiments on the next two pillows,

describing what Christmas really means.

I believe in Christmas!

Nothing beats a simple

"Merry Christmas" greeting, right?

For this pillow,

I used some more of my beloved Winter's Lane

fabric by Kate & Birdie Paper Co. for Moda,

in rich brown and red.

I love the way this newest pillow looks

with my Topiary Christmas Pillow,

which I made back in 2013.

If you like that topiary pillow,

you can make your own,

using my free tutorial, found here!

As usual,

I've added a covered zipper to the pillow back.

You can learn how to do that

from ANOTHER free tutorial, found here!

I've made the Merry Christmas pillow

only 12" square.

I adapted the pillow backing tutorial

by cutting my backing pieces out about an inch

larger that the finished dimensions.

It's not necessary to make it exactly the right size.

Just before stitching the backing to the front,

I trim away the excess backing.

This pillow looks pretty from every angle,

with a finished covered zipper.

This petite cushion packs a lot of style

into a small space.

 I'll be sharing more Christmasy projects all year,

so please stop by often, friends!

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Comfort and Joy Mug Rug

I really glad  relieved that I've been sewing

for Christmas all year long!

Already, I'm noticing that I've

got less and less time

available for holiday stitching.

I was asked to make up some reversible mug rugs,

celebrating the four seasons,

so I started with Winter and Autumn.

{Here's my Christmas-y Winter mug rug for October's Christmas-y project.}

I didn't use a pattern this time...

rather I let my Winter's Lane fabric bundle speak to me,

and this mug rug kind of just happened!

I began with one of the "Christmas cards" 

from the Winter's Lane fabric panel.

I love the way this image expresses 

a favorite holiday sentiment, but can be used all winter long.

Cheery colors...a sweet font...even some snowflakes!

For the side panel, where the mug sits,

I made 3 background squares,

then fused a brilliant poinsettia flower to each block.

This is my favorite part!

A bit of sashing tied it all together.

I just trimmed the mug rug to size,

making it exactly the same size as the reverse,

which was the Autumn Ticker Tape featured in my last post.

The hardest part was choosing a binding fabric

that would set off both sides of this mug rug.

I used my own free tutorial

for Machine Binding, and I was done in a flash!

{My new iron made it a breeze!  Do yourself a favor, and use a decent iron.}

Here's another view of the finished Winter mug rug.

Now this little holiday mug rug is all set

for cups and cups of Christmas cheer, all winter long.

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