pillow talk swap

I have just finished making a pillow for my partner in the Pillow Talk Swap 8.


Oh, I had a blast!!! You know what? I think I finally figured out what approach works for me when it comes to swaps. Previously I made a mistake of sticking to my partner's mosaic more than was needed and it felt more like I was trying to copy somebody else's work instead of just being inspired by it and come up with something that was totally my own. And that was not fun.

This time I made up my mind to look at the mosaic, notice what colors or line of fabric as well as style of quilting my partner likes and that was it. No effort to replicate one of the pillows in the mosaic!

After some brainstorming and blog browsing I decided to go with paper piecing, using Tamiko's tutorial , for all those courthouse steps blocks and I made my own template for the block in the middle. I used some fabrics that I knew my partner liked but I also added some that were my all time favorites, too.


I used washi fabric in coal to frame the blocks (thank you for all your wonderful and helpful input in my previous post). I love how it complements that black print fabric in the middle, yet it does not overpower all the other blocks.

Finished size of the pillow is 18" x 18" and it has a zipper closure. I truly love the way it turned out and hope that my partner will feel the same way.

Thanks for stopping by, friends. Svetlana