Pillow talk- Pillows for my sister's living room

 My sister, Robyn, has a built in bench area of her living room. A couple of years back before I knew a lick about sewing, we had picked out some nice, but neutral pillows from Crate and Barrel to adorn the bench. Robyn was looking to add some color and pattern to her living room, so we picked out these bright, modern, graphic prints - Peacock Blue and Taupe print by Lotta Jansdotter, and the bold Coral and White print by Lizzy House - and now she has new custom pillows!

 I used some Essex Linen to accent the pillows as well as this taupe stripe/dot print above.

I also added contrasting binding on each pillow and backed them in linen with a binded envelope enclosure. 

 

Robyn and her family love their new pop of color! If only I could figure out the cover for their long bench pad.... will try for the 3rd time sometime this week!

Four Seasons Mosaic Quilt - A Second Anniversary Gift for Ken from Angela

"Four Seasons Mosaic" Lap quilt

The colors of the seasons pop against the charcoal grey background

 Angela is an acquaintance that I met through my good friend Meredith (Addi's quilt) during Meredith's wedding festivities a few years ago. We've been Facebook friends since and she's followed my quilting work through FB and my blog. 

I was excited to hear from her in late March as she was looking to give a unique gift to her husband Ken for their Second Wedding Anniversary. Little did I know that in the Traditional Anniversary Gifts by year, the second anniversary is COTTON! And what's a more perfect cotton gift than a quilt? Angela is one smart cookie :) 

So we collaborated on an idea - Ken and Angela got married at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco and she thought it would be cool to do a Tree quilt similar to the Chuppah Quilt tree I did for Hayley and Brad.  And here we have it, the "Four Seasons Mosaic" Quilt for Ken and Angela. A very fun commission!

The famous Four Seasons Restaurant in NYC Logo -   inspiration

 As part of my design process I am always consulting Steve on ideas. He led me to the above logo for the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City and I loved it's modern aesthetic. I used the way the branches are drawn to design the 4 different trees structure. Thanks Steve!

I connected each Season with a Mod Mosaic block comprised of the Fabrics used in the 2 connecting Season's blocks. Below is Autumn to Winter.

Close up of a Mosaic

SUMMER

AUTUMN

 Summer evoked a full green tree with lush cherries through out. Autumn is a mix of red, yellow and orange leaves including some falling of course!

2 Butterflies - Ken and Angela, married for 2 years

WINTER

 Winter was a bare tree with snowflakes floating by and holiday ornaments adorning the branches.

Spring is a budding green tree with pink cherry blossoms.

SPRING

View of the Back side and the detailed Quilting

For the back I kept it a simple light Grey (Kona Ash) so the detailed Pebble quilting could be highlighted. 

Tree quilt on a Tree!

Close up of the "Pebble Quilting"

 This was my first time doing Pebble quilting. I love the look and texture, but wow does it take a long time and A LOT of thread!

Dedication square - Ken and Angela married 5/30/10 - at the Four Seasons, San Francisco

San Francisco Fabric from Spoonflower

 I found this awesome San Francisco fabric on Spoonflower (www.spoonflower.com) but just a little too late, after I'd already started the front. But glad I could incorporate it!

I really love how it turned out and thankfully so do Ken and Angela. They received it today and Angela told me it is more than she ever imagined! :) Pretty awesome feedback. They are excited to have a visual memory of their Anniversary/Wedding day and also a really cozy one! Congrats Angela and Ken!