My original idea for this pillow was to emulate this jacket I made years ago. The jacket face design was appliquéd using woven apparel and quilting fabrics. For the pillow I decided to try felt, but I had planned on emulating the colors and sewing. Felt doesn’t come in a wide array of colors so I had to change my plans. Anyway, that was over a year ago and the stack of felt and the pattern sketch have been gathering dust ever since.
A few of months ago I started working on the pattern again. And I decided I wanted to try a more freehand style stitching rather than appliqué. I’m drawn to the freehand styles but they are so outside of what I feel I am good at or how I like to sew. I like accuracy and perfection. Once I decided on this change, the project sat for another month or so, because, well, I was afraid. I know, ridiculous, but there it is. In the meantime, to boost my confidence, I did a lot of “research”, studying examples of freehand stitching, trying to memorize or learn the technique.
Finally I just sat down and did it. At first I was so nervous, then, suddenly, I was having FUN! I was shocked by how much fun I was having. I actually giggled as I stitched haphazardly outside the “lines.” What an unexpected delight! I didn’t want to finish, I was having so much fun!… And so here is Pillow #26, with all its purposeful imperfections…
You could probably conclude a lot of things about me from this pillow, and you’d probably be right. It’s funny, even to me, how often the way I sew is the way I do my life. I guess that’s why they say art emulates reality.
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