52 Pillows – #27 – Milkweed (and Collaboration #3)

When you think of Milkweed, you may think pesky weed, sticky white sap or something like that. Personally, I like it. I have fond memories of driving with my dad in the rural areas looking for Monarch Butterfly caterpillars on Milkweed plants. Milkweed grows in our yard – on purpose. I think it’s beautiful, with its soft leaves, and delicate blossoms; how it transforms through the season to growing pregnant pods filled with perfectly white fluff; watching the wind catch the fluff and carry the seeds up and away… It’s magical and makes me believe there might be fairies.

That was the extent of my thoughts on Milkweed until a couple of years ago when I read a historical fiction novel that mentioned Milkweed fluff being used as a pillow filler. Hmm! Interesting!…

As it turns out, Milkweed is pretty cool! Besides being the only plant leaf that Monarch Butterfly larvae eat, Native Americans used the stems for rope, twine and making baskets, the nectar as a sweetener, the fluff as fire tinder and the pods cooked to eat. The leaves, roots and sap also have strong medicinal properties. Early settlers used fluff to fill pillows, mattresses and cushions and to line quilts. During World War II, children collected Milkweed fluff to fill life jackets for soldiers – Milkweed fluff is almost 6 times more buoyant than cork! Over time, various companies have attempted to make textiles, paper, rubber substitutes, lubricants, fuel and pesticides using Milkweed but so far these have either proven uneconomical or not produced any large-scale successes…. Who knew?! And you thought it was a pesky weed!

I was curious about the whole pillow filler idea and decided to try it myself. Without going overboard, I tried to use materials the early settlers probably used – woven fabric from natural fibers with no printing (cotton homespun), cotton thread, and a simple embroidered piece on muslin (that my sister-in-law generously donated to this project). I did use all my modern tools and machines, though, so not authentic I’m afraid.

NOW…. you think this process went smoothly? HA! Here’s how it really went down…

Collected big bag of fluff on quaint Sunday walk with family last month through rural park. Have at least 20 pods. Should be plenty.

10:00 AM  3 pods in and think I have more fluff in nose and floating around studio than actually stuffed into pillow.

10:15 AM  10 pods in and laughing at the utter ridiculous-ness of this, wondering why, why, WHY I thought this was a good idea! Try to take artistic pict of fluff floating around me and cannot successfully capture full effect.

10:30 AM  20 pods in and realize need MORE FLUFF! Pillow only 1/3 full!… Must rush to rural park where we collected fluff last month. Hoping not too late in season. If too late, then will have to wait ENTIRE YEAR to finish pillow! Gah!

NOON  Drag husband and toddler back to rural park, and, THANK GOODNESS, still see lots of Milkweed fluff! Though obviously nearing end of season as most pods are open now. Gather twice as much as before… just in case! As getting back into car, realize some interesting beetles have also been collected. Gah!

12:45 PM  Home again with overflowing bag of fluff. Put toddler down for nap and rush down to studio to finish pillow before house overrun with fluff.

Eew! Is that a spider?! Oh. No. Just another beetle.

1:30 PM  (45 minutes later) Pillow is finished!… Where’s my lint brush!!

Can conclude from this project, while nice idea to use natural material for pillow filling and economical since studio near rural areas and lovely to involve family in collecting fluff/getting out in nature/quality time together, NOT a big time saver. In fact, total time vacuum. Speaking of vacuum, will be needing it for months to clean all of fluff remaining in studio. Studio carpet looks like light snow covering. Gah!

RESULT: Soft-ish pillow with down-like qualities. Slightly crunchy (from seeds). More flat than fluffy. Almost zero bounce/recovery. But quaint like vintage.

STATS:

Pillow dimensions: 10.5 in. x 12 in.

Milkweed pods emptied into pillow: 78

Number of minutes to stuff pillow: 77

Number of minutes spent with family gathering milkweed pods: 62

Beetles found (and flushed): 11

Spiders found (and flushed): 0 (whew!)

Inches of masking tape used to remove fluff from finished pillow to make presentable for photo: 52

Amount of fluff now on studio carpet: hard to determine

Amount of fluff in nose: also hard to determine

Number of times sneezed during pillow stuffing: 5 (surprising!)

Points for practicality: 0
Points for fun and experimentation: 10!

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References:

http://www.buymilkweed.com/history_of_milkweed.html
http://www.almanac.com/content/not-so-common-milkweed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepias

Milkweed

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52 Pillows – Halfway! A Recap

In February 2011 I began my “year-long” 52 Pillows Project. At the time, I felt my life had “become about surviving, being practical and efficient, stretching every dollar, sometimes just getting through the day” because of the stress. I was “tired of getting by.” In undertaking this project, I hoped to “bring myself back to life!… to thrive.”

#1 Bridesmaid

Since I started my project, A LOT of life has happened. Stress and survival mode have taken on an entirely new meaning. And we’re not through yet.

You might be wondering why don’t I just quit? Forget the remaining 26 and call it good? Well, I haven’t quit because I’m actually having fun with it now. I started out trying to get something done, I had an agenda. Fun is certainly not what I expected from my project, especially after all that we’ve gone through. But there it is!…

At my current pace I expect to finish my “year-long” project in another 2 years, making my year-long project an almost 5-year project. I say this laughingly. It just shows how life rarely goes as planned and all you can do is hang on for the ride and make the best of what comes your way.

So you can count on seeing another 26 pillows, fun and creative (that’s my plan anyway), even if it takes me another 2-1/2 years!

#2 Valentine’s Day

#3 Repurposed

#4 Shabby Chic

#5 Obi-Wrap

#6 Tribal Thread

Pillow #7 I Got Nothin’ was a week I didn’t get a pillow finished (or even started) and my realization that, like so much of my life, I was doing my project just to get it done and done on time, instead of digging deep creatively and living from my heart.

#8 Disappointed (This pillow was about my dad who commit suicide in 2007. I think he’s spent more time with me, in spirit, since he died than in the previous 40 of my life, if you believe in that kind of thing.) = )

#9 Collaboration

#10 Raw

#11 Bolster

#12 Nest (I made this before our Jenna was born – now the blank egg could be stitched with another “J”. However, it won’t be because of the pillows so far, this is my least favorite and it is now residing at the landfill.)

#13 Recycled

#14 Collaboration #2 (This pillow I made for one of my nieces using the center embroidery piece done by her mom. I was delighted recently to see she still uses it.)

#15 Recycled #2

#16 Horizon

#17 Chocolate Yumminess

#18 Birthday

#19 Outdoor (and an exercise in perfection)

#20 Simple Tutorial

#21 Pinwheel
I donated this pillow to help raise money for one of the amazing oncology nurses who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She is one of the wonderful people who has helped care for our Jenna.

#22 The Ten-Minute Pillow

#23 Diversion (One of a set I made for my sister. Nothing special as far as technique – although I did really like this extra long lumbar pillow – and the fabric was yummy and fun! Overall, just a nice break from life’s stresses.)

#24 Chocolate

#25 Morbid

#26 Face

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52 Pillows – #26 – Face

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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From Sketch to Sample #2

As in my From Sketch to Sample #1, I’ve wanted to expand my Christmas line for a while. In #1 I made an ornament design based on my Skiing Snowman Christmas stocking design. In this installment, I’ll be making another ornament design, fashioned after my Christmas Forest stocking design.

Here we go…

My favorite of my original sketches

Refining sketch to-size

Laying out the fabric pieces… this is option 1 like the stocking design without sloping background

And option 2 like the sketch… I think I like this one better. My son liked this one better too.

Almost done… I’m going to have to work on the star. It’s too small to stitch around like the other pieces. Hmmm…

Added an extra button to balance out the tree. One more step and…

Finished!

Well, I think this is another sample worth developing. I like how it turned out.

I did not enjoy working with such tiny pieces of fabric and tiny buttons so I might offer the ornaments this year in my shop then develop patterns next year.

What do you think?

Copyright 2013 TiffinyDesigns

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From Sketch to Sample #1

I’ve wanted to expand my Christmas line for a while and summer is the best time to work on new things as sales are usually pretty slow. Plus now that my daughter is stable and we’re only spending one day a week or so at the hospital, I have a little breathing room to create. My husband keeps reminding me to take it slowly and have some fun. He knows me well.

Last summer I was able to expand slightly with a new color and smaller versions of the Christmas stockings I already have, but that’s it. The rest of my ideas haven’t made it past the sketch phase.

I recently unearthed the Christmas product sketches I did at least 2 (or 3?) years ago. They are the perfect projects to start with–small and simple and ideas I’ve wanted to bring to fruition for a long time….The first is my Snowman Christmas Ornament…

My first sketch based on my existing Skiing Snowman Christmas stocking design

Refined sketch to-size

Playing with fabric pieces, seeing if it will work like I thought (had to make the hat a little shorter)

Almost done…

Then my machine started making a squeaky sound and the stitches were all inconsistent and  tight. (Of course I didn’t take a picture – who wants to document their mistakes?)

Ummm… I guess it’s been awhile since I cleaned my machine! Yikes!

That did the trick!…

Finished!

I’ll be refining this a bit more but I think it’s a good start and worth developing further. This sample will go on our family Christmas tree.  = )

What do you think?

Copyright 2013 TiffinyDesigns.

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52 Pillows – #24 – Chocolate

My husband showed this video to me about Phil Hansen, an artist who developed neurological damage resulting in permanent shakiness of his hands, and how, after coming to terms with this challenge, actually used it to his advantage and as a platform to take his art to a new level. Super inspiring!

Lately I’ve been thinking about my 52 Pillows project, and sewing in general, now that my daughter is in remission and we’re not spending nearly as much time at the hospital as we have been the past 9 months. Mr. Hansen’s story started me thinking about how I could make pillows without actually sewing. Here’s what came to mind.

Chocolate Pastry Pillows

We used this Chocolate Raspberry Pastry Pillow recipe as a guide, if you want to try it. Or follow our directions below to make your own Chocolate Pastry Pillows…

(Thank you to my mom for watching the baby so I could do this and to my son for being my helper and taste-tester.)

Ingredients:

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp. water
• All-purpose flour
• 1 pkg. (17.3 ounces) Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets, thawed
• 1/2 of a 12-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Confectioners’ sugar
• Baking cocoa (optional)

Beat the egg yolks and water in a small bowl with a fork.

Sprinkle the flour on the work surface. Unfold 1 pastry sheet on the work surface. Roll the pastry into a 12 to 16-inch square.

Cut the pastry sheet into either 9 (3-inch) or 16 (4-inch) squares, depending on how big your sheet is. Repeat with the remaining pastry sheet. Make sure you cut the same amount of squares from both pastry sheets. Move half the squares onto a cookie sheet (or 2). (I used wax paper on the cookie sheets but the original recipe didn’t say to do prepare the cookie sheets in any way.)

Brush all the pastry squares with the egg mixture. (Turns out we don’t have a pastry brush anymore so I used a spoon.)

Place approx 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 teaspoons chocolate pieces in the center of the pastry squares on the cookie sheet (depending on the size of your squares.)

Using the remaining half of the pastry squares (without chocolate), place one square on top on each of those squares with chocolate (to create the pillow.)

Crimp the edges with a fork to seal.

Prick the tops of the pastries with a fork. Brush the pastries with the egg mixture. Freeze for 15 minutes or until firm. (Our freezer is too small for cookie sheets so we put it in the fridge instead for 25-30 minutes.) In the meantime, heat the oven to 375°F.

Bake for 15-25 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. (Ours came out yellow-brown — using a spoon instead of pastry brush made the egg thicker than it was supposed to.)

Cool slightly then sprinkle with the confectioners’ sugar (and baking cocoa if you like). (Tastier when warm.)

Yum!

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52 Pillows – #23 – Diversion

Back in February, in the middle of our daughter’s most intense chemotherapy treatment, my sister brought a bunch of gorgeous fabric and spent a morning with me in my studio under the guise of my making pillows for her. I think her real plan was to create a diversion for me and make me laugh a lot. It worked. Other than patching my son’s pants, I’ve hardly spent any time in my studio since December.

It took me 2 months to get these 5 pillows done for her, but they are done, and just in time for her birthday!

They’re nothing special in technique or skill, and admittedly aren’t my best work (I’m distracted and a bit out of practice) but they are fun colors and look great in her house…

My favorite

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Scottie Dogs + Christmas + Teapot Cozy = CUTE

One of my pattern customers, the fabulous Susan, forwarded picts of some of the Christmas teapot cozies she created using my basic teapot cozy as a base. She’s really creative! Thanks for sharing Susan!

(Earlier I posted picts of other Scottie Dog teapot cozies and Red Hat Society themed teapot cozies she’s made if you’d like to see them too.)

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Blue Christmas

Ho Ho Ho! Humongous Christmas stockings now available in blue as well as red, and in a smaller standard size as well in red and blue. I’ll be listing this week. Happy holidays!

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Too Pretty To Use

For my mom’s birthday I gave her a pair of green paisley oven mitts like those I sell in my etsy store. They match her kitchen perfectly and, well, I’m embarrassed to say it hadn’t occurred to me sooner to give them to her. I mean, she’s lived in her new house for about 3 years! They would have made a lovely housewarming gift. Oh well, I never claimed I was a great gift giver as I’ve said in earlier posts, and if we hadn’t had Thanksgiving at her house last year, I probably wouldn’t have thought of it at all.

My mom uses these super thin, Wal-Mart cheapo oven mitts which seriously are so thin you just as well use your bare hands to get stuff out of the oven. Only after searing my own hands and hearing my siblings and in-laws repeatedly complain of the same during the festive occasion did I think about oven mitts being a great gift for Mom.

Mom’s birthday comes around, I actually remember to give her the oven mitts, she opens her gift and loves them! I sense a wave of relief emanating from each family member there who’s cooked in Mom’s kitchen and know we are all looking forward to using them next time we cook at her house.

Except next time we’re at Mom’s house, no new oven mitts. “Mom, where are your new oven mitts?” “Oh, I’m going to sew hooks on them so I can hang them up. They’re too pretty to use.” (Sigh) So I took them home and added loops for her…

…where they now adorn her kitchen wall, never to touch the heat of an oven in their lifetime. But she loves the fabric so much she asks for a new valance for her kitchen window…

And she bought more fabric for chair covers, which I am also making. (I’ll post more on those later.) I may not give gifts very often, but at least this one was a huge success. Mom still has the super thin, Wal-Mart cheapo oven mitts (not just one, but 2 pair) so at least I know what to give her for her birthday again this year!

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