Don't Hate Me Because I Sew

I'm no Martha Pullen, but I do know my way around a machine, and I love when something comes together quickly and easily. As it did with my Dollar Tree pillow.

We have to drive an hour each way to get to our nearest Dollar Tree--don't you feel lucky you have them closer? Last Saturday on a day trip with my sis and SIL, I picked up several items from the Dollar Tree in Fredericksburg including, but not limited to, a few dishtowels. They're 100% cotton, made in India, and I thought they might work well for several projects.  

Et voila! I used one dish towel, some muslin, polyfil, and three vintage buttons (all but the towel I had on hand). End total cost--around a buck, eight. (Taxes, doncha know.) I still have a blue towel and a green one--both with similar stitch lines in different color threads. They'll probably show up here later in other projects. (What my pic doesn't show all that well is that there are blue and orange stitching lines up and down this towel. My vintage buttons are orange.)

I showed this pillow in an earlier post, my SIL's birthday gift. I finally gave it to her today--her birthday was last Tuesday, but I've not seen her since then. The fabric was hers, as was the pillow form. I simply did the sewing and made the tassels, but I think it looks kinda cute. I told her I'd make another, using the flip side of the fabric for the body and welting of the side shown above for trim.

Now the last pillow I recently made: the linen on this one came from Dharma Trading. Have you ever bought from them? They have spectacular prices for white and natural-colored linen and silk, the only things I've ever bought from them. (Some items come in black as well.) The antimacassar I picked up on eBay, and the brooch was a $.35 thrift store find. The down insert was one I already had, bought several years ago when I was really into making pillows. (I buy them online from United Pillow Manufacturing. Their prices, even with shipping, is generally better than what's offered in stores around here.)

The next few days I'm gonna be working outside. Here in Texas, it feels like spring. I love sitting on the back porch, sun shining down on me, listening to the fountain. Makes me feel like a contented cat.

Purrr.