Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne and the UK  and its commonwealth countries are celebrating her Diamond Jubilee.  I was very inspired by Pam Kitty Morning's jubilee pillows that I decided to make a couple of my own.

I hauled out some of my pink, red, white and blue stash and this is what I decided to use for this project.



Check out the tiny soldier fabric.  Isn't it just perfect?  I found that at M&L for less than $5.00 per yard!  Ooh, that just made my day.

So, first up, I wanted to make a Union Jack pillow.  This is a little tricky because all flags are rectangular and I had to tweak it for a square pillow.  I wanted the proportions to be as authentic as possible.  So I drew the flag on paper first and then calculated how much fabric I needed and how to cut and piece them back together.

Ta Da!  I just love how this came out.


Then, I decided to make a Queen Elizabeth pillow using the second set of fabrics and here is what I came up with.


The center is supposed to be the queen's silhouette framed by an oval scallop frame.  However, there isn't enough of a contrast and the background was too busy so I decided to change just the center fabric.  

Here's the tricky part, I I had to cut a center oval and either applique or piece it on.  And to just fuse the blue oval border might not look to "finished" since the seam would show through so I decided to applique the blue frame on instead.

Here it is.


I included the queen's monogram and also embroidered the words "Diamond Jubilee 1952-2012".  Too bad the photo doesn't really show the embroidery on top.  By the way, the red fabric in the center is from JoAnn's.

Here are my Jubilee pillows.  I love them and I'm glad I pushed myself to design my own patterns.


Now, I'm seriously considering making a London inspired quilt..  I would have to design and execute my own applique pattern and that is sort of intimidating because I CAN"T DRAW!  But London is one of my favorite cities.  In fact, it is the first European city I visited.  So, I'll seriously consider taking on that project.

The Long Beach Quilt Show starts next Thursday.  I will be working at the Sewing Party booth on Thursday (preview night) and Sunday.  So,  If you are in the area, I hope you stop by and say hi.

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