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.