A New Crewel Pillow for My Sister's New Condo

I've been meaning to share a project I just finished. It is a hot pink crewel work pillow for my sister Lynn who just moved into a new condo. Lynn is a real color lover and artist in her own right. I wanted to make something punchy and happy for her new home. 

I used a Hot Pink Linen Fabric Square that I sell on my website - links at end of post to purchase. I made a foam stamp in the shape of an ogee with pointy ends and printed the fabric all over with dark brown Jacquard Textile Paint. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the linen before I started stitching. Oooooops. 

For stitching, I used the Crewel Wool that I sell on my website. I always travel with an assortment of colors so that I can pick and choose as I go. My process is very improvisational. With an assortment of colors, I just pick and choose as I go. I keep my PDF pattern - The Circles Sampler - on my phone so that I can refer to the 26 stitches that are included in case I want to try a new stitch. That pattern is available for download on website here. 

My first step was to outline all the ogees with yellow stem stitch. Above you can see that in progress. 

After getting that bit of mindless stitching done - which I personally love doing - I worked on each ogee separately. Some were more complicated than others. I love improvising like this with needle and thread - it is so free and easy and totally fun. 

Below I am sharing each ogee with the stitches I used. All stitches are taught by illustration in the Circles Sampler PDF Download. 

French Knots • Palestrina Stitch • Straight Stitch • Fly Stitch

French Knots • Laid Stitch • Cross Stitch

French Knots • Chain Stitch Packed very close

French Knots • Fly Stitch to create diamond grid • Chain Stitch up middle • 

Running Stitch on top of Chain Stitch

French Knots • Chain Stitch Stripes with Running Stitch up each stripe •

Diagonal Straight Stitches with Couching to anchor them to fabric in between Stripes

French Knots • Fly Stitch worked in Stripes leaning opposite each row. The Fly Stitches were worked in 3 colors. 

French Knots • Chain Stitch Stripes with Running Stitch up each stripe

Lazy Daisy Stitches worked perpendicular to each stripe

Here is the pillow top before I sewed it. 

Here is the back side of the work. 

And below is the pillow finished. 

To make the pillow, I use a technique that makes a easily removable pillowcase with no zipper. You can find a tutorial on the Blog HERE for that. 

On the right of the photo, you can see my Hexagon Afghan. There are Free Instructions for that project HERE on the blog. 

The super fun thing about a project like this is - 

It travels well!

Each little ogee can become its own bit of experimentation.

You never get bored because the combination of stitches is endles..

Here are the items that you can purchase from my web shop. The linen comes in many colors - including new shades of off white, flaxen, sunflower, coral, fawn, and grass green. 

The Circles Sampler PDF Download Pattern - $13.00

The Circles Sampler Kit - includes thread, yarn and a chenille needle - If you would like an alternate color from the Turquoise linen featured, leave a note on the order. - $46.00

Hot Pink Linen Fabric Square - $7.00

Set of 24 colors of Wool Crewel Thread - $48.00

You can take a Crewel Embroidery Class with me over on Bluprint (formerly Craftsy)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!