This is just a quick post to say hi and show you the giant throw pillows I made.

I used some canvas-weight fabrics by Echino (see below). Dontcha just love the stag with the red hipster glasses?

And I mixed them up with some other cotton mid-weight fabrics I had leftover, like the Japanese cotton on the bottom of the pillow below. That was leftover from my Terrifying Yet Chic Clown Suit (aka jumpsuit).

Some of the fabrics, like the old newsprint on the left below, were samples of home decor fabric that Designer Fabrics was selling off for $2 for about a half yard square. If you’ve ever been to their store on Queen Street West in Toronto, you know that they have large samples on hangers organized by fabric type and colour to make it easier to find what you need. When they run out of a bolt, they put the sample in the two dollar pile, and these can make interesting napkins, small bags, or in this case, patchwork pillows. My only regret with these pillows is using that quilting cotton on the right below — at first I thought the skulls were cool but the colours are too bright and it’s a bit too ‘Hallowe’en Twee’ for me. I keep that side of the pillow up against the couch. 🙂

I also included some fabrics I bought from Spoonflower. You can’t really tell from this picture but the grey patterned fabric below has a very subtle repeat of the word “FUCK” written across it. How could I *not* order that???

Can you spot it?

The fish skeleton print below is also a custom printed canvas from Spoonflower. I used some of this fabric before to make a cosmetic case for my pal Laurie a couple of years ago. Happy to report she’s still using it. I think I’m through with ordering from Spoonflower, though, unless there’s a print I absolutely must have and can’t find anywhere else (like, for example, a print that has my favourite swear word, clusterfuck, written in it). Shipping to Canada in addition to the inevitable extra duty charged when it arrives makes it too expensive. You can read more about that in my post about ordering a custom-printed pattern from Sprout, the division of Spoonflower that prints patterns directly onto the fabric.

Those sheep, though!

While my home decor aesthetic normally doesn’t veer into ‘patchwork’ territory, I was really inspired to do pillows like this after renting a furnished apartment in Copenhagen, Denmark a couple of summers ago. The flat was owned by a woman who sews her own fashion line, so it was heavenly to live among her amazing bolts of fabric and gorgeous sewing room. I posted more about that here if you’re interested. But I’ll just add a few more pics of that very charming apartment below. You may spot one of the inspiration cushions here and there.

Thanks for stopping by!

— Lori