March 29, 2011

It's much later than I planned to write my post today, but it has been a busy day. Client's office until 2 p.m., then home for about 30 minutes of sewing. Near downtown location at 3:15 p.m. to review and sign a grant application for Bayou City Art Festival, then home around 4:30 p.m. for about two hours of sewing. But all is good! I think.

The bottom pillow shows the solid black back
and tan piping. The top pillow shows the
traditional mud cloth that is centered
on the front of both pillows.

Feast your eyes on the pair of pillows I created using African mud cloth in the center. Mud cloth is a hand woven and hand-dyed cotton. The people of the Beledougou region of central Mali (in Western Africa) use a centuries-old process that involves numerous applications of various plant juices/teas and mud to dye and paint the fabric. The solid off-white and black fabrics are linen. I was able to put piping around the edge of the pillows, and I added a zipper in the back so the pillow cases can be removed for cleaning. I'm really pleased with these pillows! They're simple, yet unique.


Today I'm creating the front side of a throw-size t-shirt quilt. Hopefully I can complete the front tonight, then tomorrow sew the batting and backing onto the front so I can machine quilt it. I have at least eight hours left on the quilt. Tomorrow will be a long day and an Advil night (my back will hurt after sitting at the sewing machine for eight hours -- it's hell getting old).