Invisible zipper class ... and bloody fingers!

This Saturday proved to be quite fun. I taught a class on how to sew invisible zippers into quilted pillows. The participants had homework from the zipper pouch class to make two 20-inch quilted squares - the front and back of the pillow. I provided the zippers. I decided to use this opportunity to finish up a pillow I had started for my nephew Kaydn. He loves Buzz Lightyear, and I'd had a bit of that fabric left over from another pillow I had made last years for a friend's son.

The back of my pillow features a cute scrap of fabric of black labs in trucks I had in my scrap bin. Perfect for this kind of project. I paired it with some dense straight line quilting. The front has a combination of the same dense quilting and quilting outlining rows. It felt really good to be back sewing again.

About midway through our class, Kristen, on of the girls accidentally sewed through her finger. After cleaning out her finger and locating a bandage for it, I loudly proclaimed that I have online sewing friends who I have heard of them sewing through their finger, but never known anyone in real life to have done it.

You know what that means, right? Karma's about to bite me in the ass - hard! So, I sit down at my machine and work on the zipper, sewing as close to the teeth as I can ... and two minutes later, sew through my own finger. I didn't sew through my nail, more the side of my finger. Kristen just had one puncture wound through her nail, mine ended up being a jagged cut. And for the record, it hurts like hell, but it's over fast.

These were the two pillows my mom made for our class. They turned out wonderfully. They are made with fabrics from a variety of lines by Birch Fabric which makes organic quilting cotton. These are now on the sofa upstairs to enjoy each day. Invisible zippers was actually a skill my mom didn't know, so it was fun to teach her something new. We both agree envelope pillow backs are a thing of the past!

This pillow is my sister's. Kind of a wonky Bento box look. She went with her gut and just pieces fabrics as she liked. Her son Ethan told her she did a bad job because her lines didn't line up, which she then explained was the entire point. Ethan then told her "It makes my eyes crazy to look at it. Can I have it for my room?" Aren't kids great? Ethan ended up getting the pillow.

And this cute young man is Carter, Kristen's son. He wanted a Batman pillow, and his mom set out to do just that. She did a wonderful job finding fun fabrics and appliqueing the front on top of the piecing. Can you believe Kristen has just been sewing a little while? She has a great design sense!

Next class is going to be making a handbag, sometime in August. I'm looking forward to it - I have a mustache-themed fabric that I'm dying to make into a bag!