Pueblo Pillow – Scrap Bag Idea

My friend Anne Stradal just finished this pillow and sent the picture to me this morning. I love it so much I just had to share it with you.

Besides being wonderfully gorgeous, the background is a great idea for you to use with your scrap threads.

Here’s what Anne has to say about the project:

It all started out when I discovered Fleur de Paris had discontinued its line of fine mesh velour. I have a ton of it, but didn’t want to use it for a design that would call for a stitch guide, because people would have to scramble to find a substitute [I know the feeling – J]. I decided instead to design a pillow insert for my own newly remodeled family room.

I chose four of my own designs based on Pueblo Indian pottery as the central motif. The one common element in all of them was a diamond shape, so I divided the background canvas into triangles drawn diagonally on the canvas. I had about 14 packages of the fine mesh velour in shades of brown–some full packages, some only partials, and some different dye lots of the same color number. Using the shade I had the most of, I started filling in triangles, diagonally opposite one another, and got a better handle on the kind of mileage I’d get from the thread.

As I got into the partial packages, I divided them in half and used as much as I could within the triangles, again on opposite sides of the canvas. The white and black triangle in the middle is where I ran out of velour! I had already designed a border pattern, so picked up on that to fill in the center area. The pottery designs themselves and the border were stitched in Trio.

I just love this idea for a background. It has a charming rustic feel about which comes from the different colors of brown and the Basketweave stitching. If you look you see variation in color in diagonal lines — something we usually avoid. But here, those lines echo the lines in the pottery and the background and make the patches of color look like old Indian blankets.

You can do this yourself very easily. Mark the background in diagonal triangles. Then gather up your threads. If, unlike Anne, you don’t have a huge stash of thread you can’t use, buy several shades of pearl cotton in different brands and different values of the same color. Also raid your stash. This can be the basis of your background.

Then start stitching.

Because the background is a neutral color and compliments the shapes in the pottery and border, it enhances the design even though it is more busy than a plain background.

I just love it!