I made this pillow awhile ago for my mom and decided to share it.
A lot of time and heart has gone into this project, but now that it is finished I am very happy with the end result of this Baby Blessing Quilt. (I hope the new mother agrees.)
Here is an overview of how it all came together.
Piece 5 (with Jewish Blessing)
I sewed the front to the back (wrong sides together) all the way around leaving a seam to be frayed. I chose a pink and white checked flannel for the back side. (Design choice.) Then using my machine I added swirls all the way around randomly to secure the two sides from creating a pouch inside.
Finished and pressed it's ready to be packed and mailed to the mother and child. 
After the five pieces were sewn together and ironed, I added more embroidery and fleece hearts. By adding more embellishments AFTER the pieces were sewn securely together allowed me to add images and words spanning more than one piece as well as reinforce the seams where they were sewn together.
I used a flower, more hearts, and a few words ("love," "dream," and "hope").
 |
| I started with a template made on graph pattern for the pattern. The lettering and phrases around the edges were mostly just to get a template for the letters not for the final placement. |
 |
| Using black and red embroidery thread, I cross stitched my female design with phrases around the edges that emulated the theme. "Never let the hand you hold, hold you down." "History and Herstory." "If your not outraged your not paying attention." "A woman's life is a human life." "I am not your Barbie Doll." "The meek are ready." "Proud to be a feminist." "equality.""I resist." And so on. I then embellished the sides. |
 |
| When the needlework was completed I cut a square of a red velvet-like material (seen in a few other projects) for the backing. Instead of sewing them right sides together, I opted to sew them wrong sides together. |
 |
| Wrong sides together, I pinned the edges securely, especially taking into account the stretchy nature of the red backing fabric. Then, using a strong backs titch hand-sewed the two sides together with black embroidery thread, using the stitches along a clear straight line as part of the overall design, but making sure to leave a small gap to stuff. |
 |
| Using the opening I left, I carefully stuffed the pillow to the desire fluffiness with some poly-fil I had on hand, being careful not to rip open the stitches around the opening. |
 | |
| Once full, I pinned the opening (once again being mindful of the stretchy nature of the red fabric for the backing), and sewing it securely shut with black embroidery thread and the back stitch. I pulled the loose thread from the fabrics to give a fringed edge to the small square pillow. |
 |
| A pillow to make any feminist proud. (Take ye inspiration where ye may.) |
(Make a few or a whole bunch for yourself or share with friends. You can make them to look like yourself, your friends, or or family.) 
And, because I can't resist: Don't forget to take a moment to look at the other side. We don't remember that often enough.
Once again I used what I hand on hand, which happened to be some scrap from a t-shirt sleeve one of my brothers cut off (the black) and the velvet-like red (left from a big project, the scraps showing up again & again). (I love be thrifty and handy with a needle. What a great combination!) 
I made my own pattern using just a piece of paper. I figured the size I wanted the sleep mask(s) to be, then added space to make sure to leave space to sew. I was making two, so I cut two black pieces and two red pieces of each. I used one red front with a black back, and one black front with a red back. It was important that I chose fabrics that were soft and would be comfortable against my face. (A front and back for each sleep mask.) 
Keeping with the black and red theme I used a combination of black, white, & red embroidery floss to embroider the front of each mask. One has a Gothic-inspired butterfly design approximately over each eye and the other reads "Let Me Dream" in script bubble letters with a butterfly. (This isn't your grandmother's needlepoint.) 
As a part of April's National Poetry Month, April 14 (2011) is Poem in Your Pocket Day and, of course, I needed something to help celebrate and embrace this idea. (Poetry is important to the human soul.) Generation T had a great idea to make a Poetic Pocket Square, but I wanted something a little different, a little more me. (And something that would hold more than just one poem. I couldn't choose just one.) I needed space for more than just one poem and so came about this Embroidered Poetry Book, sewn together with a little heart and a little imagination. (The best combination for any project.) Oh, and some fabric and embroidery floss, too. (Everything was stuff I already had on hand.)
I embroidered the front outside and inside of the cover with colorful thread colors on green fabric. (I chose to make the 'cover' green and the 'pages' white, but there is no hard fast rule top any fabric or color choices.) For the inside pages of my fabric book, I chose three poems to embroider; including Emily Dickinson's "If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking," Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken," and Maya Angelou's "The Traveler." I sketched all the fabric with a pencil before sewing the words and details before sewing.
My mind is now full of ideas for another fabric book or two in other themes or purposes. One could make a great, personal, gift for the right person and occasion.
