A Soft Place to Fall...

 We all need one.

A Soft Place to fall that is.

This week I have been making pillows for the Touches of Home corner 

of The Boutique, 

and also for my own home.

 There is something about even just looking at a pillow 

that brings a sense of relaxation.

It is the suggestion that perhaps,

in just a little while,

you will indeed find your Soft Place to fall.

The Parisienne Collection

There is a new line being introduced into The Boutique in the month of July...

The Parisienne Collection!

The items pictured here, the fully lined Lingerie Bag and the large 18" x 18" Pocket Pillow, have already been placed on the shelves in the Touches of Home section, and I am presently creating a line of little Snap Purses, along with more Pocket Pillows, Lingerie Bags and Totes... with a few other little surprises as well!

Everything made with love,

Ssshh... it's a gift!

With a few decorating magazines tucked into the back pocket, along with a Tim Horton's gift card, I'm hoping this gift will be a lovely surprise for a certain special birthday girl!

The Most Curious Thing...

These Mini-Pocket Pillows sure are popular!  

I'm currently in the process of making more for The Boutique in preparation for Christmas, along with a good selection of other items as well!  

It's the most curious thing... I really love everything that I make (or I honestly wouldn't be making it!)... and it gives me so much  pleasure to know that they will soon be blessing others.  I'm quite surprised at how intimate each item I make has become to me... like I said... it's the most curious thing!

Ruffled Pocket Pillow

Among the various items I've been creating lately are these gorgeous and substantial Ruffled Pocket Pillows.  All I can tell you is that I absolutely love them myself and so I'm hoping that you will too!  I'm presently putting together a collection that will be available for purchase in The Boutique by the end of September.

What a wonderful gift to receive by itself or with a special book or favourite magazine tucked into the back pocket, perhaps along with a few tissues and reading glasses.

These soft, drop cloth Ruffled Pocket Pillows add such a lovely, elegant and inviting touch to any corner of a home, whether it's the bed or even tucked into a leather club chair.

Hope you like them!
                                               

Pocket Pillows

I thought that you might like to take a peek at one of the Pocket Pillows that I've recently made.

The idea actually originated with my granddaughter who had been looking through some photograph albums and wanted to take the pictures out in order to hold them.

I think it's lovely to have a soft pillow nestled on your lap holding precious photographs that can easily be held, shared and enjoyed... and if there ever is a concern of the originals being handled, it is so easy to have copies made.

Each Pocket Pillow that I've made reflects the theme or memory that's behind it.  This particular one is for the women that have come before me, a home to the recently acquired photographs that I have of my Grandmother and her sisters, my Great-Aunts on my father's side. 

 It was so enjoyable to look through and see their lives reflected back to me, from young womanhood, through middle-age and then into their latter years. In this photograph Great-Aunt Janet is standing at the back, my grandmother Jeanne is to the left, Liz is to the right, and my Aunt Meg (whom my bike is named after!) is to the front.

Pocket Pillows aren't only for pictures... they can also hold the book that you are currently reading along with your eyeglasses.  I always like to have a pillow on my lap to prop underneath my book whenever I lay or sit down to read, so this is perfect!  They can hold special letters, Kleenex.... whatever you choose to use them for... Pocket Pillows are definitely lovely to look at and practical too!                                                                       

Matters of the Heart...

One of my favourite things to do, whenever I go to the Quilting Shop, is to look through their assortment of 'Fat Quarters'.

Just this past week, I came across this selection of materials, and immediately thought of my mother. These colours are not what I am usually most drawn to, but my mother loves the deeper tones of browns, russets and reds. I made my purchase, knowing exactly what I was going to make for her.

In less than 24 hours, my mother will be undergoing open heart surgery. I have heard that soft pillows are a necessary, and highly recommended, part of the recovery process as they ease the discomfort of the patient whenever they sneeze or cough or even when they have to clear their throat. I've seen the pillows that they give out in the hospital... they are red, shaped like a heart and have a graphic drawing of the heart with all it's chambers and arteries highlighted in blue, back and front... hmm-mm...I may be out there, but I'm thinking that perhaps that kind of pillow may prove to hinder, rather than help, recovery!

So, I drew up a simple pattern of what I thought I would like the pillow to look like and then began to cut and sew. As I embroidered 'Simple Comforts' on both sides, I gave thanks to 'The God of All Comfort', and brought before Him all matters of the heart, knowing that as I did - His perfect will be done.

I was pleased that I was able to incorporate, in the trim, a new technique that I have just recently learned; I was happy with the results and certainly plan on using it again!

The pillow turned out soft and 'cushy', and as my mom will be celebrating her 81st birthday in just a few days, I hope that she will be able to enjoy the 'simple comforts' of her new little pillow.