Counting Sheep Pillowcases

Last week, I came across this broad striped fabric and it was so darn cute I just had to have it. It has the entire story of yarn from the sheep and lambs who give it, the balls of yarn that are used to knit and crochet sweaters for trees, and the kitty cats intent on unraveling it all. Since the stripe was in the correct orientation for a pillowcase, I only needed 1 yard. For the borders I picked a quirky green print to go with the grass of the scene, and for the accent strip I chose a muted blue heart soft print to echo the balls of yarn – both from my stash.

Here are full views of one pillowcase and its complement. In the complement to the pair, the focus and green fabrics are interchanged.

I think I am also in love with that green modernistic print. It seems to have just been made for the meadow grass beneath the sheep and the trees.

To give a sense of scale, this is the pair folded in thirds and then in half lengthwise. I did have the foresight to have the green fabric face in the same direction in both pillowcases. (Check out the squiggles' orientation.)

The fabric for the lambs, kitties, and trees is new in 2019 and is titled Fair Isle Friends by Anita Jeram from Clothworks. Anita Jeram is an illustrator for children's books so I am not surprised that I like her work. Also notice from the middle selvage that eighteen dye colors went into this beautiful fabric. The whimsical, lively green is a 2015 design by Cori Dantini for blend Fabrics, titled The Adventurers. Even though a monotone, eight values of green went into this fabric as seen in the dots on the bottom selvage.

These pillowcases will go to a granddaughter. I wonder if she will recognize the following classic book ©2008 with Anita Jeram's illustrations.

Justification for yet more pillowcases:
Pillowcases are my go-to projects after I work on something more challenging and need a break, or come back from traveling and need to segue into the sewing groove. When I come across a fabric I absolutely cannot pass up, I have begun to buy 1 or 1¼ yards to satisfy my craving and then put it to fairly immediate use in pillowcases. I tell myself I am stash busting by pulling from my shelves for the companion fabrics. In actuality, I am buying pretty much the same amount as I pull from my stash, with the non-negligible exception that there is a whopping big (sarcastic tone implied here) net decrease in fat quarter and strip scraps I use for the accent insert.  I loved this Fair Isle Friends novelty fabric and I avoided the pitfall that every novelty fabric calls for another quilt. Craving satisfied. Another UFO avoided. Sewing mode re-initiated. Success!