Frank Pillow Completed

In my earlier post about Frank (dated 9/24/25) I was very pleased with how quick and fun it was to make up the Lella Boutique pattern. All that remained to complete this item was the FMQ and its assembly into a pillow. Deciding the pattern to quilt over Frank's face was a quandary for me, more so than it should have been. I worried about my motif choice for far too long, dithering back and forth among my many rulers. I glossed over my many circle and heart choices. I considered a Clamshell motif, or perhaps a mustache type Swish ruler. Eventually I settled on something wavy. I then "wavered" on the basic decisions.

• Should the wave be deep or shallow?
• Should the repeat of the length be short or long?
• Should the distance between waves be close or more spaced out?
• Should the waves be parallel in one direction or they should cross each other at right angles?

The top size is 17½" square. I decided on an 8" long wave shape with a 1.5" depth, spacing the waves slightly over 1.5" apart. I sewed a horizontal set and a vertical set using my HQ Wave C template. I rejected using my HQ Wave F template as having too much movement; its wavelength is 4" with the same depth options as HQ Wave C template.

Selecting a thread color was another delay. I truly do not know why I could not make up my mind. Part of the problem was that I had no dull greens, which is what I thought I needed. I only had bright chartreuse, Kelly green, or blue-green tones, not drab olive type monster colors. After choosing a bright green, I was pleased it gave movement to Frank's face without screaming discord; nor did the bright green detract from the pink spider web background.

I plan to make two or three more of these pillows as gifts, so I could vary the FMQ pattern and color on those. While at a recent craft show (9/25/25 post), I even sought out alternative green fabrics for Frank's face, ones that were not too perky, too bluish, too dark, or too busy a print. This project helped me resurrect my zipper insertion skills. Instead of the overlap method for the pillow back, I put a zipper in the bottom seam. A 14" zipper with an 18" pillow form provided a good combination of insertion ease and final plumpness. The pillow back is simple and not quilted but in keeping with theme — the perfect green with spider webs.

I noticed now that I had not put a label on this pillow. I think I will just write the title Frank, my initials, and the year in the lower corners with a pigma micron marker.

Extra Information
In researching waves for this blog post (and my own benefit), I came across a Handi-Quilter video on How to use the Wave Rulers. I learned that some rulers have been released under new names and some are no longer available from Handi-Quilter directly. Here is my summary to share for wave type rulers. There are also scallop rulers but I did not address those.

Original issue wave rulers:
I own C and F. B is too large for my hand to hold. I may seek D out E.

• Wave B: 10" x 2" or 10" x 1" (hard to hold, now Smooth Wave)
• Wave C: 8"x1.5" deep or 8"x 0.75" deep
• Wave D: 6"x ¾" or 3" x ¾" (now Ripple Wave)
• Wave E : 6"x 1.75" or 3" x 1.75"
• Wave F: 4"x1.5" or 4"x 0.75" (now Tidal Wave)

New names:
Smooth is too large for my hand to hold. I may seek out Wiggle and Ripple (formerly D).

• Wiggle Wave: 3"x½" or 1½"x½" ( ~10" long, may be hard to hold)
• Smooth wave :10" x 2" or 10" x 1" (hard to hold  on sit down, formerly wave B)
• Ripple Wave 6"x ¾" or 3" x ¾" ( ~12" long, may be hard to hold, formerly wave D)
• Tidal Wave  4 x ¾"  or 4" x 1½" (formerly Wave F)

The original Lella Boutique pattern picture shows tight vertical waves down Frank's face. My guess is that this is a canned wavy line stitch on a Bernina. My Pfaff does not have that. I wanted something less dense anyway. I use Winline 100% Bamboo batting and it allows for stitching as wide as 8" apart.

Pleasanton Craft Show

Today I met up with my friend Tekoa at the Pleasanton Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival being held at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, CA. We got there the first day about one hour after opening and it was packed! I was glad to see this show's resurrection since the COVID pandemic really curtailed the extent of many of these events; happily they are surging back.

My goal for the show was to buy other green fabrics that would work for the face of Frank per my previous post dated 9/24/25. I also was determined not to buy any more kits. Kits are a weakness of mine. I was only going to add fabrics to my stash that really spoke to me. When I get home from a show like this, my habit is to I challenge myself to remember everything I bought without peeking. I silently chastise my self (mildly) that if I cannot remember an item I really did not want it and it was an impulse purchase. I am not too hard core about this philosophy, because I also maintain that indulging a few of our impulses is what keeps us happy. Nevertheless I try to recall what I bought; picturing where I bought it helps. I look at the map of the vendors and try to match that with my receipts. Here is my spreadsheet to jog my memory. Seeing the overview I categorize items by type of purchase.

Fabric type purchases
I did indeed meet my first primary goal and get more green fabrics for the face of Frank. I added to those, a yard of red and white stripe. I find I do use this graphic stripe as a basic, or for binding especially around Christmas time. The magenta and teal fabrics with white line drawings I will admit was an impulse buy. They called to me. I got one yard each. But to my credit, I did not buy them in the other colorways of royal blue, aqua, peach, purple, black, orange, or red. On the selvage, I noted that they are Patt 1319 Cameo by Allison Glass for Andover Fabrics ©2024. If I do get desperate, I may be able to get the other colors. I show a few of the colors I did not buy.

Panel type purchases
Even though I have a drawer crammed full of fabric book panels to make up, these two seasonal panels appealed to me. The colors are so soft and calming. My grandkids are beyond cloth books but I can make these pages into a quilt, graphic novel style, by separating "pages" with sashing as in my 11/20/2014 Mitten Graphic Novel post. I can also make them into placemats as I did in my 12/17/2018 Twelve Dogs of Christmas post or my 12/26/2018 Twelve Cats of Christmas post.

The soft colors of this Santa panel also seemed to whisper to me to buy it. I think the gentle bunnies in the lower portion did the urging. I also include a photo from the web showing the entire panel. This will inspire, test, and develop my FMQ skills

Not all the panels I caved over were soft and subtle in coloration. My tastes can be very eclectic. I saw this orange pumpkin and starting searching the booth for the fabric. Its siren call to me was so loud, I was about to ask the vendor if I could just buy the pillow, all made up. The vendor had five related pillows made up. Then my friend Tekoa found the panel with the funky characters on it to sew and stuff. I snatched it up.

Tool and pattern purchases
In making up my 9/21/2025 Bees and Sunflowers Banner, I embroidered the antennae on the bees and renewed my interest in stitchery, hence my interest in this redwork pattern. For my own quilting, I liked the pattern with sheep each having a different detailed mini-block in its body. At another booth I found a charm to go with the yes, yet-to-be made, quilt.

Each of the redwork ornaments are about 3" tall. An enlarged view of a bird ornament shows it to be interesting enough yet uncomplicated enough to perhaps encourage a young sewist to be successful. I thought it might provide small enough projects to perhaps interest my granddaughter. That is why I bought an embroidery hoop and scissors to go with it. A small perk is that the investment in floss only needs to be one color.

Here is a full size image of the Down the Lane pattern. Once I got it home I noticed it is by Lamb Farm Designs. This is the same designer of the Make it Merry wreath I am thoroughly enjoying assembling on a monthly basis. These are the posts of my progress on that pattern: 6/14/2025 Make It Merry Month One, 6/21/2025 Make It Merry Month Two, 8/16/2025 Make It Merry Month Three. This quilt may be a noble goal for an Easter quilt. Easter can be much more than bunnies and chicks.

I had a fun outing with my friend. I did not come home with any more kits, only with lots of inspiration and enthusiasm for some fun future projects. Lately I have been completing smaller projects and found the satisfaction is very joy-inducing indeed. Not all endeavors need to accommodate a king size bed! Buying, in moderation, is also a mood booster in its own right. It was a great day.