Christmas Village Pillow

Here's a finish that's been waiting to happen for over a year!  It was supposed to be a quick project to pull together before Christmas 2012 and have ready for gift giving. 

HA!  I always have great ideas at the last minute and those are the ones that typically turn into UFOs (unfinished objects).

The pattern is "Holiday Lane Pillow" .  Of course when I saw it and thought it was so cute and would be so quick I wasn't planning on making more than one.  Then I pieced together the first one.  It really was so fast I thought well, all the fabrics are here and I'm moving right along, why not make 3 more!  Aren't they just adorable?  The trees, windows, and snow on the roofs are all fusible applique. 

I experimented with the white fabrics a bit.  I tried a brushed flannel but it was kind of stretchy so I didn't use it.  Then I tried a "craft" fabric that's fuzzy on one side and smooth on the other.  The feel of it was great and it looked just like real snow.  The problem was as soon I started pressing the pieces down it lost it's fuzz and didn't look that great any more.  That's actually the one I finished into the pillow above.

I finally settled on a white that has a bit of a shine to it.  Kind of looks like snow that has melted and refrozen.  It's really pretty!

Once all the panels were made I wanted to include some embroidery to perk it up a bit.  This meant more time was need and they wouldn't be ready for Christmas so I put the whole project aside until spring last year.

When I picked the project up again I figured it was early enough in the year and I'd have them all done by Christmas (2013).  I embroidered the first one and really liked it.  Here's a close up.

In the meantime, I was working a quilt for my sister-in-law (more on that later).  So again the village pillows got put aside.

The next time I picked it up was to have something to take to my monthly quilt group.  By now I had forgotten which stitch I used to outline the door and window so I had to look it up. 

I found this great website with a whole library of hand embroidery tutorials.  If you're interested in adding some new stitches to your embroidery you should check out Needle'n'Thread by Mary Corbet.  Be prepared to be inspired!  I think I've watched almost every one of her videos multiple times and it has sparked a new interest for me in embroidery.  Oh great, another whole world of UFOs!!!

I finally completed all the embroidery over the weekend and finished the first one as a pillow.  I didn't actually quilt it so technically it's not a "quilt" project but it's done.  Now, I really like the pillow but honestly, the thrill is gone and I don't want to make any more pillow covers.  At this point I'm torn between making them into individual table runners or just sewing them all together as a small quilt.  This much I do know, the unfinished ones are heading back into the UFO pile.  Or maybe I can just call these WIPs (Works In Process)!

Do you have projects like this that keep coming back begging to be finished?