Quarter Log Cabin Pillow

I love to make quilty things for loved ones.
So when my brother asked me if I could make him a pillow I didn't need to think twice what I would give him for his birthday.

I had a colour scheme in mind very quickly. Black and white and one of my favourite Kona Solids 'Spring'.

This pillow really shows off my love for graphic fabrics. I selected very subtle, almost low volume  ones and also fabric with stark contrasts.

I mixed the very graphic, manly fabrics with the lovely prints by Lotta Jansdotter from her fabric line 'Sylvia' and I think that and the use of some solids balances the pillow quite nicely.

I used this tutorial by Debbie of 'A Quilter's Table' to make four blocks, each finishing 13.5 x 13.5". The size of the pillow is 26 x 26" (65 x 65cm).

I quilted straight lines which echo in from the center of each block. It was the first time that I quilted with my new Juki. I was very pleased with the overall result, no more puckering issues like I had before with my other machine. Some not so nice things happened though: the stitch lengths varied for some reason and also the machine skipped some stitches... hm, I will investigate why that happened. I obviously need to try things out to have good results.

I used this beautiful variegated b/w Aurifil thread in 40wt, a perfect match for all the black and white fabrics.

I gave it to my brother yesterday and he loved it. And that makes me very happy.