The countdown to Thanksgiving is on at Opulent Cottage! I'm so excited for the season, but I must admit to having a hard time tearing myself away from TV coverage on Hurricane Sandy. My heart aches for all who lost their homes and family heirlooms, and have had their lives disrupted so dramatically. I'm keeping all in my prayers, and I cheer a little every time I hear about the progress that has been made.
As usual we have quite a few projects on our plates. It's a goal of mine to make our home as cozy and as comfortable as possible before the holidays arrive! One of the things we hope to accomplish is to update the window seats in our dining room. They were painted red, to match the former wall color, but now they are primed and ready to paint white! We are adding some trim also, to make them look a little more custom and built in. I hope to show our progress next week. And like the living room, the pillows in this area had seen better days. Pets, kids and parties had taken their toll.
Did anyone else see the pieced burlap pillows on Joss and Main last week? Well I sure did, and I couldn't wait to make a version of my own! I definitely swooned over the mix of nubby burlap paired with rich prints.
When I spied the red and white print at JoAnn Fabrics, I knew it was the one! It's a great compliment to the Country Life toile that is skirted on the bottom half of our vintage armoire turned china cabinet. Then I got even luckier and scored the red paisley from the remnant bin! Talk about a fabric combination dream come true.
But it gets even better! When I was taking one last swing through the fabrics, I spied this beautiful Kas satiny stripe. In my colors! There was no way I was leaving without some of this.
Since I was on a roll, I whipped up another pillow using canvas fabric and jute webbing. I added vintage buttons for a little more oomph.
For continuity, all of the pillows were piped and backed in drop cloth canvas. (You can see how I wash and bleach it here.) But here's another tip: Using inexpensive fabric for backing can really save some $$ on your fabric bill, especially when you're buying something that's $40 per yard.
I have a few more pillows to sew, then cushions to cover, too. I'll show you next week how we built the window seats from inexpensive MDF and hinges, to create a storage and seating area in what had formerly been wasted space.
Have a great weekend everyone! I'm joining:
Debra's Vintage Inspiration at Common Ground
Sherry's Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Heather and Vanessa's Inspiration Friday at At The Picket Fence
Cindy's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Debbiedoo's Power of Pinterest Party
Donna's Saturday Nite Special Special
Roeshel's DIY Project Parade at DIY Showoff
Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
LOVE LOVE the pillows!
Posted by: Martina | November 01, 2012 at 11:32 AM
LOVE!!!
Posted by: Cathy | November 01, 2012 at 12:00 PM
What beautiful pillows! Love the colors and fabric combinations.
Posted by: Penny @ The Comforts of Home & Flea Market Makeovers | November 01, 2012 at 01:12 PM
These are so pretty, Andrea--I'm now very inspired to try making some pretty pillows myself!
Posted by: Athena at Minerva's Garden | November 01, 2012 at 01:13 PM
Oh. My. Gosh. I did see those last week and yours are even better. Amazing!
Posted by: Stacey | November 01, 2012 at 01:24 PM
Your pillows are gorgeous! I'm sure they cost just a fraction to make what they would've cost if you purchased them on Joss & Main!
Posted by: Melanie | November 01, 2012 at 04:52 PM
They are gorgeous!
Posted by: Karen | November 01, 2012 at 10:28 PM
Your pillows are wonderful. Love the colors & fabrics.
Posted by: Carol | November 01, 2012 at 10:50 PM
Love the pillows. I use prewashed drop cloth on the pillows I sell. I have never thought about bleaching it. I will have to give that a try for some of them.
Hugs,
Laura
Posted by: Laura | November 02, 2012 at 06:51 AM
I am so looking your pillows and all the lovely things you make. I so enjoyed looking around your lovely blog and I found you on Inspiration Friday link party. I am a new follower. I would love for you to stop by www.homesweetbutterfly.com. Have a great weekend.
Vanessa
Posted by: vanessa | November 02, 2012 at 08:27 AM
These are so cute. Love the texture and the colors you picked. Thanks for linking up! I shared it on my fb page (:
Posted by: Shannon Fox | November 02, 2012 at 06:31 PM
Love the mix of patterns you used for these pillows.
Posted by: Mimi | November 03, 2012 at 10:28 AM
Love your pillows! Gorgeous! I'd like to invite you to link them up to my Twirl & Take a Bow party at www.houseontheway.com. Hope you can stop by!
Leslie
Posted by: Leslie Stewart | November 04, 2012 at 02:19 PM
Wonderful pillows. I love the jute webbing!
Posted by: Cindy | November 06, 2012 at 07:17 PM
I love the pillows. They are all amazing. If you haven't already, I would love for you to stop by and link this up to my Fall into Fall party. Hope to see you there.
Posted by: Judy | November 07, 2012 at 04:00 PM
Your pillows turned out darling~ thanks for linking up at Feathered Nest Friday!
Posted by: Courtney | November 08, 2012 at 09:18 AM
So beautiful! You did a fabulous job on these. I love a great knock-off project!
Heather
Posted by: Heather | November 08, 2012 at 10:53 AM
Beautiful pillows! I especially like the first two. Great "knockoff".
Posted by: Babs | November 10, 2012 at 06:58 AM