Lavender Dream Pillows

I've been a long distant Granny for almost all their lives, so have found ways to connect to them, one of which is making Lavender Dream Pillows. Finding ways to make connections to family and friends can be uplifting and challenging.

This year, with the drought in Cali, the flowers are blooming ahead of their usual season so I was able to harvest Lavender from one of the older plants and dry it in a couple of vases in my office and on the dining room table. This means I can bring the Dream Pillows with me and give them to each of my seven darlings on my trip back to the Midwest next week. I used to take harvested Lavender and Dream Pillow forms with me so the Girrlies could load the herb and hand stitch them closed themselves. They learned how to thread the needles & do the simple stitch. Ahhh, such grand Memories.

I posted photos on Facebook of the plant before cutting it and shared my plan to make Dream Pillows for my Grandchildren. It wasn't too long before they were replying with the colors they wanted for theirs! Memories and Traditions pull at us for all our lives. Those Memories & Family Traditions are the moments that either build self-esteem or take us down. This is definitely a good moment for all of us. With all the fabrics I had been cutting the last few days, I went to the pile of 10" squares to make the Dream Pillow forms.

They are double sided, and I simply flipped them over and kept them in the same positions here. They are filled with a poly batting and after the Lavender is completely dried, they will get several tablespoons full of Lavender and be hand stitched closed so they are finished when I give them to my darlings. They will fit into a larger baggie with the air sucked out to go into my suitcase.

Lavender is one of those herbs known for its calming fragrance and has been used for centuries to help sleep. I've seen it added to baby oils and bath soaps, as well as to detergents and dryer sheets. Yesterday I bought TP with it infused on the cardboard tubes.

For myself, there are a couple of small pillows on my bed that have been there for years. I reach for one of them in the night and within a breath or two relax and sleep well for the rest of my time there in bed.

I did finish the cutting, measuring and tagging the fabrics from three of my bins. They lay so perfectly in order that one bin is empty now and can be repurposed. I've found a couple of patterns that call for either fat eighths or fat quarters, but have yet to stumble on one asking for that "dessert roll" size. Two and a half days for this task of cutting, measuring and tagging. I must say that towards the end of it, I hated all the standing and sorting and really wanted to pack it away and give up on it. Making the Dream Pillow forms was a welcomed  relief that made it easier to return to the cutting project and get it done. Also, the Lavender scent helped relax me.

The cutting project had its benefits to my entire work as a foundation. There is satisfaction and sense of value in the task now that it is done. I don't think I have developed enough of a tradition to do this with new fabric because I don't often buy new fabric. I want to hold the memory of it like I do with the memory of making Dream Pillows. 

Well, its a good plan.