I have admitted to becoming a pillowcase fan after making some a few years ago now.

Not long after the war started, a local lady asked on a Facebook group if anyone could make some duvet covers and/or pillowcases out of some fabric she had. I was tagged by a friend of mine who knows I’ve done charity quilts. I checked it out, and in a moment of insanity I wrote this young lady, Viktoria, back and said I could help her.

I didn’t promise how quickly, but she came over within a couple of hours and dropped off a bag of fabric.

She explained that she was Ukrainian, but had come here many years ago now and had had a Polish boyfriend (here they actually use the biblical word concubine) and as a result has twin 6 year old daughters. Ok, how could I resist such a story?

Anyway, she had been given this fabric.

Some of it had writing on it along the edges, but overall it was nice fabric, though kind of boring for children’s duvet covers, which is what she was thinking. I think she was thinking that because many of the pieces were too short to make anything else with them. She doesn’t sew, and that’s why she needed someone else to help her.

She told me she’d sew the buttons on at the end (to close up the duvet covers).

I had my doubts.

It’s not that I can’t do buttonholes. I can.

It’s that 1. she didn’t buy me any buttons and 2. I have to have buttons before I can make buttonholes and 3. they all take more time than a simple pillowcase without buttonholes in the standard size.

Here in Poland we actually have several sizes of pillows. One of them is the size of the typical American pillow. I decided to just cut pillowcases from these pieces. Most of the pieces of fabric weren’t actually long enough to do much more than pillowcases anyway.

I cut 27” and 9” pieces and made pillowcases over the next three weeks with them. I think I ended up with 25. I did adjust a bit on a couple of them if the main fabric was only 26”, for instance, by making up for it with a longer contrast piece. I had to do that a few times, I think.

I raided my children’s fabrics as she thought these needed to be for children (??) but the main fabric isn’t very ‘childlike’ to me. But to keep with her idea of children’s, I added cars and frogs and other fun things to the main fabrics to make up these pillowcases.

After I completely finished, I wrote her back and showed her the photos and suggested she come here and take a look at them. She didn’t, however.

I asked her if I could use them in the quilt sets I’m going to put together, but she didn’t answer. I guess they are partly mine and partly hers.

She had said from the beginning that she wanted to do something for her home country. They were for Ukraine, so before I actually stick them in a bagged set, I’ll clear it with her completely, but that’s my hope.

I had various helpers aid me with these. As far as I know, none of these ladies sew, but they all can do things like this when shown what to do.

Anyway, I’m not doing ‘that again’. If someone needs some sewing done, I’m ignoring their plea for help at this point in my life. :) But at least these are done.

The scraps that were left were these. I intend to return them to Viktoria.

This is just one of those little side dramas that where I put pressure on myself! I have to remember that “no” is a word. But, they are done now and hopefully I can put them towards the quilts that are coming and all those beautiful bundles I hope to make!

If you want to help with Ukraine Relief but feel “too far away” - well, you can - This week we are raising money to get all the donated quilts here to Poland where we can get them on their way to Ukraine. Any amount helps! Fed Ex is giving a special rate (thanks Scott Fortunoff of Jaftex Fabrics as well!) and it is about $450 a box for express for a HUGE box. That’s quite good!

Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store here!

Here’s one of the beauties we have!