Hygge House Pillow

Have you heard about hygge? It is a Danish word that roughly translates as staying in, being cosy and relaxed, and hanging out with friends and family. It's been all over the media these last few months.

I first heard it referred to on Radio 4 back in July/August and wondered whether I could use it as a theme for a patchwork project for a magazine.

Of course, because of the extensive lead times with magazines it has taken till now for the project to be published! But this one also ties in nicely for Valentine's Day next week so that's handy.

You can find it in issue 19 of Today's Quilter magazine. Love that tulip cover quilt!

Here is the beautifully styled photo from the magazine.

And here are some lovely photos taken by my hubby in front of his Tiny House, which seemed very appropriate!

 But how do you go about designing a hygge inspired patchwork project?

Well first of all it had to have a Scandi feel and also it had to feel 'cosy' so I chose warm reds and natural linens, and then trimmed with pom-poms for some extra 'snuggliness'.

To represent the staying in and being cosy further, I chose to depict a typical Scandinavian 'folk' house (within the limitations of patchwork) in  traditional 'Swedish Red' (as is our Tiny House).

And to be even more Scandi I added some Scandinavian style embroidery, in red, on to a dotty linen. 

The backing (and house fabric) is a red patterned linen that I had left over from my Dala Horse. The three wooden buttons add a little more natural texture.

The patchwork roof makes the house a little more challenging (in a good way).

The last detail is the embroidered heart on the door (a typical detail from Scandinavian folk art and furniture) and a reminder of all the love inside your home, and in the world at large (if you only look for it!).