Little Time, Big Pillow

I've had very little time to sew lately, but lucky for me, pillows don't take very long at all.  Didn't I warn you in my last post that I was planning on doing more pillows for my family room?  Here we go...

This pillow is about 23 inches square, which is a bit larger than the previous pillow at only 18 inches.  I followed this tutorial from Patty Young, which was actually one of the first links I ever pinned on Pinterest.  I'm so glad to have one more bit of justification for my Pinterest addiction: I really do use the tutorials!

I used a few more pieces of some of the lovely Denyse Schmidt prints that I picked up recently.  Oh, and the green eyelet which my friend Anne gave to me.  This pink print is one of my favorites; it's part of a new line called "Oh Deer!" by MoMo for Moda.  I love the one sparrow which is in color and flying away.  (Please do overlook the pucker there...)

After raiding my stash and coming up empty for about an hour, I finally remembered this other DS quilts print (stuck in a fabric pile for a new quilt) and used it for the backing.  I'm happy to say that this was the first thing the two men of the house commented upon.  When my four-year old, Henry, saw the pillow, he said, "Oooh, I like the back."  Then my husband said the same thing when he saw it!  This made me giggle because my mother-in-law is always telling me how much my son is just like his dad when he was little.  This adds a fun dimension to watching Henry grow up - picturing what my husband was like at age four!

Maybe you noticed that this is not an envelope enclosure?  Yes, that means a zipper.  My first.  Eeep!  After reading about a dozen different tutorials and not understanding a single one, I found this one and (loosely) followed it.  When I say, "loosely," I mean to say that it was midnight and I neglected to actually pull up the tutorial as I worked, so I was just sewing based on my memory of what she said to do.  I cannot recommend this.  And so, there will be no picture of said zipper here... (And if you come over, please do not inspect too closely.)

I'm really enjoying making these fun, bright pillows to freshen up my family room.  They are so quick and easy to put together.  Which makes me wonder... should I make a few for the quilt auction?  Part of me says, "Yes! They are so quick and easy to do, and they'd be less expensive than a full size quilt..."  But then another part of me says, "No... people's living spaces are so very unique and so you could make a dozen different pillows but not auction a single one because they wouldn't 'match' any one else's decor."

Well, what do you think?  Chime in on the comment form below if you have a second...


(Linking up with Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts and with the gals at Quilt Story.)