My boyfriend’s little sister had her 11th
birthday this week. We’re taking her out
to the movies tomorrow afternoon and I wanted to bring her something hand made
with her birthday gift. She’s already a crafty
little girl and loves to make beaded bracelets and necklaces. When I am there doing a little bit of hand
work, she loves to watch me sew, too!
So, I picked up a little bracelet kit and a peace sign cross stitch kit
that I plan on working on with her, as well as the first Harry Potter
book. She’s at the same age I was when I
started reading those books and I hope she comes to love them as much as I
do!
13 rectangles 2” x 2.5”
I debated for quite a while on what to make for her to add
to her birthday gift. I contemplated
making a big floor cushion for her or a quillow for travelling on the
volleyball bus next year. Both of these
would be great gifts and I will probably still make them for her soon, but I
needed something quicker, smaller, and something that required little to no
purchase of supplies. So, I sat down
with my little sampler bottle of wine, and my sketch book and worked on ideas
for a throw pillow for her bedroom that would be just for her! I toyed with
some peace sign ideas and some simple patchwork ideas as well, but ended up
being the most inspired by the letter “T” for Tori.
I think the design turned out great! I set my “T”s on a white background and used assorted
bright colors for the “T”s. It turned
out so cute and modern and I wanted to be sure to keep it that way. Therefore, I chose simple straight line quilting
instead of making the mistake I made with my baby girl quilt last week and
ruining the modern effect with a quilting design that was too traditional.
I decided to use squares only patchwork for the back of the
pillow, but to keep it fun and modern I chose to make my squares only 1”! I generally prefer to work a bit bigger so
that things come together more quickly.
So, these tiny little squares were a bit out of my comfort zone, but I’m
glad I chose to push myself.
I allowed
the squares to be placed randomly which was also out of my comfort zone. I like to have control and know exactly where
each piece is going to lie, so it took a lot of patience for me to let random
happen. When my one inch pillow back was done, I quilted it with the same
straight lines as the front of the pillow.
Instead of picking up a pillow form or fiberfil, I used an
old pillow that we had laying around the house and recycled the stuffing into
this great new pillow! The old pillow
really did fit in with the house trailer décor and my boyfriend’s love of
wildlife, so now that the pillow is deflated and tucked away he seems to miss
it. I’m glad I didn’t throw it out since
he wants me to restuff it and put it back.
There’s a new post for another day!
I hope that Tori loves her pillow as much as I do. I kind of want to keep it for myself! I’d love to hear what you think of Tori’s
pillow, too!
If you want to make Tori’s Pillow for that special “T” in
your life, here are your instructions!
The pillow finishes at 17” square.
Pillow Front
From assorted colored prints cut:
13 rectangles 4” X 2”13 rectangles 2” x 2.5”
For each “T” you need one set of these rectangles, so from
each print cut one of each size rectangle.
From white background print cut:
12 rectangles 4” x 2”
8 rectangles 6” x 2.5”
6 rectangles 1.5” x 2.5”
4 rectangles 5” x 2.5”
Once you have all of your pieces cut, follow the diagram
below to lay out your pieces.
Sew the units together into rows. Press seams toward the colored fabrics, away
from the white background.
Sew the completed rows together to finish the top. Press seams toward the bottom.
Sandwich the pillow top with a 17.5” square piece of batting
and quilt using straight lines approximately 3/8” apart.
Pillow Back
Using the scraps from the front, cut a total of 289 1.5”
squares.
(I wanted to make the white fabric have more of a presence
than any of the prints on the back so I chose to cut approximately 85 of the
1.5” squares from my white print and from each of the other 8 prints on the back
of my pillow I cut 26 squares.)
Arrange your squares randomly in a grid 17 squares by 17
squares. Have fun and don’t get bothered
when your white squares end up next to each other. It’s okay and you’ll love it in the end!
Sew each row of 17 squares together. Press the first row to
the left and press the second row to the right, alternating each row.
Sew all 17 rows together to complete the pillow back. Press
seams towards the bottom.
Sandwich the pillow back with a 17.5” square piece of
batting and quilt using straight lines approximately 3/8” apart.
Completing the Pillow
With right sides together, pin the pillow top to the pillow
back.
Starting on the side of the pillow, sew around the
perimeter. Leave 8” open to turn.
Turn right side out and fill with fiberfil.
Using a blind hem stitch, secure the opening by hand.
Enjoy your pillow!
What a fun gift Katie! I am sure she will love it. The back is awesome too :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen! She loved it, especially the colors which were very "her"!
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