Pillow Talk

Okay, so I've been making a few pillows...

My friend Jessica sent me this link for a really cute pillow. I had some leftover curtain fabric and an old red pillow that just needed something to dress it up a bit. So, here's my version:

I cut the curtain fabric into LOTS of 2" strips with my rotary cutter. When I got to the end of a strip, I would just stitch the end of another one to it and keep going:

In the beginning, I used an embroidery hoop to hold the pillow in place to make it easier. I think this pillow would be easier to make on a piece of fabric first and then, make THAT into a pillow. I was starting with an already made pillow and it got a little tricky with the back of the pillow always getting in the way.
Does that make sense?

This pillow took a long time to make, but it was really fun and I just worked on it here and there when Zeke and I were watching a movie or something. I would like to try and make another one. FYI, depending on where your pillow is going to be and how much it's going to be used, you'd better stitch those strips down tight! My pillow is in my living room where we watch TV and I've had a few strips come un-stitched already. If it was on my bed it might hold up better/less wear/throwing/squishing/etc.
Here's a close-up of the finished pillow:

I found these ideas at Jo-Ann.com. I really like them, but I didn't actually follow these patterns at all, they just inspired me and this is what I came up with.

I took an old placemat I was no longer using and sewed a square of muslin on the back and stuffed it to make the pillow. This one is for our bed:

I found some fabric scraps I liked and used a spool of thread for my circle shape and cut several circles (probably 7-10 per flower).

Can you see the circle I traced?

I folded each circle in half twice, so it was a wedge shape and I just tacked down the wedges really close together and kinda separated the "petals" and fluffed them up in places until I liked how it looked. I really like how it turned out.

And this idea came from my friend Julie's blog. I LOVE this idea of using an image from old shirt and saving it on a pillow. The image on my pillow comes from one of my very favorite college shirts. It's all stretched out and worn now, but I've kept it all this time because I just LOVE the picture on it. Now, I found a good use for it! This one is also for our bed.

Beck is showing you how BIG the pillow is:

The kids have each picked out an old shirt they want me to put on a pillow for them too. Again, this year, I am trying to do craft and sewing projects mainly using up the stuff I already have. It's been so fun and rewarding to go through my fabric boxes and do something with it.

And here's our bed: (My Dad said we have too many pillow on there -- that was about FOUR pillows ago! I think I need at least two or three more.)