Instant Pillow!

This afternoon, I made a cute little pillow. I've been wanting one just this shape and size for the longest time. 

 For some some reason, pillow making is not at the top of my "favorite things to make list" so I have been shopping for one and coming up empty handed. Until yesterday.  When I spied this lovely, grey, appliqued placemat at Target it sparked an idea. I liked the $5 price tag too!

 Folding it in half, I realized that it would look oh, so, cute as a pillow! First, a few pins to keep the sides even and in place.

 Some quick topstitching with grey thread around three sides, leaving an opening for stuffing, took about 1 minute of my time!

 I even had some stuffing on hand, which I'd purchased at Walmart, for another project. I like this product very much as it isn't messy and doesn't bunch up just like the label says.

 Stitching the opening closed after I stuffed the pillow was super easy and quick.

The edge has a sort of "piping" look to it, I think, don't you. I like the way the white flange on the placemat adds some interest to the outside edges of the pillow.

 In a perfect world the bottom of the pillow would have a flange as well. 

 But, once the pillow is propped up against the other larger ones, you hardly even notice the bottom edge.

 Perfect! Just what I had in mind.

Now, tell me, am I the only one that avoids making pillows?

Selvage Pillow

Today I combined two of my latest favorites.............selvages and the X-Block.  Add some kitchy pom-pom fringe and a lovely Amy Butler Charm fabric and look what I dreamed up!  Love. Love. Love! 
 I've been saving selvages for a awhile now but didn't have any certain project in mind. Then one day, Jacquie showed up a KCMQG with a stunning selvage spiderweb quilt. I was smitten to say the least. So, that's been stewing in the back of my mind.

The X-Block quilt I have been working on is turning out to be one of my favorites.  I'm finishing up the binding now and will show you the completed quilt in a few days.  While I was petting the fun quilt this afternoon, a light-bulb went off and you're lookin' at the results!

Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville has a great tutorial on how to make the X-block. Go here to get the instructions. I used these instructions with a little tweak that Sherri dreamed up to make the scrappy quilt I'm binding. 


Using old phone book pages as foundations, here is how I made the pillow block with selvage  pieces instead of scraps of fabric.
Starting in the middle of the paper lap two woven edges and top stitch.

Then, continue lapping the woven edge of a selvage piece over the cut edge of the previous piece and top stitch.  Work from both sides until the paper is filled.  Try to have your last piece on each end be fairly wide.

You will need four foundations to make a pillow. 

Trim the selvage filled paper to 3.5 X 10.5 inches.

Here's what it looks like on the back before trimming.  Remove the paper from all four strips.  The phone book pages come off quite easily.

Isn't this just the cutest thing?  So much to look at.............I love all the titles...Good folks..
Bird Swing..Plume...........     Oh, my!

After attaching the side strips according to Sherri's great tutorial, here's what I had.


I added the side triangles according to the directions and sewed the four blocks together to create an X. The Charm fabric was purchased on a clearance shelf several years ago......just waiting for the right project!  I already had the pom poms also...they were supposed to go on some curtains.  Oh, well

Wouldn't a matching quilt be awesome?!