Gift Idea: Quilted Pillow

Quilted pillows are such a GREAT gift! They can be so quick and simple to make, depending on the amount of piecing. Here is a quickie that I put together for the Pillow Talk {Swap} that is taking place on flickr....

For this pillow, I used varied-width strips of fabric (different prints) and cut them all to 5 inches in length. When I stitched them side-by-side, it made a simple patchwork strip that off-set the pillow front. I then quilted the front piece to a piece of batting, using dark chocolate brown thread in the shape of wood grain...super simple and I was able to use my regular piecing foot instead of a darning foot on the machine.

I then added a little deer silhouette and used my darning foot to applique it to the pillow top. The back of the pillow is a simple envelope closure. I was a little worried that it didn't overlap enough to hold in a thick pillow form, so I added some ties to the back, just-in-case. The sleeve fits an 18" x 18" pillow form, found at your local craft store.

I'm planning some more pillows for Christmas gifts...I'm thinking a "string quilt" pattern will look really nice! More to come!.......happy sewing!