Best of Moda Bake Shop -- Pillow Parade Hop {Finished Pillow and More Big News}

 Yesterday was my day to share on the Best of Moda Bake Shop Pillow Parade on Instagram, so today I thought I would share my finished pillow!

If you have the book, I made a pillow out of a single block featured in the quilt without additional sashing. I made the block using scraps left over from the original quilt and added in a solid green background fabric that coordinated with the prints in the collection. 

I used some scrap batting and scrap white solid fabric to quilt the the block for the front of the pillow.

I quilted the block with the same chrysanthemum motif as I used for the quilt. I then trimmed the quilt block into a square.

For the envelope back, I used the same fabric that is used for the backing for the quilt. 

Now my lovely quilt has a lovely pillow friend!

We are nearing the end of the pillow parade, but if you missed any of the posts, check out the hashtag #mbspillowparade on Instagram. Each designer from the book made a pillow using the block(s) from their quilt. 

If you missed my other "big post" on Instagram, here's an update:

Not only did my sister have a baby in June, I am having a baby in October! This picture is from about a week ago when my nephew made his first trip to Aunt Alison's house. I have had to give up my dedicated sewing room and move my sewing space into our guest room, but I think that this compromise was definitely worth it.

I'm also planning to list some quilts for sale via Instagram later this week if you are looking for a gift or special treat for yourself! 

Happy Tuesday!

Playful Pillows {May Island Batik Ambassador Project}

This month, our Island Batik Ambassador theme is Playful Pillows!

I have never made a pillow or quilted pillow cover before (I made some really simple pillowcases years ago for my husband) so this is a fun adventure for me! As always, all of the fabrics have been generously given to me by Island Batik!

I decided that I wanted to make a pillow to match the baby quilt that I made last month. Here's that quilt:

Rather than making a one block pillow from the same pattern, I decided to use the same fabrics with the mini quilt pattern from our Bear Tracks pattern. The mini finishes at 12", which is a good size for a little pillow. Here's Amanda's original mini quilt top:

The bear paw blocks are itty bitty! The blocks are 4" finished so those HSTs finish at 1"! Lots and lots of trimming later I had all of my HSTs ready:

Once the HSTs were done, it didn't take very long to get the blocks together and get the top done.

I layered the top with some scrap batting and leftover flannel and used my walking foot to do some simple straight line gridwork on the top. I also stitched around the perimeter of the top to make sure that everything stayed together during construction.

I used Amanda Jean's simple envelope back pillow tutorial as a guide for my pillow. I had a 12" pillow form and used the leftover flannel from the back of the quilt as the back of the pillow. I used a zig-zag stitch around final seam to finish. That way the pillow can be washed because goodness knows babies can make messes!

And ta-da! A little pillow to match a little quilt.

This was a fun and easy project and I can see why some people find pillows so addicting to make! Maybe I need to recover the pillows on my couch...

If you love bear paw blocks like I do, then check out the Bear Tracks pattern which includes the mini quilt pattern!

Happy Friday! I'm having a giveaway of the scraps left over from the project -- click here to see that post! Sharing at Finish it up Friday!