A Scrapbook of Quilts #pillowalong

Yes, I'm still here!  And working on this and that, but not doing quite as much sewing as I was doing this time last year.  I do have a little finish though.

It's this decorative pillow I made using the directions in the "Pirouette" chapter in the book A Scrapbook of Quilts by Joanna Figueroa and Carrie Nelson.  I went totally scrappy and used my stash of leftover 3 Sisters fabrics from various quilts I've made.  It goes with many of the quilts I use on our bed and looks great IMO.  The finished quilt is 16 by 20 inches.

And you need to add A Scrapbook of Quilts to your quilt book collection if you have not done so already.  It is really a marvelous book, not just for the projects in the book but also for all the tips and tricks sprinkled throughout and the writing style.  The day it arrived, I spent the evening reading it and was well entertained.  If your LQS doesn't have this book, you can buy it directly from The Fat Quarter shop, here.

But back to the pillow.  The central panel is half-square triangles sewn together then banded top and bottom with another fabric.  I quilted it using my walking foot, in the ditch on the pieced section then straight out into the borders.

I quilted the back in parallel horizontal lines, using the width of the presser foot to space them apart.  

I washed the pillow after I finished it because I'd used a chalk marker to mark the first line and it was being stubborn about not brushing out.  The washing machine took care of that though, and gave the pillow that soft, crinkled look.

I put a zipper in the bottom seam so I can wash the cover easily.  I basted that seam first (before sewing the other sides together) and inserted the zipper centered, like you would do for a zipper in the back of a dress.  It is easy to do (as long as you have a zipper foot for your sewing machine) and the instructions come with the zipper.  Carrie Nelson inserts zippers the same way she does for a zipper bag and it looks pretty easy.  She has a video with directions on YouTube; you can find it here.

I think I'll be making more pillows.  But I am so tempted to make the quilt version of the "Pirouette" design using my Fig Tree scraps.  And I have two hand sewing projects in the works, plus I have three quilts to bind.  But Thelma told me binding is winter work so...