Neptune Pillows

I started making the blocks for these pillows sometime last year, and then they got set aside and eventually added to the list of UFOs I hoped to finish. I was glad that Sew, Mama, Sew hosted a pillow contest this month because it gave me the little push I needed to get them done!

Here's the aqua pillow:

and the midnight one:

I got the idea for this type of quilt block from this Moda Bake Shop recipe.

The backs of the pillows are made from ivory (I know that's not the official color name though) quilter's only cotton from JoAnn's and have pieced strips using the same fabric (and a few leftover blocks) as the pillow fronts (Moda's Neptune, isn't it pretty?) I lined the pillow backs with muslin but they aren't quilted.

It's been a while since Amy's hosted a Sew and Tell Friday and I'm excited to link up with her! Go see what everyone else has been making!

making pillows

I started these a long time ago...

this is not weird in the top right corner even though it looks like it in the pic.

it's really straight in the top right corner, just not pressed super flat or something

And decided to work on them some more today. It wasn't what I was "supposed" to be working on, but I had fun and I like what I ended up with.

A couple weeks ago I found and bought pillow inserts at Target, 2-packs for $3.48. They are 18" pillows and I had to change my plan from what it was however many months ago.

I realized one of the reasons I had put this on hold was that someone suggested I put solid color strips between the rows. I hadn't planned on that and for some reason I never bought the fabric to do that. I found that there were enough solid-ish fabrics in the honey bun to separate the rows and give the eye a calm place to rest.

All the blocks were done (and partly sewn into rows) for the light pillow; I put it together and then also made the dark one today too. I need batting before I can proceed :) so I will probably put these aside for a few days or maybe I'll go get batting tomorrow. Anybody have any suggestions for the quilting?


Also. It was over 70 degrees here today. My girl wanted to go out on the deck and see the neighbor's dogs and it was warm. Where 16 days ago it was under more than a foot of snow. Spring makes me happy. (It's going to snow again next week.) The snow pile that was nearly 8 feet tall in front of our house will probably be all the way gone tomorrow, yay!

I mopped the kitchen floor today, too. And dealt with my girl feeling crummy off and on throughout the day. What is up with a fever that comes and goes, and comes back again? I think she'll probably feel a lot better tomorrow.

Sew & Tell--Amy Butler

The Amy Butler Sew & Tell linkup at amylouwho this week has been a good incentive for me to finish one of my long-time UFOs. I started this pillow sometime last year--I made 3 out of 4 pillows for my living room couch and big chair and then lost steam for some reason. Today I finished up the last one:

It didn't really take that long, either. The top was pieced already, I just needed to quilt it and make the back pieces (it's just an envelope style back). Here it is with its fraternal twin:

These pillows have quilted fronts with medium weight, white denim as the backing fabric. They are sturdy! The backs are made from quilting fabric "quilted" to the denim again, but with no batting. The overlap on the back is pretty wide, to prevent the back from gapping open and showing the pillow form inside. These were made to fit the pillows that came with my big chair here.

I'm so glad this is done! Maybe next week I'll work on another of my older unfinished projects.

**head on over to amylouwho.com to see all the other Amy Butler sew & tell finishes this week!