Pillow Talk {Swap} 3

Another round of the Pillow Talk {Swap} wrapped up a few weeks back. This swap has quickly become one of my favorites. Besides the fact that it is expertly run by swap divas Heather & Kerri, the swap pulls together an amazing group of crafters that continue to amaze me with their creativity and craftsmanship.

Case in point: just take a look at the pillow I received from the awesome Ariel:

(By the way, these pictures are all pulled from Ariel's blog. Her pictures are so much better than the ones I was able to take before my daughter snatched this pillow up. BTW, she's been sleeping with it ever since!)

Anyway, I just love this pillow. It's a smaller pillow -- 12" x 16" or so, I think -- but I love the different and unique size. Ariel, as always, did a great job of pulling together fabrics that create a palette that is very, very me. The blue & brown with touches of orange is a wonderful combination, and I spy some of my favorite prints from the Lotus, Arcadia and Lush lines.

Plus, there are hexagons on this quilt! How cool is that? I know hexies are all the rage right now in the Flickrverse but, having tried one hexagon project rather unsuccessfully, I'm just not that into them. Making them, that is. But to receive them? FABULOUS!

And here's the BEST part:

Ariel is a talented and accomplished fabric designer, and she designed and printed (via Spoonflower) some fabric especially for me! Check out her depiction of our new puppy, Tula, in the middle of the hexie flowers. Isn't that just the most thoughtful, special, personal touch?

You can see more of Ariel's designs in her adorable Etsy shop, Pocketful of Pinwheels.

Thanks so much, Ariel! We love our new pillow ... best evidenced by my daughter's unwillingness to give it back to me! I've been a lucky, lucky boy in all 3 rounds of this swap so far. Can't wait for round 4!

Here's a shot of the pillow I made for my partner, the lovely Nanette:

I also chose to make an unusually-shaped pillow. This rectangular pillow measures 14" x 28", and it's my absolute favorite size and shape for throw pillows. I think it looks great on beds, couches, benches, and chairs.

I decided on a fairly simple rail fence-like pattern using a stash of honey bun strips from the Wonderland collection by MoMo left over from my "Off the Grid" quilt.

Photo from Nanette's photostream

This was a pretty simple pillow to make. Want to make your own? Well, since the dimensions of the pillow are a nice multiple of 7", I pieced together the honeybun strips in groups of 7. Since the strips are 1.5" wide each, that leaves you with a pieced strip 7.5" wide, from which you can cut 7.5" squares. I pieced enough strips to yield 8 7.5" squares, which I then pieced in a 4x2 grid layout with alternating strip directions. Pretty easy, no?

As with all my pillows, I layered the quilt top with a layer of quilt batting and free quilted a meandering pattern over the whole pillow top. I made a no-frills envelope back and I was done!

Pretty soon, my whole house will be filled with beautiful little quilted pillows from all of my Flickr friends!