A quilted pillow

My mom quilts a lot – my parent's home has the best collection of cozy, colorful quilts. Some that are color-coordinated, some that are "scrappy" and fun, all wonderful to cozy up with. I've made one quilt by myself, back when we lived in Austin, and I've done some piecework here and there, for little bags and pouches, but it's been a long time since I did any "proper" quilting. A pillow seemed like a fun (and practical) project – a means to dip my toes back into it.

I wanted a more traditional quilt design, and although I probably could have come up with my own, the idea of following a pattern was appealing to me. I did a search on Etsy, and ultimately, I purchased this quilted pillow pattern. I made a trip to JoAnn fabrics with all three boys (yes, it was a bit chaotic) and picked up some Kona cotton and a few printed fabrics.

On a Friday afternoon, I cut out all the initial squares. On Saturday morning, while Nicholas and the boys' played The Legend of Zelda and I wore Arlo in the carrier, I did all the piecing and quilting. The pattern calls for an envelope closure, but I chose to use a zipper. After four failed attempts to insert an invisible zipper (ugh), I added a regular zipper following this tutorial. And ultimately, between all those unsuccessful zipper attempts and the subsequent seam ripping, it took a few days to finish this pillow off. If assembly had been more straightforward, it could have been a weekend project, more or less. I mention the timeline here, because sewing uninterrupted for hours is not a possibility for me these days. But I am able to finish projects by completing a step at a time, spaced out, as time and attention and energy allow. A little bit here and there, and eventually, I had a finished quilted pillow that I was excited about. I am a big advocate of pursuing creative projects, even if you have little kids at home or a busy schedule. :)

Modifications:

• Quilted front pieced section and solid backing (seperately) to 100% cotton batting with my walking foot
• Followed Tiny Orchard Quilts Pillow Zipper tutorial to insert a zipper (trimmed to approximately 14" in length)
• And then seamed remaining three edges closed

This project gave me the inspiration and motivation for a bigger quilting project sometime this year! I loved the fabrics I used, so once I heard that all the JoAnn stores are closing, I went back and bought some more of the same fabrics. I think I will use some of them alongside a charm pack of fabric I already own to make a quilt, as I mentioned in my Creative goals for 2025.

Here's to small projects, completed a bit at a time!