Penny Bird pillow

I don't think I told you what inspired this pillow; well, what inspired it other than the Penny Bird block, that is. In January I began packing for our move, just to get ahead of things, and I found two big down pillow forms stored away. I bought the forms in 2013.

I’m pleased with the feel of down pillow forms for sofa pillows, but they do lose feathers over time. Thus eight years later, both are too small to nicely fill out my pillow covers. Small forms = slouchy, sad-looking pillows.

Being the persistant type, I tried putting both pillow forms into one pillow cover, but that didn’t work. Haha! Too big for that. Perhaps they’re something like 30% reduced? Anyhoo, the solution is to make a bigger pillow cover that will accommodate both forms!

Yes, ok, I could have made two smaller pillow forms, to make use of them. However, Aria’s future bed has no headboard, as her attic room has slanting walls. Thus, she’ll appreciate a gigantic pillow to lean against to make reading on her bed more cozy.

After creating the pillow front and back, I quilted them with baptist fan on my longarm machine. Then I attached an invisible zipper (see tutorial) to the bottom of the pillow back, alongside the boxing band.

What’s a boxing band, you ask? It’s that thin strip of fabric that goes around a really thick pillow to give it 4 dimensions. Here I’m using a medallion print for the boxing band by Katarina Roccella, from Mediterraneo. My boxing band is 2.5” finished. Being my first time sewing a boxing band, I found this video helpful.

Tada! The finished pillow! It’s about 20” square and quite thick. The Penny Bird block made this a fun project and gives the pillow so much personality. I’m also really happy with the baptist fan quilting. I think it lends a sense of light movement to the patchwork which makes you believe she’s only just landed.

This lovely backing fabric is Line Drawings Floralia by Bari J. Such a nice chance to feature it.

Yes, it really is fun to sew things other than quilts. Sometimes I forget! In a few months it will warm up, and I’ll do some garment sewing. Until then, back to the quilts!