Mod Girl Pinwheel Pillow

So last week R. asked me what I was making her for Valentine's Day this year and I quickly replied, "Well, its a secret!" Apparently because I made her and D. these fabric Valentine's last year, I have started a new tradition and MUST make her a Valentine's gift every year. I really did not plan on making her anything, but since I really didn't get around to making her anything for Christmas this year (guilty sigh here because last year I made her this sweet Waldorf Doll "Chloe"), I figured I better step up and get to sewing.

My first thought was that I might be able to whip out a small doll quilt to match the quilt I just made her (Drat! I should have saved her quilt for Valentine's Day, right?) but I wasn't going to be able to pull it off quickly enough, as these circle blocks take a while to complete.

Then I came across this fantastic pinwheel pillow tutorial over at Sew Mama Sew and knew I had to whip up one for R. in the leftover Sis Boom (Jennifer Paganelli) scraps from her Pinwheel quilt and Mason's quilt.

My friend and I usually get together once a week to craft while our kids play, so I sent her the link to see if she might want to make up the tops together. I can't tell you how much fun we had playing with fabrics and design options. She thought she might make one for her Grandson to match the quilt she just made him, and because he is only a year old she did not want to use a button as suggested in the tutorial, but came up with idea of using a yo-yo instead. BRILLIANT idea!

R. likes to sleep on her decorative pillows (and she has such cute pillowcases that we have made!) so I thought the yo-yo would be perfect for her pillow as well. This was my first time making a yo-yo and I have to say that I am addicted! Clover makes a little (actually, I used the "large" size) yo-yo maker that is easy and super fun to use. The yo-yo was glue basted to the pillow top and then stitched down using a blanket stitch (with two strands of white DMC floss).

The binding is another Sis Boom fabric that I had in my stash that R. loved, and I think it sets it off the appliqued pinwheel beautifully. The tutorial pillow does not have a binding, but I used three 2 1/4 inch strips of fabric to make it. As for the tutorial's machine applique technique using starch, it is truly GENIUS! I used my FMQ foot and some lovely variegated quilting thread in pink (King Tut thread) to do the machine applique.

And how fun is this pieced back? I used Kona snow along with two of the Sis Boom fabrics. I always make my envelope backs open to the side rather than the top to avoid the "droopy drawers" look. I used my zipper foot to machine stitch the 1/2 bias (not cut on the bias though) tape to both raw edges of the back. This pillow really needs a 20" pillow form to fill it out nicely, but I only had an 18" one on hand.

All in all, I am quite pleased with how this pillow turned out and R. is too! Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day!

Happy quilting,
Colette