Thursday, December 8, 2011

Pillow Party under the Tree

If you are my sister, or my SIL who is also a mother to five children AND you don't want to see what your children will be getting from me for Christmas, then make a hasty exit now please. No paging down first.
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For the rest of you: they are done! Seven quilted reading pillows for all of my nieces and nephews (yup, one of my brothers has 5 kids and my sister has 2). For specific fabric lines used, click on the photo and it will take you to flickr where I wrote that info in individual photo descriptions.


Reading Pillows by Poppyprint
All 18" pillows except for the pink/purple dresdens in the bottom left corner, which are 20". You can see the pictures individually once you get to my flickr photostream - they're all there.

I didn't use any specific tutorials to make these pillows, but I got the idea to use my GO!Baby tumbler die for the boy pillows after seeing Katy's. Check her Tumbler Pillow tutorial at Fat Quarterly. If you want to try a dresden plate there are several free tutes I found via the google searching wonderdog here and here. Or if you want a hybrid tumbler/dresden pillow, check out this tute! For my dresdens, I used a 22.5 degree ruler made by Nifty Notions, but you can use any dresden ruler. To know how many blades you need to complete the circle, just divide 360 degrees by the number of degrees in your ruler's arc.

I like dresdens with long blades and a small centre circle (trying to use up my scraps after all), but chubby dresdens can be very cute, too. Nova just published an adorable pattern that is a chubby dresden pillow with a pocket in the centre circle. Brilliant!

On pillows for the younger kids I did a simple envelope closure for the back (plus I ran out of long zips. Note to self, an 18" pillow requires a 16" zipper, not an 18" one). I covered the couple zips I did use to protect furniture and long hair. There are different ways to cover a zipper, one is here and another here.

Next up, gifts for grown-ups.

17 comments:

paulette said...

OMGosh!! They are ALL gorgeous and unique!! They are going to LOVE their pillows!! How thoughtful of you! I bet you are their favourite aunt...!!
P

Amy Friend said...

That's a lot of sewing Krista. It's a great idea...one thing, made many different ways, for each child in the family. Perfect!

Leanne said...

These are wonderful, I have been watching these appear on flickr. You are the best aunt!

Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts said...

Well, you're way ahead of me in the gift making race. Fantastic idea to make all the kids their own variation on a single thing. Everyone gets something different, but no fights! Very clever. Well done on getting them all finished so early!

Angela said...

Oh i love the pillow back on the Castle Peeps pillow you made. Awesome!

Suzanne said...

I said this on flickr and I'll say it here, as a 12 year old book nerd, this would have been my favorite gift under the tree. This and the little lap desk that I used to paint my fingernails while sitting in bed.

What Comes Next? said...

they are all so fabulous! lucky nieces and nephews. You are just so darn organized. I'm really wanting to do a dresden plate, and maybe if I start with a pillow, I'll at least feel like I've accomplished something!

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

Oh you are good!

Dan R said...

Amazing! I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

carol said...

Nice job and sure to be appreciated by all your nieces and nephews!

Susan said...

There are going to be a hoard of happy nieces and nephews at Christmas! Great gifts!

Elizabeth Dackson said...

What gorgeous pillows, Krista! They look fantastic! I especially love the dresdens, they're so pretty :)

Dianne said...

They turned out awesome Krista! Lucky kids to have such an aunt as you.
I especially love that there is a pocket on each one to hold their book - brilliant!

Live a Colorful Life said...

This post is getting "pinterest-ed" right now!

felicity said...

Wow - go, you! They are all fabulous! Thanks for the covered zip tutorial links. Will be needing them in a bit...

Rene' said...

Ooooohhhhh how adorable!!! Your nieces and nephews are quite spoiled having such a talented aunt. Really digging those dresden plates. Can't wait to see what the grownups are getting ;-)

happy zombie said...

Oh Auntie Krista - they're all so beautiful!! Wait, what? You didn't know I was your niece? Well… SURPRISE!