Pillow finishes

I couldn't write about these finishes before Christmas as they were gifts for the daughters-in-law. First the backstory: I made a pillow for our living room like one I saw on Pinterest, and they all said how much they liked it. So, I put that on the to-do list and finished just before Christmas. In fact, it was so close that, except for a photo shoot, they didn't make it off the worktable. 

Rich just took them from the studio and handed them out. Unwrapped. Unceremoniously. "Here you go. DeeDee made these." Well, at least I got credit. 

 These closeups were originally meant to help you see the quilting. 

 Each pillow is made specifically for its family. The colors are meant to coordinate with their living room decor. The addresses are their actual addresses. I removed some information on the pictures to protect their privacy. Ha! Yes, I really did, but two things: I did a botched up job with the pictures and who has privacy these days? 

Now the actual story: I used only fabric from my stash, though I got lucky with one. I had chosen fabric and then won a fat quarter that works even better. Yay! Also I cut the letters using Stacey's Silhouette Cameo machine and got all three pillows prepped for quilting. After I loaded backing and batting on the long-arm, I just placed the pillow tops side-by-side and quilted. I played with some graffiti quilting motifs moving from one to the next.  

And just like that the tops were quilted. I added a small strip of the lettering fabric on the edges to give them more color and used the front fabric for the backs also. I considered quilting the backs also but felt that it might make the pillows too stiff. Each one is stuffed, though I considered using pillow forms. However, there are kiddos who might pull pillow forms out and annoy their moms. Sewn it is. And voila! a personalized gift from my hands.