Do you love Laurie Wisbrun’s fun and preppy designs? Of course I had to get some of her bee and cardinal fabrics. I didn’t have a plan in mind when I got the fabric, which is nice sometimes, but other times can be frustrating not to have enough fabric once a decision has been made to finally use it.
The horizontal lines of cardinals made it easy to make fast 2.5” strip pillow covers. I just cut all my strips 2.5” and then spent a lot of time arranging and rearranging all the strips into different combinations. In the end I settled on green & blue for one, and red & blue for the other.
I’ve always made envelope closures for the back, but this time I thought I’d give zippers a try. I only had two on hand, one red and one cream, but I kind of like the way the red really pops on the back. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. I think the zippers add a professional touch, but next time I’ll try to make them hidden zippers. Now that I’ve given zippers a try I’m not as intimidated.
Here’s a pic of how I fashioned the front of the pillows. I just cut 2.5” strips from my fabric and pieced them together, pressing all the seams open. I used the seam lines for a guide and I straight-line quilted evenly through each strip to finish the fronts before sewing the back to the pillow.
The pillows are so refreshing in my living room, I thought it was time for a couch facelift, so I got a slipcover for it! I think the lighter color, after 13 years of a green couch, has brightened up the room considerably. While I’m not a fan of the slipcover fit or quality of fabric, it is the third one we tried and we are going to live with it until the kids are a little older. The nice thing is I can just pop it in the washing machine when needed.
So, I’m {finally!!!!} on my way to having my own handmade pillow collection. Have a wonderful day!
