Matt and Kim Pillow

This is the Matt and Kim pillow! Probably the easiest pillow on the planet, but hey, it's cute, right?

Why Matt and Kim? They sing this fun song called "Block after Block" which I always think about when sewing. It's such a peppy song, it always makes me happy. So here's a happy pillow named after a happy song.

You will need:

--1 20" pillow form

--3/4 yard background fabric (that's the cream color in this one)

--22" by 22" square of muslin

--22" by 22" square of batting

--3/4 yard pillow back fabric

--32 2 1/2" squares of fabric (mini charm packs would work great!) You might also want to have two 2 1/2" x 1" scraps for the end of the middle row. They'll barely show.

Pretty.

Prettier.

Sew together two rows of eleven squares. Sew together one row of ten squares and add the small scraps to each end of that row. Use a 1/4" seam allowance, and press open.

After your rows are sewn together, arrange them like this, with the eleven-square rows on the top and bottom. 

Stagger the squares so that the seams of the middle row line up with the middle of the blocks above and below them.

Stitch the rows together. You should now have a pretty ribbon 6.5" wide and a little over 21" long.

Cut the background fabric into two pieces that are each 8" x 21." Sew one rectangle to the top of your rows with a 1/4" seam, and the other rectangle to the bottom row.

Trim your patchwork piece to 21" square. (Note: this will result in a 20.5" finished pillow cover, so there is a little bit of room in the pillow case. If you want it more snug, trim to 20.5", but I'm just nervous about stuff like that.)

Baste your patchwork with the batting and the muslin on the back. Quilt as desired.

Out of the pillow backing fabric, cut two rectangles, each 21" x 26". Fold them in half so that they measure 21" x 13". Sew 1/8" along the folded edge. 

Place your quilt sandwich face up on a flat surface. Take one rectangle of backing fabric and align the three unfinished edges with the edges of the quilt sandwich. (The folded, stitched edge should run parallel to the pretty squares section.) Repeat with the other rectangle on the other half of the pillow. (Note: if your backing fabric is directional, pay attention to that now.)

Pin the edges of the backing to the sandwich, and stitch 1/4" all the way around.

Turn the case inside out, sharpen the corners with a corner turner or a chopstick, and press the edges to make them crisp.

Ta-da! A happy, pretty pillow to make you happy.

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Of Pillows and Chaos

It feels like it's been forever since I've written a post or read anyone else's! The last week has been a complete whirlwind. More on that later, but I'll start with the "pillow" part of the title and then move on to the chaos.

Yesterday was the bridal shower of one of my very dearest friends. I have two best friends (even though I sound like a second grader when I put it like that) and they mean the world to me. I expect that I'll make many more friends throughout my life, but in these two, I believe I have my friend soulmates. They are amazing. I remember meeting the one who is getting married, M, my very first week of college in a Bible study. I also vividly remember that she seemed very quiet and thinking "She seems like she'll never talk. I guess we will probably not be very good friends." Ha. Wrong on both counts. :)

My dear M is an interior designer and has a very modern aesthetic quite different than mine, so I was a little worried about making her something, but I've decided to forge ahead anyway. I'm making her a quilt (she doesn't know about that yet) and I think it's going to be perfect for her. But I decided to use the scraps to make her a throw pillow:

I look super-awkward in this picture. Here's how the making of this pillow went down:

--Friday 5:00 pm: Decide I should start working on the pillow.

--Saturday 5:00 am: Leave to go run a 5k two hours away and then make food for the shower with a friend. Return home at 11:00 pm.

--Sunday 8:00 am: Begin working on the pillow again. With the assistance of my mother cutting out the back pieces and helping pin while I showered, finish at 12:45. "Wrap" the pillow in a pillowcase from Ikea (I used the other pillowcase as the backing for the pillow.) Shower is at 3:00, in a city two hours away. My mom snapped this quick picture of it as I was running out to the car to leave.

This is how I roll.

I used Oh Fransson's tutorial for the Mod Mosaic Pillow. It's a free tutorial, so download it and make one for yourself! This was my first attempt at anything improvisational, so it was nice to try that. It's not really my style, so I'm not sure how much place it has in my life, but it was fun to try. My sister-in-law stopped over on Sunday morning (add that to the timeline too!) and she loved it, so I'm sure it will be a good skill to have on hand for gifts and the like. The tutorial calls for it to be quilted, but I ran out of time to do that, so mine is simply pieced with a piece of muslin on the back. The world, alas, is an imperfect place.

Where am I looking? I have no idea.

Most importantly, the bride really liked it. She was pointing out all of the fabrics in it that she loved. I think she's going to be really surprised and delighted by the quilt!

This weekend was just the culmination of a crazy week. I spent all of Wednesday and Thursday driving from New York to Nebraska. It's about 23 total hours. I actually really don't mind the drive--it's kind of relaxing and a good chance to just zone out (haha, not a good thing to admit) and listen to music and audio books. I like to say that if grad school doesn't work out, I'll become a truck driver. My cat is also a total trooper when it comes to car or air travel, so that helps a lot too. And, my boyfriend drove down from Michigan and met me in South Bend, so it was wonderful to see him, even if just for a short time. We met for the first time in South Bend when I was driving from Nebraska to New York last summer, so it has a bit of a special place in our hearts.

On the road in western New York.

As I alluded to earlier, I ran a 5k. This is the first time I have ran anything, ever. I am not a runner. Emphatically not. But my sister-in-law isn't either, and she thought this Color Run sounded fun. So we decided to give it a shot.

Before

After!

You know how some girls look cute, no matter what sweaty, disgusting thing they're doing? That's not me. No, I'm the girl who ends up with a purple Hitler mustache at the end of the race.

I'm not sure I loved the experience, but I didn't hate it, and I would consider doing it again. However, I would not do one in July in Nebraska again.

Don't worry, my car is melodramatic. It was only 100 degrees.

 Anyway. I'm taking it easy today. :) Linking my pillow up with Plum and June, and checking out what others have been up to!

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