patchwork pillows

I’m so pleased to welcome Scarlet Fig as a new sponsor! You all remember Laurie, right? She designs some of my favorite fabrics, and a couple months ago I had the opportunity to create the Animal Sherbet Squares quilt for her out of some of those fabulous fabrics. Well, Laurie’s done it again, and has just added two new collections to her line, as well as a new colorway of the Animal Sherbet line, now called Urban Circus. (you can read all the details on Laurie’s blog)

I snagged a few of Laurie’s photos so you could have a peek –

This new collection is called Modern Whimsy, and comes in the Park or Citrus colorway –

I’m loving those swans, and the little pink rabbit… oh, and that little lamb! So perfect!

And here is the new colorway of the Urban Circus, in Grass… (ah, springtime!)

And then you must take a look at this new collection of three prints. I gasped out loud when I first saw those donkeys in rainboots… Wouldn’t this make a fabulous baby blanket or quilt?

All of these fabrics are currently available through Laurie’s shop!

Speaking of Laurie and her wonderful fabrics, I had a few scraps left from her quilt, and since I’ve been trying to use up my scraps, I decided to make up a couple of pillows for a couch which has always been pillow-less.

I paired Laurie’s fabrics with some solids, and some other scraps, including a few of the purple and orange prints from Denyse Schmidt’s Hope Valley line. On the first pillow I made up some simple squares, and on the second, I pieced together some of the smaller strips and then cut them into squares.

I quilted the front of each pillow with a few simple straight lines, and since I didn’t have any zippers on hand, I went for an envelope closure on the back. To jazz them up a bit, I even added piping! It’s kind of funny how impressed I am with myself when I make piping. I really think it adds the perfect finishing touch, and I’m always pleasantly surprised at how easy it actually is! I followed the section on piping in this tutorial.

If you’re interested, Laurie still has this colorway of the Urban Circus listed in her shop!