When Nova posted a pattern for her wonderful Petal Pocket and Pillow Pocket pillows, I was immediately sold. When I was little, I had a pillow with a small little pocket on the interior where I used to hide away all my special treasures. (I should really show you a photo of it in all its ’70s glory – oh, here’s a little peek of it in the first photo of this post – that orange and green one in the little chair. Kitties, of course.)

So I decided to make up a couple for Max and his cousins. Because even though babies don’t necessarily need pillows, I just couldn’t resist. I’m hoping that the pillows will make for some fun decoration in their nurseries right now, and maybe will be a great spot for them to store their own treasures when they’re older!

I can’t say enough about Nova’s pattern. She’s done a wonderful job clearly describing and showing all the steps, making this a quick and satisfying project. I tend to shy away from projects like this, being kind of afraid of applique, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it all came together.

And I truly love how it leaves lots of room for you to add your own touches. I had fun playing around with lots of different fabric combinations – I was surprised to find I had enough reds in my stash for this fun pillow, which I put on a striped gray background and finished with a light gray printed and solid pocket.

I went with browns on a cream background for this one. The back is a fun gold Lotta Jansdotter print with a pop of blue for the binding. And Nova even inspired me to try a bit of hand embroidery on each.

Max’s pillow is made up of prints in bright greens, blues and grays with a pieced gray pocket. The backing is primarily aqua, with darker aqua in one corner for a fun little twist. This pattern is designed to fit a 20″ pillow, but I had no trouble making the background a bit smaller on two of them to fit 18″ pillows instead.

I finished each with a corresponding backing and invisible zipper and a matching binding, and voila, cute pillows!

Thanks Nova, for a really great pattern! In case you want to make one yourself (and you should, you really should!) — you can buy a copy of Nova’s pattern here. Not only does it make a fun pillow for a kids room, but I think it’s also fun for adults as well. Just think of all the things you could store in there — your book, iPad, or kindle, the remote, a little snack… I’ve been keeping Max’s pillow on the couch and lately I’ve been keeping my knitting tucked in the pocket. No end to the fun!