Wedding gift for Ellie

I've known Ellie since she was about 2.  Her dad worked with my husband and her mom, Kathy, and I became very, very good friends.   When I became pregnant with my oldest, Kathy already had Ellie and baby sister Meggie.  Kathy was my go-to for advice, wise counsel, and support.  Our husbands travelled all week long so we spent a lot of time together going to playgrounds, lunch dates, etc.

So, when I heard about Ellie getting married this summer right after her college graduation, I knew I wanted to make her gift rather than just choose something off her registry.  She had chosen some pillows from Pottery Barn, some of which were knit fabric.  I figured she might like wool pillows made out of old sweaters.  I sent Kathy some ideas and told her to run them by Ellie and get her thoughts.  Some of the ideas had no appeal (like proddy, anything with hearts or flowers, and "girly" colors).  But, she liked the patchwork idea and a design I sent with a leafy vine.  This may shock you (or not), but other than a zipper for the smaller pillow and some buttons for the larger, I didn't have to buy a single thing to make these pillows.  All the wool and sweater scraps came from my stash.




For the patchwork pillow, I chose a rectangle size to maximize the scraps I had.  I still had some 3" squares left from my purse days and I had a LOT of blues and greys.  I lined up the rectangles with a brickwork offset pattern.  I used this on my ipad cover from last winter and the offset seams are definitely stronger than sewing together in a checkerboard pattern.  I also think the offset seams add some movement to the overall fabric.  It gives your eye more to look at.


The vine pillow was a piece of cake.  I had some vintage wool for the background and just randomly added leaves to a stitched fine until I felt there was enough.  Some leaves are completely stitched and others just have the center vein stitched so the edges stick up a little.  Gives a little texture.

One of the new couple's first purchases together was a couch.  I am hoping they are enjoying the start of their life together, comfy on their couch with fabulous pillows!