Quilted Texas A&M Pillow

The idea for this pillow came from the blog of Crazy Mom Quilts She made giant pillows for her sons, and I liked them so much I decided to make one for my grandson's 14th birthday. His parents are both graduates of Texas A&M, and he is an avid Aggie fan, so the choice of colors was easy - maroon and white, with accents of gray. Did you know Pantone created a custom "Aggie Maroon" in 2007?

His Grandpa and I had the pillow waiting for him (along with a card with cash) when he arrived with his family to celebrate. He was very happy!

Fabric choices were very limited at both Hobby Lobby and Joann's, which surprised me since I live in Texas. If I had planned ahead, I probably could have ordered fabric online. I used a maroon print and a maroon and gray print with A&M logos, and a maroon Kona cotton and gray solid cotton. I had a pillow case from IKEA in a gray and white print that I incorporated with some solid white.

I used gray fleece on the back to make it extra comfy in the winter.

I quilted the top, sandwiching it with a piece of muslin. For the quilting, I used my walking foot and chose "stairs" as illustrated on Petit Design Co's blog - a great resource for machine quilting with a walking foot. I sandwiched the fleece with a maroon backing (although it won't show) and quilted it in a simple grid.

To make it easy to remove for washing, I installed a separating jacket zipper. For the facing surrounding it, I pretty much winged it, leaving the teeth visible because I liked the look. I found a pillow form at Joann's and it fit beautifully.

The next photo gives an indication of the size, which turned out to be about 27" by 27". Katy couldn't look at the camera because she was busy bathing.

For the pattern I simply cut out 6 blocks each of the 6 fabrics, placed the 5-inch blocks on my display board, and shuffled them until I found a pattern I liked. I pieced the alternating blocks together, then sewed the rows together. I'm not sure there is a name for this pattern - it looks a little like Trip Around the World, but I am open to correction.

One of my next projects will involve Moda's Ruby by Bonnie and Camille. I was attracted to this fabric, not only because I love the mix of reds, aquas, corals, grays, and greens, but also because Ruby was my Mom's name, and I want to make something in her memory.

I purchased my first two pieces as end-of-bolts from Lonestar Quilting. When I received them, I immediately fell in love and started looking for more pieces of the line. I found them at Sweet Pea's Quilt Co, which is in Sand Springs, OK. Since I grew up about 30 miles from Sand Springs, and I have relatives living there, that made my purchase all the more special. Sweet Pea's shipping was very fast, the fabric was wrapped in paper closed with a lovely wax seal with the initials "SP", and coupon for $5.00 off my next purchase was included!