Initial Pillow No. 2

For my first initial pillow, I chose to create a pillow cover for my youngest grandchild.

This time, I have created a pillow covering for my oldest grandchild.  His favorite color is orange, and he is partially color blind.

I wanted borders around the letter and star so that I could use a variety of free motion quilting designs.

Whether I am free motion quilting a pillow cover, or a full-size quilt, I like to begin by stitching in the ditch to stabilize my project.  It also allows me to remove the pins so that they no longer hinder my stitching (I quilt with a domestic sewing machine).

Wonderfil Invisfil is my favorite thread to use for stitching in the ditch.

I used one of Cindy Needham’s stencils to easily mark quilting lines on the star points.  I could have used several choices of markers, but I used chalk that I pounced on.

I also like to use Pam Clarke’s stencils for marking.  The grids are great for spacing even distances for parallel quilting or many other types of designs.

The rest of the free motion quilting on the pillow cover was done without marking.  I use Aurifil 50 weight thread for the quilting.

This is the finished pillow before washing:

The pillow back has a concealed zipper.

There is a lot of texture after washing!

I am doing Option #1 from QuiltShopGal’s Free Motion Quilting Challenge 2015 March (featuring Patsy Thompson).  Here is a link to the post that shows my participation in the Patsy Thompson part of the Free Motion Quilting Challenge 2012.

I am linking up with quiltshopgal.