101 pillow ideas

Ok, so I don't have 101 ideas to share right now, but I'm hoping these ideas might inspire you, or get your creative pillow juices flowing, and from there we might get to 101!

Quilting
If you enjoy quilting but only have scraps left, a pillow can be a fun, colorful way to use them up. I think it would also be a great beginners sewing and quilting project; not quite as daunting as a whole quilt. Or, if you are making a quilt and have an odd square left, like I did while making my first baby quilt, a pillow is a sensible way to make good use of that material! I always make my pillows slipcovers, both for laundering purposes and my own inability to commit combined with my not wanting to waste perfectly good pillow stuffing.







this one makes me laugh to think that I use to have time to play around with a needle like that. I am in no way a great or even quilter or seamstress or needlepointdextress; I just enjoy creating! It's fun to come up with ideas and then to watch them materialize, isn't it? Well, at least when they materialize the way you envisioned them. But even when they don't, that's what makes it your creation!

idea: Last Summer I picked up a pretty little throw pillow that had a lovely embroidered handkerchief as the main block with several squares of material quilted around it. I think that might be a fun sewing project I'd like to share with my nieces or daughters!

Placemats
One of Jeni's cousins shared with her the idea of using placemats to create pillows. I was almost giddy when I heard of this idea! I LOVE table linens; they are my clearance downfall. So to have a new way to utilize them was/is so exciting!

To make them:
1) rip out one of the short side hems.
2) stuff with the desired amount of stuffing
3) stitch up the side again

voila! so easy! so pretty!

This is just one of those projects that can't go wrong, and can make such a difference in a room! I have two of these yellow placemat pillows on my guest bed in the nursery and they are the perfect touch to tie everything together! I couldn't have found better "real" pillows.


Table Runner Bolster Pillow:
Like I said, I have a weakness for linens, especially on clearance or garage sales. I was able to repurpose one of the brown table runners I'd purchased as a bolster pillow for our bed, since we love to read in bed. It was the perfect length to stretch pretty much from end to end of our king size. I purchased two body pillows for their stuffing, and that worked perfectly!



Bags
This one is another favorite! I found this great little bag at Goodwill one day and kept it for years trying to figure out ways to use it. Then a couple years ago when I was redoing my living room and looking for new, euroflare throw pillows, I realized it would work perfectly on my couch. Some stuffing and folding and top stitching, and suddenly I had a new favorite pillow. Now I always check garage sales, estate sales, antique shops and second hand stores for more bags or table linens printed with maps or designs that can come keep this one company =)

How about you? What's your favorite resource for making pillows?