Mini-Tutorial and Winner Announced for Birds on a Wire Pillow

I decided that it was time to blow the dust off of my sewing machine and make a cute little piggy duo for my daughter for Valentine's Day.   It didn't work out as I'd anticipated.  I'm not that good at sewing and the fabric was beyond my ability to control so it turned out awful.  There are no pictures.  I wish there were because it was fun to try the project even though it was a wreck.  And it would've probably been fun to read your guesses about WHAT it actually was.  Yeah, it was that bad... a real "bless your heart" mess. 

Since I had the machine out I figured I'd try another project I'd seen on Pinterest.  You can find my pinspiration HERE.  There weren't many instructions but I was confident enough to wing it (no pun intended... or is it?) so began gathering materials.  My first step was to assess what fabric I already had.  Nothing suited but it did give me the opportunity to organize my fabric boxes a bit better.

My next steps were to have my husband create a stencil for me (he is better than I with an exacto knife and didn't have anything better to do so-- win-win!), purchase fabric, purchase paint, and purchase stencil sponges.  Have you seen how much those sponges cost?  If I remember correctly, they were $2.49 for a pack of 6 at Hobby Lobby.  Yikes!  I bought a package of make-up sponges at Dollar Tree 28/$1.00.  They work just fine!

The following pictures sorta show the process I used to make the pillow. The fabrics I used were osnaburg (front), black homespun (back), and white muslin (lining).  The finished size is approximately 14"x16".

I'm not writing a full tutorial only because I wasn't very precise about all the measurements and such but here are some pictures to get you started if you want to make your own...

a) gathering materials  b) stencil materials  c) the paint

a) it worked!  b) painting the line  c) yup! they are sitting on the wire!

a) gathering the top and bottom b) sewed it to the middle c) pressed it away from center

4 layers of cloth, right sides together, sew, turn, stuff...

voila!

then you make another 

and another

And another (I don't recommend the gathering style with the fleur de lis... sorta wonky)

And some more!

                                                                               

The whole group!

I think I am done making this style of pillow for a while.  These pillows have been great fun but I have so many other projects that are begging for my attention. I so appreciate everyone who commented and shared this giveaway.  I am sure I'll be doing it again soon but will use a different method of record keeping and choosing the winner(s)  And now for what you've all been waiting for...

The Grand Prize goes to....... Monica L.!!!  Monica chose the Birds on a Wire pillow.

 

Second Prize goes to....... Elvida Y.!!!  Elvida will be receiving the Bunny pillow.


My Choice Award goes to...... Kati M. !!! Kati is the only person to use all 4 chances to win the pillow and to thank her I am sending her the small bird pillow.  Thank You Kati!!!