Free Pattern Friday • Dawn&Dusk BIG Pillows • Let's use rollups!

Super easy pillow project.

These Dawn and Dusk Pillows are FUN TO MAKE- quick and gorgeous!
Fabulous, stripped, big 25" square pillows from my look book have special exposed seam detail and minky backs! They came together so quickly because I used easy to find items such as precut SHIMMER rollups and standard 26" euro pillow forms. This is my kind of project. I love making great impact pillows in a day. You too?  And they are so functional for the whole family! 
Beginner project? YES! 
Stylish? FOR SURE! 
Sewist by day, pillow lounger/movie junkie by night? Bliss!! 
Funny thing is, on the back side I used plush minky and that of course, is the side my kids LOVE… Which frankly is the best solution ever…my fancy side stays fairly clean! 

We start with a standard 2.5 inch precut rollup. 2 inch-wide cut-off selvages from  Essex YD linen. Two (26 inch) euro pillow forms, 3/4 yards of minky and two (22 inch) zippers.

Isn't this rollup yummy? I, like many of you, have a hard time unwrapping things so lovely as a brand new, perfectly coordinated rollup. But commit we must. Yes, as soon as I pop that tight brown belt and unroll the disc, a bittersweet flash washes over me. Hello my name is Octopus. 

The great thing is that you can just start sewing. But I suggest you spend a little time organizing the lights separately from the darks, hence my pillow names Dawn, which is all light colors and Dusk, which is the darks.

This group easily separates down the middle value wise with even amount of fabric in each story. At that point, your are ready to sit at the machine.

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Dawn Pillow

Let's start with the Dawn pillow. The instructions are the same for the Dusk pillow except you are using the darkest colors instead.  
1. First, I sewed the lightest strips WOF together in a group of 4. As you see (right), my lightest, cleanest whites are in the center of the pillow. This creates the shimmer/glow effect of the pillow design.
2. Collect your medium-lights and sew two sets of 4 strips together. I chose to put the vintage lichen colored prints on the outside and use them as book ends. 
(below detail)

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3. At this point I needed a little zip in my project. It bored me to do just a striped, stripped light pillow so I dug into my Essex Linen box looking for texture and variety. As usual, I was admiring the interesting selvages and then a light bulb went off! Exposed seams are so GREAT! I want to highlight them! Immediately, I whacked off the selvages measuring 2" strips (this was the only cutting I did thus far!) and sewed them together with a 1/2-inch seam allowance to beef up "the fringe" (there are no right sides when sewing together with yarn dyes).  Now I have my "exposed selvage strip" that gave my pillow that great designer look.

Here is a detail of the seamed strip (right) after a light pressing. Also, a nice touch design-wise, is when both pieces are sewn together the result is a 1/2" wider strip (2.5" finished). The textured linen inserted between the cotton SHIMMER pieces gives important, visual texture and balances the symmetrical design.

For the Dawn pillow, I needed a touch of drama so I chose the Black Essex YD as the accent and the Flax Essex YD for the Dusk pillow.  See below how  each pillow has spark because of the value change?  This is very important to do. Don't neglect to add this accent. 

This is key to creating a pillow that states "designer" vs. a pillow that looks "home made". I like the things in my nest to be special, functional and have beautiful detail. It is a mindful practice I really enjoy, especially in it's simplest form. These details provide visual poetry. I know, I know...I am a design geek. And if you're nodding your head, then may be you are too :). Welcome to my tribe.

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4. Once the strips are sewn together, trim square to 25 x 25 inches. Then press and add a lightest weight cotton batt on back and quilt straight lines  about 1/4 of an inch on each side of seam.  Next, cut the minky at 25 x 25 for the back of your pillow. I used  creme for dawn and cafe for dusk. Follow this very clear and excellent zipper tutorial if you aren't familiar with putting zippers in pillows. 

Now the SUPER EASY "LOOK WHAT I MADE" Part: add the insert!!! YAY! Good job!!
Note that inserts should always be an inch larger than the cut fabric. The reason is to keep the pillow looking plump and full. Baggy pillows look sad, especially after a few uses. 

•nice, plump, plush, shimmery, designer pillows•
Who's making the popcorn? 

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Ever wonder how roll ups are made?

Behind the scenes at Robert Kaufman Company. 

Teresa Coates shot this footage for me and I LOVE IT!!!! 
Check out the video of a roll up being made. It's so NEAT!

•"Hello World, my name is Rollup"•

And now for the grand announcement
BLOG HOP COMMENCES APRIL 1 
LOOK AT THIS LIST OF AWESOME WOMEN- AND FOLLOW ALONG!
…I LOVE these women for saying YES and being so crafty cool...

BLOG HOP Schedule:
April 1- Robert Kaufman/Jennifer Sampou- 
April 2- Janice Ryan- Better off Thread
April 3- Alissa Haight Carlton- Handmade by Alissa
April 4- Julie Herman- JayBird Quilts
April 5- Natalie Barnes- Beyond the Reef
April 6- Stash Books- C&T Publishing
April 7- Amanda Jean Nyberg- Crazy Mom Quilts
April 8- Lee Heinrich- Freshly Pieced 
April 9- Cheryl Arkinson- Naptime Quilter
April 10- Christina Cameli- A Few Scraps
April 11- Elizabeth Hartman- Oh Fransson
April 12- Faith Jones-Fresh Lemon Quilts
April 13- Gemma Jackson- Pretty Bobbins
April 14- Katie Blakesley- Swim Bike Quilt
April 15- Amy Smart-Diary of a Quilter
April 16- Laura Nownes, Jennifer Rounds, Pati Fried, Darra Williamson- See How We Sew
April 17- Holly DeGroot- Bijou Lovely
April 18- Jennifer Sampou-Wrap Up
April 21- Jennifer Sampou- Announce Winner of Giveaway FQ Pack of entire Shimmer Collection.

Thanks for stopping by. I enjoy casual blogging immensely. This, by far, was my longest post ever because it was the first time I have talked about making a project. I hope I was clear (enough) and I do rely on others by creating links to those who are thorough at teaching technique. I have great respect for them. My focus is on inspiration and design. I will do my best to steer you to other fine bloggers and tutorials for specific things that I do not offer. 

Until next time,
Shimmer- it's in our nature!