Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

My daughter's friend is getting married. My daughter being the poor, starving graduate student that she is asked if we could collaborate. She sent me a wonderful picture of her friend after a run with her fiance. We'll call that something borrowed. I decided to print it and pair it with some beautiful sky fabric I have. Something blue! I had the pillow front planned.

I asked my daughter how her friend's home was decorated. She said, "Well, it's colorful!" That made me remember my small collection of cutter quilts. Something very, very old. I wanted to accent the colors and brighten them up, so I grabbed some white bias tape I had on hand. If had not had the bias tape I would have made strips the way I do with pie potholders. The bias part is not important for my pillow. When I applied the white on the colorful patchwork, I also added a piece of fabric as a lining since the quilt itself is pretty old. This will give it some longevity as the patchwork piece will not be pushed and pulled in all directions; the lining will. There are directions all over the internet for prairie points. Everyone makes them their own way. I fold a 2" square, then fold it again on the diagonal and call it a point.

So, what's the something new? The pillow.

Here it is with the points pinned on and the back with the patchwork pieces framed. I made the back a little larger than the front to give me some design flexibility. 

You can kind of see the decorative stitching around the picture itself. The points turned out beautifully. I might make them out of 3" squares next time. 

And here's the back. I love these old cutter quilt tops. I hate to think of them getting dusty and being unused in someone's attic. We can bring some life to them if we give them a second chance. My hints include reinforcing the seams as many are hand sewn and not very sturdy and to line any piece you use to keep it alive a little longer. As mentioned, with this pillow, I used a lining and then did the bias tape stitching. It just about pops when you see it in person; the colors which once seemed a tad dull on their own are bright as can be with the white framing. 

 And so, the pillow is made. I think I love it!