BILLOWS-Quick Gift Blankets folding into Pillows
Pick a Theme- in this case Hummingbirds
The opposite side of the Hummingbird Billow Pillow
How Billows Started in My Sewing Room
I love quillows. The problem with quillows are, they are not particularly quick. I can't get the whole thing done in one night. I had some double sided minky...If you don't know what that is --- well you must take a field trip to GSTREETFABRICS.... and touch and feel the minky. There is single sided, but for these billows I used double sided, so it is delightfully soft like the luxury blankets you find in the stores and it is warm, but lightweight. I have made many pillows and blankets just plain or combining colors with borders so that I have very soft pillows to hug...
I was thinking of my cousin and thought how she loved hummingbirds and how soft the minky was and it felt like a big hug. So, I thought of combining the machine embroidered hummingbirds onto the double sided minky to send her a big hug.
So, a billow is a big blanket (whatever size you want) and the edges are just folded in and hemmed with a blanket stitch. The billow pocket is on third the size of the blanket end. For myself, I make the pocket embroidery separate sew it onto the pocket sides and then sew the sides together to make the pocket. It can be just used to fold the blanket into, or for a footsie warmer.... The third billow you will see uses a little different technique.
Just A Big Lovie Huggie Blanket-Soooo Soft
The Next Loving Gift for Grand Daughter
Although these billows are quick to make if you just sit down and do it, I did not do them all at the same time. I would be in the mood to give something loving and then stay up all night making it. When there was a big sale at G Street Fabrics I would use a coupon and buy enough double sided minky to do many gifts... It is very wide... So at 64 inches you have enough in one length of blanket to do the blanket and one billow pocket out of one blanket length. Usually your pillow pockets on billows and quillows are around 18 to 20 inches wide.
Do your next gift in a different theme-i.e Horses
Horses and more Horses
Tootsie Warmer Billow Pocket
The reason the pillow pocket is on the end like this is because I thought of when you wrap yourself in a blanket you only need you feet wrapped, not that whole width. I decided It would save on fabric, but also make sense to the person opening the gift to stick their feet in it and wrap themselves up.
The pillow capsule is soft inside
Testing Again before Actual Sewing
Finished and Folded Horse Billow
VOILA-Your Blanket is a Pillow
How the Billow Looks with other Pillows
A Slightly Different Way to Make the Billow-Dog Billow
So, when I got around to the Sister Granddaughter's Billow, I had time to think about improvements. This is always unnecessary things I think of, but I decided I was going to do big dog heads on this billow. Well, I didn't know which dogs she would like best. I proceeded to do, 4 big doggie faces and did the billow pocket so it could fold inside out and she could change which dogs were on the pillow.
Pick the Dogs
Thinking Through the Pillow Pocket Folding
I laid out the faces, and I couldn't decide which she would like best. So I decided to do one long piece of Double sided minky cut off the side of the blanket. This left the blanket 64 inches long and 44 inches wide. Certainly wide enough to keep you warm and long enough to work as a billow.
Pillow Pocket in the Making
Check Face Direction and Measurements
So when you do this part, you want to be able to fold the strip in half and in half again. The size should be the correct size for the billow to fold into. The faces have to be in alternate direction so when you fold it both faces are facing the same way, as to flip the pillow and it will be right, or to turn your pillow pocket inside out and the same thing occurs with the faces on the outside of the billow.
When you test this and it seems to work you are going to sew a tube and then fold the tube so you only have one side to hem, either by hand or by machine. I did a little of both. I also got carried away with the faces and kind of embroidered and then quilted things like eyes and noses to make them more three dimensional... I get kind of carried away when I am doing things and then the rush is over.
Fold the Long Pocket in Half
Folding and Attaching Pocket
So you Can see what I was trying to acheive...No raw edges. It is pretty good. When You do these things you need to perfect them. I am only good at inventing things and then I sort of go, I did that, now on to the next crazy thing. I love these billows, but I don't have anyone to make me one and I won't spend the time on this for me. You can see that my blanket on my bed is a double sided black minky. I might do something for my other Grand Daughter that is away at college. I just had back surgery and I have not sewn for 3 months. That is a record for me. I will probably have lots of new things on hub pages, because I supposed to be recovering and I am chomping at the bit to go back to work. I have a new grand daughter on the way and I am going to make her some booties and an I spy quilt.
So these last pictures are the four different pillow sides to the one pillow pocket on the end of the billow. Be sure to rub your hands all over the seams to make sure there are no pins left and throw it into the dryer to remove any nap from the trimming while sewing...
I love it so much I might make myself a butterfly one.
The Same Tri-Fold into the Billow Pocket
Note Freemotion outline
SEW IT, SQUISH IT, SEE IT, LOVE IT!!!
Sending Hugs to Others with a SQUISHY MINKY BILLOW!