TRIBUTE PILLOWS: A LOVELY GIFT

A very close family lost their Mom this year. One of the daughters recalled seeing the pillows I made last year from a grandfather's sweaters and approached me about having some made for her family.

She brought me a pile of her mother's favorite clothing which included her cherished collection of "Life is Good" t-shirts, zip-up sweaters and jeans. 

I wish I could be there to see their faces when the children and grandchildren receive these wonderful gifts.

The print on the t shirts is located very close to the neck so I wasn't able to center it on the pillow as you would expect. This also limited the size because there was only so much space between the armhole seams. They fit a 12x16" insert perfectly. 

I removed the little encouragement from the hem of each shirt and stitched it to the lower corner of each pillow. I used one leg from each pair of jeans for the pillow backs and one leg for the cording. 

Since the sweaters she had were mostly cardigan style, I had to use the backs.I stabilized them with flexible woven interfacing and sent them out to be monogrammed. We used various chenille upholstery swatches for the backs.

It was really a privilege to be part of this bittersweet project.