lil' gifties for some "niecies"

We had the privilege of being invited to Las Vegas for our nephew's graduation from high school. My sister is throwing a bash & hosting quite a few of us. Can't go empty handed, so I made a couple of little 12" throw pillows for the girls.


I started with a fantastic design from Reen, and built the pillows from there.

The base of the petals is satin from a dress the girls' mother wore years ago.

The beads used in the centers of the flowers were left-overs from our sister Beth.

I made the piping using another hand-me-down satin and utilizing this tute for creating bias tape. 

Couldn't decide which of the plaids to use for the pillow back. 

Ultimately chose the one with "sparkle" in it.

I made envelope closure for the backs of my pillows. (If you need a tute, here's a basic one from eHow.)

Did not realize 12" pillow forms were a rarity these days (Found some at JoAnn's for $9 each & refused to pay that for fluff!)  Soooooo -- ended up going to Anna's Linens and bought a standard pillow (for less than $5!) & cut it in half. I'm so cheap red-neck stingy thrifty!