Name Pillow

It's kind of getting hard to come up with gift ideas for one of my daughter's best friends... I've already made so many different things for Kylie! Since she had a slumber party for her birthday this year I decided to do my first applique name pillow:

I've seen lots of examples over the years, but most recently have been inspired by some posted by Lyn on 8CP's Facebook wall (here and here for example). I love flipping through fan albums on FB! Lyn graciously answered some questions for me about size of pillow and letters, and confirmed that if I merged all the letters in my 6x10 hoop I would end up with a good sized pillow. (If you want a detailed tutorial, she recommends the one from Kimberbell Kids.)
Kylie already has her name on her bedroom wall with wooden letters in the Tinker Toy font, so I selected the Dotty Applique Alphabet from Embroidery Boutique, using the zigzag finish for the quick stitch. All five letters fit in my 10" hoop perfectly! By the time I added a 2" pieced border around the center panel, I ended up with a 12x16" rectangle so I could use a pillow form instead of stuffing my own. Yay!

I selected the colors to coordinate with her bedding. I was excited to rediscover the aqua floral fabric in my stash which I also used for the back of the pillow. I constructed the back to have two overlapping panels so it would be easy to remove for washing if need be. (It also meant I didn't have to whip stitch an opening closed!) Here it is on her bed:

I enjoyed doing this. I've been interested in trying it, but not anxious to tackle one for Annaliese -- her pillow will probably be two feet long! Ha! Alas, now that Kylie has one, I'm sure she's going to ask me sooner or later...