New pillow pattern} HO HO HO

It’s the first of November, and you know what that means . . . Christmas is right around the corner! If you are looking for a festive holiday project that you can stitch up in time for your Christmas decorating, I have a new pattern for you, my HO HO HO pillow!

I strongly suggest listening to Christmas music and sipping hot cocoa as you root around in your red and green fabric scraps. You’ll be filled with good cheer as you work on this project.  It comes together so quickly, you may want to make more than one! All of the materials that I used came from my stash. For my top and bottom borders, I selected a cozy red gingham, but this would also be a great place to use a feature fabric. Do you have some special Christmas fabric you’ve been saving for just the right project?

Whenever I’m sewing a smaller project (like a pillow, runner or table topper), I picture all the spots in my home where I might want to put it on display. This new pillow may find its way into our guest room, where it could nestle in with my Star Crossed Pines quilt or my Journeys Christmas quilt. Either combination would be a cozy and welcoming sight for our guests.

Or . . .  I might be a bit selfish and keep this jolly pillow in my office or our living room so I can see it every day. It’s funny how three simple words representing the sound of Santa’s laughter can fill me with memories of holidays past. Yes, this year when I do my Christmas decorating, the HO HO HO pillow will probably get tested out in a dozen different locations.

The HO HO HO pillow finishes at 26 ½” x 16 ½”.  An oversized lumbar pillow insert in those dimensions is readily available on Amazon. However, I didn’t order one. In my closet I found that I had a lumbar pillow that was even longer than this one, but I wasn’t using it anymore.  So, I carefully cut open one end, removed some of the fiber fill, and made myself a shorter lumbar insert.

When I finished piecing the pillow top, I considered not doing any machine quilting. I didn’t want anything to distract from the way that the bold red letters stood out. Eventually I decided to add some evenly spaced vertical quilting lines, as well as two horizontal quilting lines just 1/8” away from the top and bottom borders.  To my eye, this seemed like just enough. (You’ll notice that I didn’t quilt through the red letters.)

The HO HO HO pattern is available in PDF format on my Etsy Shop. It’s a great weekend project. I hope you’ll give it a try! Many thanks to my dear friend Sylvia, who tested this pattern. She made two darling versions, one for her daughter and one for herself. She texted me last night that she is almost done with her binding.  I can’t wait to see the finished result, as everything Sylvia makes is lovely and made with love!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope that November treats you well and that you find joy and peace in the weeks ahead.

~Taunja