Quillow

I love containers. It's hard for me to get rid of boxes and I keep far more storage containers for the kitchen than I need. There's just something about things fitting nicely inside that really appeals to me. (This must be some ancient genetic thing because it makes no sense otherwise.) It's not surprising, then, that I've wanted to make a quillow -- a quilt that can be folded up and stored inside it's own pocket to make a pillow -- ever since I first heard of them. When Fons & Porter printed instructions in their December 2006 issue, I had to make one.

Fortunately one of Brian's colleagues cooperated and had a baby shortly after the magazine came out. I made a minky for the baby and decided to make a quillow for her older brother. Here it is as a pillow.

And here it is partly folded out. When completely open (drat, I didn't take a photo!), the pocket (the exterior of the pillow) is attached at the base of the blue side. The red dotted side is a soft flannel. I think these are fun for keeping in the car or just having for whenever. The recipient seemed very happy with his.

I was thinking I would make a whole bunch of these for gifts for kids, but I'm not sure now. They are easy to sew, but I really don't like working with big pieces of cloth -- it's cumbersome and tricky to get them exactly the same size. Most of the time is spent on that, not on the fun parts of construction. Fons & Porter's instructions were not the best, either. They say to purchase 2 yards of fabric for front and back, but the measurements when you are cutting are for pieces wider than standard widths of fabric! They do give instructions on how to make a quillow of any size, but still their purchasing directions should have indicated that standard quilting fabrics are narrower than they suggest using.