one mother's day patchwork pillow

This patchwork pillow goes to a special mother-in-law who is always so sweet to me and gushes over her grandboys.  She is crafty herself, so I thought she would enjoy a pillow made especially for her.

When I saw the center fabric, I immediately thought of her.  We both share a love of young adult books, and the cute little birds, bugs, flowers and trees remind me of a children's book.  Did you notice the tire swing on this tree?

Of course, there are a million and a half ways to piece a pillow top together, but I decided to go with simple log cabin squares.  Since it's my first one, I didn't want to complicate matters.  And I just love the color combination!  It definitely screams spring and I like how the darker grey frames the squares and draws attention to the pillow; white would have done the same thing, but I think grey is a nice change of pace.

I had no idea what I wanted to do with the back of the pillow.  I thought about piecing the other side together to get two pillows in one, but ultimately I decided to keep the back simple, too, and just to go with one large piece.  More flowers on light green and I surprising like this fabric now that it's on the pillow (I debated for 30 minutes).  I could see this fabric as a major part of a full-size pillowcase.

And last but definitely not least, I included an invisible zipper!  I used this tutorial from Sew Katie Did and it turned out great the first time!  Well, next time I should try to get a little closer to the zipper teeth because my zipper isn't exactly invisible, but it's close enough for my first venture.  And I love the pale yellow called Primrose; it matches the rest of the pillow just perfectly.

Definitely a Mother's Day success.

This pillow measures 14 by 14 inches.  The perfect size for a little guy, too.