Quilt to Pillow = Quillow

When I first started quilting, I began a series of wallhangings, one for each month of the year to hang on the inside of our front door. This was a really engaging project because I could display so many more quilts! Each month's wallhanging reflected the theme of the month - snowflakes in January, hearts in February etc.

Since then, we have redecorated our living room, which includes the front hallway, and I made a new quilt that hangs there permanently. The monthly wallhangings have mostly found new homes, except for two: September's Fall Leaves and November's Northwoods. I just wasn't able to give them away to our church craft fair, so they have been hanging in my sewing room for a few years. 

Last week I had the most ingenious (OK to me it was ingenious) idea to make the Northwoods wallhanging into a pillow. I had an extra green, flannel pillow case that I sewed to the back of the quilt by stitching in the ditch around the binding. It was a perfect fit except for a few extra inches at one end. 

We had an extra bed pillow in the closet that I put inside the pillow case (not between the pillow case and quilt). After turning the extra fabric under the quilt, I basted that seam closed, also stitching in the ditch, so that If I needed to wash it, I could undo the stitching and take the pillow out. 

When I originally suggested putting this wallhanging on the wall in the basement, my husband wasn't too keen on the idea. Now that it is a "quillow", both he and my son are fighting over it! I have to admit, the quilting on the wallhanging helps make the the pillow extra soft, so maybe I'll steal it from them one day!