A pillow for Penny

Even though Penny has been my best friend since we were sophomores in high school, the last few years I have struggled to come up with Christmas gift ideas for her. At this point in our lives, we have both acquired most of what we need for our homes. I can always find a silly little gift, but in the past few years it has been a challenge to think of the special gift. It doesn't help that she has consistently found special gifts for me.

Penny has two blonde  Cairn Terriers and for the past few years I have tried to find something related to Cairn Terriers, but it isn't easy. If she had a Scottie, a West Highland White, a Jack Russel, or one of the designer breeds it would be much easier. But there aren't many gift items featuring Cairn Terriers.

I have looked for quilt patterns for Cairns and it is the same story. I did find a pattern for a paper-pieced Cairn, but it had a ridiculous number of pieces,  plus I don't have any experience with paper piecing and it seemed likely I could waste a lot of time and fabric on it. It was getting close to Christmas and I needed something simpler so I could actually finish it in time. So, I drew around the edge of the paper-pieced pattern and managed to reduce the number of pieces to five pieces that I appliqued to the top of the pillow. I was pleased with the results and Penny loved it.

I loved the way the fabrics worked together. They are all Moda fabrics. The background is Hometown by Sweetwater, the first border is Essential Dots, and the large border is from Maison de Garance. I had just a fat quarter of the Maison de Garance, which would have worked for the front borders, but in a "duh" moment I realized I'd need it for the back too. Luckily, a local quilt shop had plenty of the same fabric. I'm thinking I will go get more so I can make myself a pillow just like this one, except without the Cairn Terrier.