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Siamese Hug Me! Kitty Decorative Pillow

Siamese Hug Me! Kitty appliqued decorative throw pillow by Elizabeth RuffingMy Siamese kitty pillow is all finished and is up in my Etsy shop. I machine appliquéd quilting cottons onto an oatmeal cotton fabric this time. The background has a pattern of diagonal textured lines, but it is all of one natural cotton color. It’s nice and soft.

Siamese Hug Me! Kitty appliqued decorative throw pillow by Elizabeth RuffingI fused all my appliqué pieces onto my background with Wonder-Under, much in the same way as I did with my bunny pillow, only I was able to use a cotton setting on my iron and skip the press cloth, since cottons can withstand more heat than poly fleece.

Siamese Hug Me! Kitty appliqued decorative throw pillow by Elizabeth RuffingI used a machine zig zag stitch to sew around all the raw edges. A stitch width of 2.5 and a stitch length of 0.5 worked well for me. Once the pillow front was appliquéd, I pressed it with some steam, and made my envelope closure for my pillow back. I basted the two back pieces together, pressed them, and then squared them up with a rotary cutter and a quilting ruler. I sewed my front to my backs, pressed again, turned them right side out, and put my pillow insert inside.

Oatmeal-colored cotton, decorative throw pillow with an envelope closureI took some photos and all done!

I also photographed another wide-eyed kitten this week. This is Ian. He and a bunch more equally cute and playful kittens and cats are at PetSmart this weekend, hoping to find their forever homes.

Ian, gray and white kitten for adoption from Alley Cats and Angels, in the Triangle area, Apex, NCPlease consider adopting a pet. There are so many sweet animals out there waiting for homes. I fall in love with one or two or three every week or so! All our kitties are rescued kitties, and they make wonderful family members. Check out sites like Petfinder and Adopt a Pet to find available adoptable pets in your own area. And go visit them too. They love the attention! It makes them happy 🙂

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Bunny and Slug Pillows

Hug Me! Bunny appliqued decorative throw pillow by Elizabeth RuffingI finished my Hug Me Bunny decorative fleece pillow and made a Hug Me Slug pillow friend for her out of sheeting and quilting cottons. I’m experimenting with which fabrics I like the most for pillows. I think I will try a combination of a fleece background, with sheeting and quilting cottons for the appliqués too. I tried that on my Super Slug and liked how it worked out before.

Hug Me Slug appliqued decorative throw pillow by Elizabeth RuffingI made an envelope closure for each pillow back, in their background fabrics. To do this, you work out the measurements for half your pillow height, plus a hem and seam allowances for the top piece, and the same plus 3 to 4 inches for the bottom piece, by the pillow width. Then sew the hems, overlap the two pieces, and sew them to the front of your pillow, right sides together. Finish the raw seam edges, and turn the pillow cover right side out.

Yellow fleece decorative throw pillow back with envelope closure by Elizabeth RuffingI made a pillow insert so the covers could be taken off and hand washed as needed. It slips right inside the back closure. I found the easiest way to get the insert in was to flip the top half of the back enclosure over so it is inside out, slip the pillow insert inside the bottom half, then flip the top half back over, right side out.

Yellow fleece decorative throw pillow back with envelope closure by Elizabeth RuffingI recommended hand washing for the pillow covers, cool water for fleece, and warm water for sheeting. Sheeting can be ironed with a warm iron on a synthetic setting since I used a poly/cotton blend. My pillow insert can be washed too. I recommend hand washing for handmade items, and leaving them to air dry.

Both pillows are over in my Etsy shop.