A friend of mine celebrated her birthday a couple months ago and I really wanted to make her something neat. I wanted it to be a bit Halloween and a bit everyday casual. I had just bought the smaller Accuquilt Drunkards Path Die and I was itching to try it. I had never pieced a curved seam, so I had no idea if it would actually come out or not.

Well, as you can see, it came out beautifully! So much so, I have been obsessed with sewing curves ever since. (Check back tomorrow and I’ll show you another curved piecing project).

The top is all fabric I had on hand. I love just picking from my Stash for projects like this. It gives it a more homey, scrappy feel. Also, as you can see, I have a thing for buying black and gray fabric, so it was neat seeing them all next to each other.

I quilted the top in the way I normally do, in a 45 degree angle. However this time I only did the corners and let the lines overlap. So there’s lines and squares. To stabilize the middle I also quilted around the middle circle and stitched in the ditch of the middle seams.

The back is Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in Black and is quilted with quick wavy lines. I added a (mostly) invisible zipper as the closure. I’m still getting the hang of zippers.

I also stepped outside my comfort zone and bound the edges instead of having inside seams. I think this may be one of my new favorite ways to finish a pillow! Also, its great for gifts because the recipient can take out the pillow form and just be left with a mini quilt to hang on the wall or something.

Now here’s where I will sound like the biggest jerk. I was planning on giving it to my friend in person soon after her birthday, but then I got super sick (pneumonia) and have been playing catch up since. She should be receiving the pillow in the mail TOMORROW! (oooh, now my friends reading this have to figure out which of them is receiving this pillow!! hahaha. I have a few gifts that just got mailed out, so really it could be any one of you.) I really hope she likes it.

I seriously can not wait until after the holidays, when I have more free time to mess around with this die. There are so many possibilities for these little quarter circles, and I feel like I’m just getting started.