Two nights ago I found myself making a pillow as a gift for my husband’s grandmother. She is currently in a rehab facility so we thought that a pillow would be something she could use while she recovers from a stroke. I’m a big fan of square and rectangle pillows but I thought I’d give her something with a little more pizazz by making the pillow in the shape of a heart. It ended up being quite simple and in a short time I had a meaningful gift for grandma. You can make your own! Just follow the steps below.

Gather materials: scissors, rotary cutter, pins, thread, paper, cutting mat, and sewing machine.

Select your fabric. The pillow can be made of one fabric or you can choose to use a myriad of fabrics. I chose to use several fabrics that I thought combined well together. Press the fabric.

Draw a heart on a large piece of paper and cut it out. This is your pattern. Make it a big heart, small heart, skinny heart, full heart…anything your heart desires.

I made one side of the pillow from one piece of floral fabric. To make it easier to cut the heart out, use half the paper heart pattern rather than the whole heart by folding the patter in half. Fold the fabric in half, pin the pattern half to the fabric (with fabric fold toward center of heart), and cut the heart out of the fabric. When unfolded it creates a whole heart.

I decided to use more than one fabric for the front so I first cut a rectangle out of the fabric I wanted in the center and then I added two inch strips around it followed by three inch strips around the two inch strips. I continued to do this until I had a large enough piece of fabric for another heart. This can be done with any design, or more simply by cutting out two heart shaped pieces without any piecing. There is no right or wrong. The strips of fabric were joined using one quarter inch seams.

When you have two heart pieces join them with nice sides facing in and wrong sides facing out. Sew together leaving an opening to turn the heart right side out. Press the heart.

Finally, stuff the heart with pillow stuffing and then sew the opening shut by hand.

As far as pillow talk goes, rather simple, right?

This past weekend my family and I found ourselves immersed in island life preparing for an event that will take place this week. Painting has never been one of my strengths but when the opportunity presented itself to paint coconuts for an upcoming event I could not resist. It turns out that paint markers are a coconut painter’s best friend. We (it took a team) first painted the coconuts solid bright colors. The next day we painted the coconuts more intricately. Painting coconuts can be tricky especially if the coconut is wrinkled but in the end we found that wrinkles, bumps, and spots only add character. With acrylic paint, brushes, paint markers, and some art inspiration we found ourselves amidst a colorful array of coconuts that will splendidly adorn this island for a long time to come.

Coconuts painted in solid colors on Saturday.

All finished!

A close up of my favorites.

I must give credit where credit is due. The frog was painted by my mother-in-law Carol Riley. Turns out she’s an excellent crafter! The palm tree (and the coconut with Patrick on it) were painted by Jennifer a senior at Labelle High School who helped to paint coconuts while she waited for her father.