Bird Nest Porch Pillow

With spring showing itself in a mass of blossoms, and with the sweet birds returning from their southern sojourn, we needed a porch pillow to celebrate the season. As usual, it is the 16″ x 26″ size to fit our porch-size pillow insert. This way we can replace covers and we don’t have to store all the bulky pillows.

For this design, we started at the center and made a nest from “sticks” of wool. Once the design was ready, we glued it all down, covered it with tracing paper, and stitched everything in place by machine. Luckily, the tracing paper tore off easily and didn’t disturb the stitches. That’s exactly what we hoped would happen.

Then we sewed blue eggs in the nest and put different colored eggs around the nest for interest and a little spring color.

We added strips of different widths of coordinating fabric to the top and bottom until it was the desired 16.5″ high.

Next, we added horizontal strips sewn together to both edges. One set was made wider than the other, so it would be a bit off-center.    

We needed birds hopping and pecking on the “steps” of horizontal fabric. These little shapes were made from blue wool. We’ll share a process we often use when we need certain shapes for a design.

We usually check pictures (search images on Google) to refresh our minds as to the shapes of real birds. Then we sketch out a version of the ones we want to use. This usually takes a bit of adjusting the scale to fit the project. When we are happy with shapes, we trace them onto freezer paper, press it onto the felt, and cut it out.

Now all you have to do is sew them into place, and add a little bit of detail to help them show up.

We used our walking foot to quilt the pillow top in a simple cross hatch design, and then we made an envelope back. We’ve made a couple of these without quilting the pillow top, but we much prefer the quilted version. It adds that lovely texture, and it helps protect the design from the back.

We love using these pillows for every season, and hope to create many more. It’s the first thing visitors notice when they drop in. You can make some of these for your home, and when the compliments come pouring in, you respond with, “Oh, that little old thing? It’s just something I whipped up.”