Back to School Pillows

On Monday, I started a two week break off of work between the summer and fall semesters.

And even though I enjoy the extra time off, I sometimes get a little antsy and bored.

So, these pillows were the fly-by-the-seat-of-my pants moment of I WILL CONQUER MY SEWING MACHINE! and I MUST DO SOMETHING...OH LOOK, AN ERASER!

You see, even though I love all things a sewing machine can do, I'm a horrible at sewing. I know that it just takes practice, but I just don't have patience for it. Every time I sit down at the machine, I think that I will magically enjoy it. In the end, I wouldn't say that I hate it, but I just don't really like it. It's probably why I don't like to exercise all that much--it's too much work.

Or maybe it's because the only thing I know how to sew is a pillow. And, after a while, pillows can get boring :)

Oh, right. We are talking about pillows. Not sewing machines!

Oops.

I must have school supplies on the mind during this time of year because I used four basic supplies to whip these up. Paint (just good old acrylic craft paint!). A pencil. An eraser. And a paint brush.

I also had some extra fabric laying around, cut it to appropriate dimensions (or in my case, squares that looked about right), and got started.

First, I went with dots. I simply used the eraser end of a pencil :) Dip. Dot. Dip. Dot. It was a little like kindergarten.

Then, I moved on to the big kid stuff. Shapes. I made a triangle with my eraser. I just cut it to shape. Does anyone else remember having fun cutting their erasers at school?

Finally, I went to art class and dabbled with a brush. A stroke here and there. I enjoyed making a little color pallet on my plate. I mixed a tad of water with the paint to make it go on more easily :)

Before sewing them up, I ironed them (to set the paint), washed, and dried them.

After a pin, a sew (don't ask me for a tutorial for this part!), and a little fixing--here they all are :)

3 happy pillows. Imperfect and cheerful. One of a kind.

Many times, I think that I think too deeply about projects and crafts. I often pressure myself to come up with something out of this world. Something new. Something revolutionary.

Yet, in the end, polka dots, triangles, and swipes have never gotten old. The basics still work for me.

Unfortunately, it seems that home economics didn't leave such a legacy :)

{I'm sharing at It's Overflowing, Tatertots and Jello, and Whipperberry}