Category: YW Christmas Gifts

I have been working on this project for quite some time and am sooo excited to finally share it with you!  Last summer for Girls Camp, our leaders designed a fun project for the girls to do in their spare time:  stuffing pillows!  To prepare the pillows, we had our camp theme printed on some custom-designed fabric.  Then a generous sister in the ward sewed the six-by-six-inch pillows, leaving an opening for stuffing.  Up at camp, the girls got to stuff and sew closed their own special camp mini-pillow.

Inspired by how successful the pillows were for our girls, I designed custom-printed fabric pillow fronts featuring my Arise and Shine Forth 2012 Mutual Theme chandelier logo for you to use!  You can easily order my design pre-printed on fabric from Spoonflower.com–no trying to print and iron on a design with less-than-stellar results!

Each eight-by-eight-inch pillow front features the chandelier and full scripture for the Mutual theme.  You can select either striped or damask backgrounds.

When you order your fabric, you’ll notice I’ve added cutting lines right into the design, so you won’t need to measure at all–just cut on the lines.  Better yet, layer the pillow-top fabric on top of purchased black cotton for the pillow backs and cut out both together! I’ve also allowed for a 1/2-inch seam allowance on each side of the pillow front.

Make these mini pillows for your girls to put on their beds to remind them to pray and “Arise and Shine Forth” in the morning!

Since each pillow front is eight-by-eight-inches square, and each yard of printed fabric is 42-by-36-inches, you get sixteen pillow fronts per yard.  At a cost of $18 (US) per yard for the quilting cotton, that makes the cost for each pillow front  $1.13 (US)!  Add in the cost for black broadcloth/quilting cotton for the backs and poly fiberfill for the stuffing and you have a great gift or craft project for about $2 (US) per girl!  You may also have ward members with extra fabric and stuffing they could donate so you don’t have to buy anything but the pillow fronts.

If you need just one pillow front, order a sample for $5 (US) plus $1 shipping and you will get one eight-by-eight-inch pillow front.  Fat quarters are also available.

I have more Arise and Shine Forth fabric designs in the works at Spoonflower.com and will release them as soon as I’ve proofed the final prints.  They are all-over prints with the chandelier logo or just chandeliers.  These prints will work perfectly for pillow backs, or you could combine them with the pillow fronts to make quilts, tote bags, aprons or bandanas.   You may want to frame a pillow front for a fast and easy gift.  Girls could use my fabric designs to make gifts for Stake leaders, Bishops, camp Secret Sisters or as a Value Project.

To make my finished pillow, I used my custom-designed pillow front fabric and a piece of a black fabric remnant for the back plus about 1/4 a yard of inexpensive (about $1 (US) per yard) blue tulle for the ruffle around the edge.  I also added some black beaded trim(about 3/4 of a yard) I got at the craft store. This quick project took me just over an hour to sew, stuff and sew closed.

Spoonflower.com prints on high-quality fabrics which are washable and colorfast, just like the printed fabrics in the store. Plus, at Spoonflower.com, you can order fabrics in several types:  Kona cotton, quilting-weight cotton, cotton poplin, cotton voile, cotton silk, linen-cotton canvas, organic cotton interlock knit, organic cotton sateen, upholstery-weight cotton twill and silk crepe de chine.  Check out this page here for more information on fabric options.

Here’s how to order my Arise and Shine Forth Mini Pillow Fronts fabric:

• Go to Spoonflower.com and search for “Arise and Shine Forth” in the search box OR
• Visit my Spoonflower.com shop OR
• Click here to go to the damask background pillow front fabric page OR
• Click here to go to the striped background pillow front fabric page
• Select the desired fabric you want the design printed on.  I used quilting cotton ($18/yard–16 pillow fronts per yard)
• Calculate the yardage you will need and select the amount you need to order in the “sizes” area.
• Once you’re sure about your order, click “Add to Cart.”
• Complete your order.

Note:  One test swatch will give you one pillow front.

If you have any questions about Spoonflower.com fabrics, shipping times and prices or ordering, check out their help page here.  I’ve been impressed with their quality and customer service.

I am so excited to share this fun project with you!  If you decide to make something using my pillow fronts, please be sure to share your project in the comments!