Scrappy Circles Pillow

At work this year, we decided to have a little "Secret Santa" gift exchange. It turned into a more of New Year thing rather than Christmas, which was fine with me! The nice things about exchanging gifts with a bunch of sewers is that everyone understands how busy sewing for Christmas can get.

I drew my friend Pat's name to make a gift for. She is so fun to work with and always so encouraging of anything I make, so I felt like I wanted to wow her a little. Plus, I had been wanting to try Jen's signature quarter circles ever since I saw one of her gorgeous quilts in a show last year.

I used her pattern from the Winter 2013 Modern Patchwork magazine. The pattern is for making an apron, but it would be easy to use for anything. I've done improv curved piecing before, but nothing like these precise circles. It was surprisingly easy! You have to take a little more time, pin extra, and be careful. They aren't perfect perfect circles, but I never screwed up too badly or had a problem with puckers.

I used all small scraps I had and Robert Kaufman chambray from Sewn for the background. It ended up being a large 20" pillow, and she loved it!

What's even more fun, is that Pat was my secret maker! She actually knitted me this amazing purple cowl. I was over the moon about it. I've never had a gift knitted just for me, and she really chose the perfect color and everything. It's super cozy and I wear it every day. Yay for friends who make!