A Third Santa Pillow

This one is for me to keep. The other two, which can be seen in my post for 12/12/25 each went on its jolly way to Colorado or Oklahoma. All three were made from the Lella Boutique pillow pattern Sew Jolly #244. I've gotten much swifter and more efficient at the cutting out phase and identifying the pieces by clipping on Alphabitties. This pillow had pieces A thru W. This Santa's pom pom was fussy cut to have lacy pine needles centered in it, like the part of the tree in the fur trim on his hat.

Now for the FMQ... I'd already stitched waves on one Santa and scallops on another, so I decided to try something different on this Santa. I used my Handi-GADGETS Swish template. I am pleased that the stitches sort of look like a mustache.

Here is the finished pillow front and back. My attempt to center the template swishes on his face was successful. Yay! The back is a print I just really love. I inserted a zipper in the bottom rather than having an overlapping back. I am trying really hard to use fabric from my stash that I really like rather that saving it for some theoretically more perfect project. Often specialness fades with time, so I am gonna make a concerted effort to use it at its height of awesomeness. 

This pillow completes my Lella Boutique pattern fixation. I have made four Frank #232, three Merry Reindeer #245, and three Sew Jolly #244. They are so much fun and come together so nicely. Details are in my blog posts dated 10/1/25, 10/18/25, 12/6/25, 12/12/25, and 12/19/25.

A Third Reindeer Pillow

Here is the front of my third reindeer pillow, fresh from under the foot of my sit-down Sweet Sixteen long-arm. I stitched in my trusty wave pattern using my HQ F-wave ruler with a wave height of 1.5 inches and a wavelength of 4". I usually try to center my pattern, but this time I was more successful than usual. My other two reindeer can be seen in my post for 12/6/25; one reindeer has the same wave pattern and the other reindeer has clamshells. That post also has more details about ruler and cutting out aspects, not repeated here.

I really love this Lella Boutique pattern titled Merry Reindeer. The pieces mesh so well, seams meet flawlessly, and points do not get cut off. The only place I needed to watch which way I pressed the seam was at the base of the antlers, where white meets white. Other seam intersections were very forgiving. How clever and crisp is the branching of the antlers, a real satisfying joy to assemble!

I finished the pillow off with a backing that had not only the same blue as in the front background, but also just enough dash of red to signify Christmas. I remembered, but just barely in the nick of time, to add a name/year grosgrain ribbon label in an upper corner. The bottom edge has a red zipper tucked away.

Two reindeer are alike except for the quilting pattern. Number three has a different background and a different fur color from the first two. I did not have enough fabric to make all three reindeer pillows identical, but I like all three. They are each about 18" square with a 20" pillow form inserted for extra  plumpness. Here are two pillows side by side. But, just like my children, I do not have a favorite. The trio is destined for homes in California, Colorado, and Oklahoma.