Rainbows, Unicorns and a Granddaughter's Birthday

We have ten grandchildren and with each birthday, Christmas and big life event it gets harder and harder to come up with gift ideas. For Olivia's 7th birthday last week I made her a huge Lisa the Unicorn pillow. Thanks to my friend, MaryAnn, for bringing this pattern to my attention, because the minute I saw it I knew Olivia would love it.

I made the mane using a rainbow of strips from my stash. The horn is made using several different blue fabrics.

To accentuate the mane I quilted it with a series of swirling lines using a metallic thread. You really can't see it in the photos but the thread sparkles and adds great texture to the pillow.

I also used the metallic thread on the eye to make it sparkle, too.

The rest of the pillow is quilted in a 1" grid pattern using white Aurifil 40 weight thread.

I forgot to take a photo of the back of the pillow. I made three pockets on the back. I told Livvie she can use it for a reading pillow or a sleepover pillow. She has room to put her pajamas, a book, or to hide a treasure in the pillow.

I finished the pillow with an invisible zipper on the bottom, so the cover can be removed to be laundered.

We completed the gift by adding pajamas and a set of Ivy and the Bean books to the gift. I think Olivia was pretty happy with her gift.

The pillow is huge. I used a 28" pillow form in it. 

This was a really fun make. Elizabeth Hartman patterns are easy to follow and very well written. The pattern can be made as a pillow or a quilt.