A pillow for the fourth niece

So, November is around the corner and the fourth and final niece is having her birthday. Just to jog your memory, the three other nieces got pillows to match the qults I made for them last year.

This particular niece got the quilt shown below. It was made before I entered the world of free-motion quilting. At the time I felt it unfortunate that I could not quilt swirls on it to reflect the whimsical tails of the birds. Oh well. Perhaps I can give swirls a go on her new pillow?

And here's the pillow.

My first attempt at swirly quilting; a little wobbly at first but then it went fine. Incredibly enough I still had some of the original fabrics from the quilt. 

Same light blue as the background on the quilt went to the backing

A little lop-sided pillow for a lop-sided pic.

Here's a close-up of the embroidery and quilting. I did the bird from memory, because the original picture of the quilt was so hard to decipher. Close enough, I think. I did the embroidery after the quilting, as I thought this a neater and easier approach.

The pillow measures 12" (31.5 cm) squared.

Have a whimsical day!

Christine