Cherry Blossom Throw Pillows

For the last week my little sister has been visiting me from out of town.  (Yes, I say "little" even though she has been taller than me for last 15 years or so . . . whatever.)  Anyway, before she came I got an email from her that went something like this:

• Squeeze:  How likely, represented in a percentage, do you think it is for you to whip up a quick pillowcase for me when I'm in town?  I'm thinking we go to goodwill for me to buy a throw pillow, and then we go to the fabric store for me to buy the fabric, and then you do a lil' this and a lil' that and just whip it up for me?
• Me: I would say, like 100%.
• Squeeze:  That's a pretty good percentage.
• Me:  It certainly represents the best possible odds.
• Squeeze: LOL

So we took a drive over to the Salvation Army thrift store to look for throw pillows to recover.  We also knew that there were some pillow forms on sale at JoAnn for 60% off which was the next stop on our list.  While we were able to locate some cheap throw pillow prices, the combo of knowing that new ones were discounted and the fear of bed bugs and such led us to leave them at the thrift store.  That meant things were a bust for her there, but not for me!  I found a couple pairs of vintage sheets and pillowcases to add to my growing collection.

We decided to head to JA for the pillow forms and to see if we could find some suitable fabrics.  We were not terribly impressed with what we found unfortunately (I had about 6 coupons in my purse which would have come in handy dandy if only we had found something.)  On to the Field's Fabrics which was a bit of a drive from where we were.  Thankfully, it was overflowing with possibilities and my sister was able to find some lovely home decor weight fabric that would coordinate but not be too matchy matchy with her couches:

I forgot to take note of what the name was or who makes it.  Oops.  (UPDATE:  Found it!)

We picked out some Kona cotton in a deep brown to match the branches for the backing.  I realized after we got home that there was not *quite* enough of the brown fabric to envelope both of the pillows.

DRAT.

Then, in one of those A-HA moments (otherwise known as a Take On Me moment) it occurred to me that I could add a bit more of that cherry blossom fabric to one of the sides to give me that extra bit of width.  Definitely a happy accident . . . I think it gives them a really polished look:

Here's the pair of em together:

So pretty!

It's kinda funny . . . when all was said and done I also realized that they actually look really great on my couch:

I may have to make a pair of these up for myself now!

And to think . . . all it took was a "lil' this and a lil' that".  ;)