How To... Sunburst Pillow

I will admit it... I sort of have a pillow problem!  I have collected quite a large stash, but at least now I can just make covers for the pillows I already have and just change those out as I feel like it!  

This is exactly what I wanted to do with this sunburst pillow.  

I was ready for a new season of pillows so I started with my cozy winter sweater pillows but I didn't want to go overboard with sweaters.  I thought about making another textured felt pillow, but Joanns didn't have the felt color I was looking for so I came up with another idea.

First I started with flat sheet from Walmart cut to the size of my pillow form {mine was 17x17}.  Then I took 2 18"x18" cotton jersey fabric and cut it up into 1" strips.  I didn't really measure them out... more eyeballed the 1".  I also made a ring {about a 4" strip sewed together.}

Next I began attaching the strips to the corners and then working my way out; concentrating on one side first.  

As I would pin them I started to twist the pieces of fabric {why? I have no idea... just looked cool}.

After I pinned one side I would then sew it with a 1/4" seam allowance.  Trim the edges and repeat on all 3 sides.

I will warn you that once I got to the last side it was really hard to keep the fabric from pulling so I wasn't sure if I was leaving enough of the strip or if I was pulling it tight enough.  But in the end it worked out just fine.

** OH!  Cozy Winter Pillow Update **

My brilliant mother told me {of course after the fact because I didn't bother to ask} that if I was afraid of the knit sweater fraying I should have zig zagged the ends before I sewed the front and back together.  DUH!! It made perfect sense when she told me!  I have not had any problems this far and my boys have been all over them, but I WOULD HIGH RECOMMEND doing this!  Seriously, when it comes to sewing my mother is almost always right!  Thanks Mom!!