A Dresden Plate Pillow

I have seen so many pretty pillows on different blogs lately.  And on Flickr, too.  And the different dresden plate designs popping up all over have been inspirational.  I love them so much. 

When I decided to combine the two, my original idea was to do just the plate in the middle.  I wanted my pillow to be larger than some, a whopping 18 inches.  So, after I made the plate and placed it in the center of the fabric square, I decided it needed something else.  I made quarter plates and put them in each corner.  I had read a lot about people quilting with pearl cotton and had never tried it myself.  I ordered my pearl cotton from threadart and am really thrilled with the product.  I do most of my quilting by hand, so I was excited to try something new.  I echo quilted around the plates and love the results.  After adding jumbo rickrack around the edge and putting the pillow back together, I joined them.  I made the pillow insert with fabric that I lined with batting and stuffed with fiberfill.  What a cute pillow!  I love this one!  Hope you do to.