Memory Pillows

Memory Pillows are not hard to make, but they do take time. Here's how I make mine. I start by deciding how many photo's I will be using. Each of the samples here shown have 16 images. I could have 4, or 1, or any number. My next will have a center image, and smaller satellite images. I cut my image pages down, and quilt them together, but you don't have to. I use very crisp, clear images.

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  A Sample Using a Collage

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  Sample using full-sized images (understuffed)

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  Another Collage Sample

Once I have decided how many photo's and how I will arrange them, I move on to printing. I have an inkjet printer (one of the cheapest made, I have to admit,) and I purchased printable cotton JACQUARD brand sheets to print my images onto. They don't always move through easily, but I have found if I put the paper side up, and put a bend, like I am going to fold the bottom up about 1/2" from the bottom, but don't actually fold it all the way up, so it creates a small bend, I have pretty good luck.

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  You can see the curl in the 'paper'

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  If not folded, the top gets 'jammed'

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  Printing from my phone, and jammed

Once printed, they must sit for at least 8 hours before you do anything with them, to be sure that they are completely 'dry', and wont smear. I leave them over-night, which gives them more than 8 hours to be ready for the next step, which is ironing, with a steam iron. I iron and let them cool several times, to be sure that the colors have set as far into the cotton as possible. 

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  Laying out images to build pillow

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  Once they are sewed together, it is sandwiched and quilted

Then what I have usually done, but don't always do, after ironing, is douse them in pan of cold water, keeping them flat - doing this will cause the images to become a little fuzzy, as the colors will run a bit once they get wet. After they dry, it's back to the drawing board. Another option I have tried is to spray them with Scotchgard Fabric Craft Protector, again, the photo's will get a little fuzzy, almost imperceptibly so, but the fabric is protected. Now you can treat your images like fabric. and sew them into your project. Not all inks will work with the Scotchgard, test everything! 

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  Even when folded it can get caught  

Quick tip - trick to making an easy collage: Using a smart phone and a collage program (I used Collageable), pull your images together, get them into the right place within the collage, and you can adjust the image once it's in the collage frame. Save it, send it to your computer to print it and et voila. If you print from your phone, you get a very small image printed. From your computer, it's the size you choose to make it.