This painted canvas pillow is a work of art. Heidi's designs are spontaneous and contemporary, with a wide range of colors. Figure A Figure B Figure C Figure D Figure E

Artist Heidi Holicker explains how to make her remarkable painted canvas pillows. Her distinct craft grew out of necessity: she needed a gift, so she cut one of her paintings from its frame and turned it into a pillow.

Materials:

Painter's canvas*
Craft knife or sharp scissors
Acrylic paints
Paintbrushes
Clear acrylic coating spray
Needle and thread
Sewing machine
Poly-fil® stuffing

*Primed canvas is much too stiff for this type of project, so use raw, untreated canvas. Once the canvas has been painted, the pillow will no longer be washable.

1. Cut canvas to the desired dimensions. Heidi used a simple rectangle.

2. Paint the canvas as you would a piece of art. Heidi never paints a pillow-size canvas: instead she paints a larger canvas and cuts it up to make pillows. Acrylic paints offer several advantages. For example, mistakes may be painted over, whether wet or dry, and texture may be added by painting in layers (figure A).
   

3. Fold the piece in half so that the painted area is inside. Sew the sides together, but leave a larger-than-usual hole for turning as the painted canvas will be extremely stiff (figure B).
   

4. Stuff the pillow with fiber fill, and hand-stitch the opening (figure C).
   

5. After the paint has dried, spray the piece with clear acrylic coating to protect it.

• Because Heidi's mother had so many painted canvas pillows, Heidi made her a painted canvas doll (figure D). Start by drawing the outline of the doll on a piece of canvas (figure E), then apply acrylic paints, cut around the edge, stitch it to a backing, turn right side out and stuff with Poly-fil.