Curves are the new black

Yesterday I worked on my Pillow Talk Swap. There are so many amazing pillows in the group already, and so many things I wouldn't have thought of that I love, in colors and patterns that I don't normally gravitate towards. Maybe next swap I'll just have to tell my partner to do whatever they wish! Eep, so scary.

As for my project, I sewed all 18 clamshells together. How does one figure out how many of a curved shape will make a finished 20" square pillow? Because I have no clue, so I just made clamshells until I ran out of fabric.

18 clamshells, with 3 fabrics in each = 54 different fabrics so far in this pillow! Needless to say, it makes it sound like I have a huge stash, but this was an excellent opportunity to use scraps! In fact, with the exception of 3 pieces cut from charm squares and 3 pieces cut from yardage [I was running out of different fabrics, since none are repeated], all of these were from scraps. So 48 pieces out of 54 from scraps is pretty darn good. In fact, I didn't even realize it, but now that I do, I'm going to have to show these little guys off over at Rachel's Scrap Attack party!

And, yes, I do have favorite fabric combinations, as pictured above. :)

Isn't it crazy that they start out like this going into the sewing machine? Oh, curves. And for all of you who are horrified at this many curves, I didn't pin, and it only took me about an hour and a half to sew them all together, with some interruptions. 

Then yesterday afternoon I posted two layout options.

My original sketch was for the bottom bit o' craziness, but I have to say that I like the top choice too. It gives it a completely different look. I think the more organized layout might be neat if there was a little more consistency in the fabric or placement choices, like if all the centers were the same color or something.

So which layout do you like better?! And would you be interested in a photo step-by-step of how this is done + my templates?

Linking up with SewHappyGeek and Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story :)

ETA: I also just read about the Scrap Attach Flickr group, so these are now over there, and at the Stitched in Color Linky party. Oh, the Internet!