Lumpy sofa pillow - aka needle lace pillow

The pillow used for Pag needle lace is not like the needle lace pillow most are used to seeing.  In fact, at the start of the class my thought was that they were handing out sofa pillows!  I later learned that the instructors had to quickly make additional pillows for us to use in class so most of them were not proper pillows.  The one I used was certainly not - it was very lumpy and not very stiff.

When I came home, I pinned my work in progress on one of my bobbin lace pillows, but it was not easy to work.  I can see why the Pag lacers use the pillow they do.  My next goal was to make a pillow for Pag lace.

This is an interim pillow for two main reasons.  First, it is not a proper Pag pillow.  I have probably mentioned before how I do not sew.  I tried to make a proper Pag pillow but my sewing skills and sewing machine just would not cooperate.  In the end, I literally ended up making a pillow consisting of two squares sewn together.  It should do for the time being (I hope!).  Second, the pillow is very lumpy! I filled it with polyester fiber and no matter how hard I tried, it is kind of lumpy.  A proper pillow is stuffed with wool fleece.  I would assume wool fleece cooperates better than polyester fiber fill.

I love the fabric, but I suspect it will not be very durable.  The fabric frays like crazy and I am not sure it will be strong enough to withstand the tension the pattern is under while working.  Another example of where my sewing and general fabric skills are very much lacking.  It seemed study enough in the store when I bought it...

Hopefully this will work as I work out how to make a proper pillow.