Hello everyone!!! My name is KarrieLyne and I blog over at FreckledWhimsy. I was invited by Amanda to be on her creative team and I'm still pinching myself that I'm here!! She has an amazing team of ladies that are going to bring you lots of surprises! Thank you so much Amanda for having me!!
Today I am here to bring you one of many tutorials to come! I adore this little project and I hope you do too!!
This pillow was inspired by a quilt I made in the same line, Sweet Divinity, called Pocketful of Pinwheels that was inspired for a little girl who just happens to be my niece. :) I wanted to use pinwheels again and I wanted to make a pillow. The first thing that popped into my mind was a pillow that had a pocket. We girls all like to stash stuff, right? So what better thing to make for a little girl to stash maybe her diary, or a book or whatever she likes. My original idea was a great spot for that bedtime book and a stuffie, but I'm sure they will find many more creative ways to use it. Fabric maybe? LOL!
Supplies:
*Scraps of Sweet Divinity
*coordinating solid fabric or scraps of Sweet Divinity (If using one print or solid you need 2 pieces measuring 24.5” x 16.5” and one piece measuring 24.5” x 12.5”.)
*light weight muslin -approx 3/4 yard
*16 coordinating buttons
*matching thread for quilting
*white DMC floss or coordinating color
*batting pieces 26” x 26” and 26” x 14”
*24” pillow form
Directions:
1. From your scraps you will need to cut 64 squares measuring 3 7/8". If you want a scrappy look, use all print fabric. If you want more of a contrast, you can cut 32 prints, and 32 solids. Or, you can do what I did and cut 32 darker prints, and 32 lighter prints.
2. On the wrong side of each of your 32 light printed squares, draw a diagonal line.
3. Now match up your light squares with the drawn lines to the 32 darker squares. Stack them right sides together and match the edges up.
4. Sew a 1/4" on either side of that drawn line.
5. Now cut on that drawn line creating two halves.
6. Press to the darker fabric. You've just made 64 half square triangles (HST)!! Congratulations! They should measure 3 1/2" square.
7. Now you need to arrange your HST's into 16 pinwheels. Lay out your HST's in sets of 4 like the below photo. Pay close attention to where your dark print is.
8. Flip the HST on the right side over on top of the left HST so that right sides are together. Sew 1/4" on right side. Repeat for bottom two HST's.
9. Press seams in opposite directions so they will nest nicely when you sew your block together.
10. Sew your top and bottom half together using 1/4" seam. Press. Your pinwheel block should measure 6.5". Repeat for remaining pinwheels.
11. Next you will sew your pinwheel blocks in to 4 rows of 4. Then sew them into two sets of two rows.
12. From your solid fabric cut a piece measuring 24.5" x 12.5" and sew it to the bottom of one of your pinwheel sets.
13. From the muslin cut a piece that measures approximately 26" x 14" (this isn't exact, just so it's bigger than your other pinwheel set) and another that measures 26" square. (again this isn't exact, just so it's bigger than the piece you made in step 12).
14. Cut two pieces of batting (I used warm & white) the same size as you cut the muslin in step 13.
15. Using your largest pillow top piece, the one with the solid at the bottom, layer the muslin, then your batting, then your pillow top piece (right side up) centering it on the batting and muslin. Quilt as desired. I just used a meandering, or free motion, stitch on mine. It's a great way to practice!
16. Trim off the excess batting and muslin. Your piece should measure 24.5" square. If it's a bit smaller from the quilting, that's ok. It will just fit your pillow form a bit tighter, which is usually a better fit anyway. :)
17. Repeat this same process with your pocket piece. (This is your piece that is just two rows of 4 pinwheels sewn together). Layer your muslin, batting, and pocket piece and quilt as desired.
18. Trim off extra batting and muslin from the pocket piece. This should now measure 12.5" x 24.5".
19. Here comes the fun part!! Adding buttons!! I added a cute little button to the center of each pinwheel. To do this, I used DMC floss in white and I used all 6 strands. You can use which ever color you want, and what ever method you want to put on a button, but I like a whimsical look so this is what I did.
20. Choose 16 yummy buttons...
21. Place your button where you want it. Starting from the top, poke your needle with the DMC thread through to the back leaving a tail.
22. Come back up from the bottom to the top....then repeat a few times, more if there are 4 holes. End with the tail coming up from the back. (sorry this shot is blurry. I blame my kitten..lol)
23. Tie your floss into a knot. I tied mine 3 times. Trim excess DMC floss. Repeat for remaining 15 buttons.
24. Now we need to put a strip of fabric on the top of our pocket. Cut a piece of fabric of your choosing that is 2 1/4" wide by 25" long. Press this in half with wrong sides together. (NOTE: If you want a wider strip of fabric for your pillow pocket topper, cut your strip wider than 2 1/4")
25. Lay this on the BACK side of your pillow tops edge and sew 1/4" from the raw edge. Fold your edge up and press.
26. Now flip this edge over the top of the pocket and fold down over the front side so that it covers the stitch line you just made. Pin in place (or if you don't believe in pins like me you can just fold it as you sew.) <---my kitten made me say that...pins are good..really. ;)
27. Sew this edge down about an 1/8" from the edge and trim off the excess.
28. Next we need to cut out the pieces we need for the back of our pillow. For ease I chose to go with a solid fabric that coordinated with this line, however, you can be as creative as you like and even piece the back too! The process is the same.
29. Cut out two pieces from your solid that measure 24.5" x 16.5". Measure your pillow though, to see if it is 24.5" square. If you get a different measurement, use that measurement instead of 24.5.
30. On each piece, along the 24.5" edge, fold over the edge, wrong sides together, 1/2". Press.
31. Fold this over on itself again. Press.
32. Stitch 1/8" from the edge.
33. We're almost done!! Next lay down your largest pillow piece so that the pinwheels are at the top and the solid is at the bottom. Then lay down your pocket piece so that your finished edge is at the center of your pillow. It should cover the seam on the back half of the pillow.
34. Lay your back pieces so that right sides are together on top of your pillow top and all your raw edges are matching. Your folded edges should face the center. These will overlap. You want it to as you're making an envelope style back so your pillow doesn't pop out...heehee! Pin in place. (I'm terribly sorry but I forgot to take a picture of this step!)
35. Sew 1/4" all the way around the edges making sure to backstitch a few times over your edges that are folded. There are 4 of these spots. This is important because these are the pressure points when you put the pillow form in and take it out.
36. Now remove all your pins and turn your pillow right sides out! Stuff it with a 24" pillow form and Voila! You have a pretty little pocket pillow! :)
I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial! I had a lot of fun making it!
I've created a PDF file of it for you to print if you'd like. Just click HERE! :)
Please feel free to hop on over to my blog and visit me. :) I'm at Freckled Whimsy. Be sure to say hello!
Also, if you make this pillow and have a Flickr account, I'd love to have you add it to my Flickr Pool so I can ooohhh and ahhhh over your pillows!! :D
Enjoy!
Much Love!!!
