Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Scrapbuster Modern Cross Pillow {a tutorial}

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I’ve been quite focused on using scraps and making pillows the past few months (just look at how many of my blog posts have been about pillows!).  I thought I’d share how I made the most recent pillows, which fit 18” pillow forms.

Supplies:

  • 45- 2.5” squares (rainbow, monochromatic, whatever you like!)
  • 4- 6.5” square solid squares (I used Kona silver)
  • 1 piece of muslin bigger than 18.5” square
  • 1 piece of batting bigger than 18.5” square
  • 2 backing panels measuring 12.5” x 18.5” if you want to do an envelope closure backing
  • 18” pillow form

Directions:

Decide what kind of color scheme you want to use, then lay out five 3 x 3 grids of 2.5” squares for each of the sections of the cross.

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Sew the squares together in rows.  You can nest your seams (alternate the direction you press them for each row) or press open.

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Sew the rows together.  Press to one side or open.

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Now lay out your pillow top.  Sew the sections together the same way.

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Here are my two pillow tops waiting to be quilted.

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That’s all there is to making the pillow top!  Quilt as desired.

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Flowers and teardrops for the rainbow pillow.

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Ripple stipple for the purple pillow.

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Create an envelope back for the pillow with the two 12.5” x 18.5” backing panels or use an alternate method for making the back.

Bind or serge to finish.

I think this block would be awesome for a bee!  I might even have to make my own rainbow quilt. 

Thanks for stopping by!

10 comments:

  1. There is so much to love about these Jamie! I love the strong colours, the graphic design and the wonderful detailed quilting!

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  2. Those are soooo pretty. It would be fun to have a whole rainbow of pillows lined up. I love your quilting on them too.

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  3. I love these! I am definitely going to make at least one of these with my scraps which are overflowing right now! Thank you for the tutorial!

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  4. Such a pretty rainbow of colors! I love the quilting on the purple pillow the best,but it is all awesome :) I think you are the pillow queen ;)

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  5. Oh yes , I think you should make a quilt of those blocks, it would look fabulous!! I really love these pillows that you make. It's good of you to write a tutorial.

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  6. I love these - and the fact that they use up scraps too. Your quilting is just amazing :-)

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  7. The color work on your rainbow quilt is stunning. I love the effect even more after it was quilted. I love keeping scraps and using scraps (mostly). The part that sometimes makes me feel overwhelmed is HAVING scraps. I will keep these pillows in mind when my scrap guilt starts to flare up again.

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  8. Absolutely gorgeous! I love your talent.

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  9. Absolutely gorgeous! I love your talent.

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  10. Be still my heart! Jamie those are gorgeous! Love the scrappy colorfulness and what a great canvas for people like me to practice learning FMQ!
    Baaah hah hah... just read your note at the bottom of the comment form. My neighbor used to follow her hubby into the bathroom to chat.

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Some days the only adult I talk to is my husband...help him keep his sanity by leaving a comment so I have another adult to talk sewing with:) I will make sure to reply!