contact print pillow (a tutorial)

Today I am happy to be a part of Amy's Pillow Collective blog hop. (This is what triggered the idea for pillow week in the first place. That, and my deep love of pillows, of course!)

 

For my project, I'm going to share a tutorial on how to make a contact print pillow. This pillow is a nice way to spruce up your couch. (IF you have room, that is!)

I originally designed this pillow to use a mini charm pack, but you can easily cut squares from your scraps or stash. I dug out some of my precious scraps from the original Flea Market Fancy line along with some hoarded Katie Jump Rope fabric. My background fabric is Essex linen.

To make this pillow cover you will need:
One mini charm pack (or 35  2 1/2" squares)
1/3 yard background fabric
22" square of cotton batting
quilting thread
3/4 yard backing fabric

From the background fabric:
cut 2 strips 20 1/2" x 3 1/2"
cut 4 strips 20 1/2" x 1 1/2"
cut 30 strips 2 1/2" x 1 1/2"

Select (or cut) 35 2 1/2" squares. Layout the squares in a pleasing arrangement...7 across and 5 down.

Place the 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" background pieces between the squares to create horizontal rows.

Sew the pieces together to make rows.  Each row should start and end with a square of fabric.

Layout the pieced rows with the remaining background pieces as shown. The 3 1/2" x 20 1/2" pieces go at the top and the bottom.

Sew the rows together. Press well. The piece should measure 20 1/2" square. You can hang it up, take a pretty photo and leave it there as wall art for several weeks. (That's what I did. It works!)

But, if you actually want to finish it......place the patchwork on a 22" square of thin cotton batting (such a warm and natural). Baste with a few curved safety pins. Backing fabric is optional...I rarely use it.

Quilt as desired. I quilted this piece with my walking foot using horizontal lines 1/2" apart.

 

Trim the quilted piece to 20 1/2". Finish with an envelope backing. (Tutorial here.)

For the back I finally managed to cut into this pretty vintage-looking print from Denyse Schmidt's first line for JoAnn's....from 2011. (Sheesh!) Turns out it looks better sewn up rather than folded up and tucked into a drawer. Who knew? :P

 

Insert a 20" pillow form. You can either purchase one or make your own.  

Stand back and admire your work!
For those of you following my progress, this is scrap project #50/101. I'm pretty excited about that!

I made this pillow last December using the same pattern. I used white kona cotton and a mini charm pack of Potluck by American Jane for Moda. I really love this one, too! You can see/read more about it in this post, if you'd like.

 

If you make contact print pillow, I'd love to see it!