Christmas Patchwork Pillow Tutorial

I can hardly believe it's December already.  The days are just flying by and I'm still trying to put up the rest of the Christmas decorations!  

This week I pulled out our Advent Calendar and all of our fun Christmas pillows.  I wanted to add a new one this year so I grabbed some favorite Christmas-colored scraps and got to work.

I made a similar pillow to this one a couple of years ago but I wanted to update the colors for this new version.  And I thought I'd share how I made it!  Here's what you'll need for this 18" pillow:

Supplies
81 (2.5") squares
22" x 22" piece of muslin or solid white fabric
22" x 22" piece of thin batting
at least 6" coordinating print for binding
1/3 yard of coordinating print for backing
18" pillow insert

You will need 81 (2.5") squares.  I dug through my scrap bin and cut them to size, but an easy way to get these is to cut charm squares into 4 equal pieces, or to cut some squares from left-over jelly roll strips.  

Decide on a layout for your squares. You'll need 9 rows with 9 squares in each for an 18" pillow. I did a diagonal pattern alternating between the three colors (red/pink, aqua, green) but a random, scrappy pattern would be great too.

Sew your squares together into rows, then join rows.  I like to press all odd numbered rows to the left and even numbered rows to the right.  Then when I join the rows, the intersecting seams will nest beautifully.  

Layer the 22" piece of muslin, the 22" piece of thin batting, and the pillow top.  I like to spray baste for this step using some 505 Spray but you could also pin baste.  

Then quilt your pillow however you'd like.  I used my walking foot and did some straight line quilting using the seams as my guides.

This is what the quilting looks like from the back...

...and from the front.  Simple, clean lines helps the fabric really be the star of the show!  Trim the extra batting and muslin from the edges of the pillow so that it measures 18.5" x 18.5".

From the backing fabric cut two rectangles that are 12" x 18.5".  On one long edge of both backing pieces, fold under 1/2" and press, then fold under again and press. Stitch along the first fold line to hold it in place and create a nice, finished edge.  

Place the quilted and trimmed pillow front right side down on the table.  Then layer the two pillow backing pieces right side up with the finished edges overlapping in the middle of the pillow, and the raw edges lining up with the raw edges of the pillow front.  

Pin around the outer edges of the entire pillow.

Then using a basting stitch, baste around the entire pillow about 1/8" in from the edge.  This will hold all the layers together as you add the binding, and your basting stitches will be hidden under the binding.

From the binding fabric cut two 2.5" x 42" strips.  Sew them together end to end to make a binding and then bind the pillow as you would a quilt.  Add the pillow insert and it's ready to use!

Want to make a pillow that's a different size?  I have a guest post over at Diary of a Quilter today sharing my easy trick for making an envelope backing for any size pillow.  It's an easy-to-remember formula and I use it every time I'm making a pillow.  

#christmaspatchworkpillow #abrightcorner

Thanks for stopping by, and happy sewing everyone!
--Andy