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Applique a Throw Pillow

comments (1) March 18th, 2010

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kayte terry, contributor

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Learn the art of paper piecing to create beautiful geometric designs.

Learn the art of paper piecing to create beautiful geometric designs.

Photo: Sloan Howard

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It’s fun to experiment with old crafting techniques and then use them in modern ways. In this project, I’ve taken a page from paper piecing for quilting. This technique creates geometric shapes to serve as appliqué.

Paper piecing is a method for making perfect geometric shapes in quilting. The results are stunning, but you need several hundred hexagons to make a full quilt! These pillows are a modern (and much quicker) way to try your hand at paper piecing, and they are a great project for using little scraps that you can’t bear to throw away.

What You'll Need:
Cotton fabrics, three in various widths for the pillow front (at least 13 inches long) plus one for the pillow back
Cutting mat
Fabric and paper scissors
Fabric scraps for the hexagons
Iron and ironing board
Paper
Pillow form, 12-inch by 16-inch
Quilting ruler
Rotary cutter
Scrap paper
Sewing machine
Thread

Tip: I used a 12-inch by 16-inch boudoir pillow insert for this project, but feel free to adapt the instructions to make pillows in other sizes.

Cut and prep your fabric
Give your creativity free reign when choosing fabrics for the pillow. Here, floral elements and complementary colors tie the look together nicely.

1. Cut the pillow-front fabric. Using a rotary cutter, a mat, and a quilting ruler, cut the three pieces of fabric for the pillow front. The pieces should each be at least 13 inches long. When the pieces are joined with vertical seams, the front should be 18 inches wide.

Choose and cut all of your fabric first.

2. Cut the pillow-back fabric. Cut one piece 13 inches wide by 13 inches long and another piece 8 inches wide by 13 inches long.

3. Sew the hems. Hem one 13-inch-long edge on each of the pillow-back pieces. Turn under the edge 1⁄4 inch, press, and turn under again 1⁄2 inch and press. Edgestitch the hems.

Hem both pillow-back pieces.

4. Cut the hexagons. Photocopy or trace the hexagon patterns onto paper. Carefully cut out the paper hexagons.

5. Cut the hexagon fabric. Pin a hexagon to the wrong side of your fabric, and then cut around it, adding a 1⁄4-inch seam allowance.

6. Sew the Hexagon. Fold the seam allowance over the paper, and hand-baste it in place around the edges through both paper and fabric. The stitches are visible on the front of the hexagons.

Hand-baste the fabric.

7. Join the hexagons. Place two hexagons right sides together, with edges aligned, as shown above. On the wrong side, whipstitch the edges together but don’t stitch through the paper.

Whipstitch the hexagons.

8. Remove the basting, and press. Press the hexagons on the right side, and remove the basting stitches. Then carefully remove the paper, and press again.

Remove the basting stitches by pulling gently but firmly.

Assemble the Pillow
The pillow comes together quickly at the end. In a flash, your material will go from being bits of fabric to becoming a fabulous home accessory.

1. Join the pillow-front pieces. Machine-sew the three pillow-front pieces together, and press the seams toward the darker fabric.

2. Attach the hexagons. Lay out your hexagon design, and pin it to the pillow front. Hand-stitch the hexagons to the pillow, taking care to keep the stitches invisible.

3. Sew the sides. On a flat surface, lay the pieced front fabric right-side up, and then lap the two back pieces in the center with the wrong sides up. Machine-sew around all four sides with a 1⁄2-inch seam allowance, and turn it right-side out. Insert the pillow form and fluff.