Home » DIY Tutorials » DIY Sewing » Sewing: Clothing » Baby Clothing » Decorate My Home, Part 21 – Flowered Pillow Cover
Decorate My Home, Part 21 – Flowered Pillow Cover
July 16, 2010 - By Ashley Johnston 67 Comments
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My heart broke while reading of the Sullenger family and the events going on in their life right now. Their darling little baby girl fell into a canal in Idaho (close to where I just moved from) and was pulled out of the water by a farmer 2 miles away. The parents, Patrick and Ashley, have shared pictures and their tender feelings of the whole situation on their blog
here. Another blog has been set up to help the Sullenger family
here.
If you have a moment, please stop by.
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Looking for the Go! Cutter giveaway? (Valued at over $400) Scroll down or click
here.
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I mentioned yesterday, after introducing this fun little Go! Cutter, that I had more projects to show you.
I have a few things saved up, that are non-quilting related………in case quilting is not your thing.
And you all know my love of pillows.
So here’s another one, of course.
A bright white one, with vibrant and full orange flowers on it.
Made by folding and sewing dozens of little circles.
And I decided that it
sits really nicely atop that little Tumbler quilt that I made
here.
You can make one of these even without a Go! Cutter……..but it sure saved me a lot of time to use one.
First, I cut a 17.5 x 17.5 inch piece of white cotton material to use for my pillow cover. I actually cut 4 pieces this same size, so that I could double layer each side of the pillow.
Then, I layed scraps of fabric on top of the circle die cut……….
Placed the mat on top…….
Then rolled it on through……….
I cut 6 circles for each flower and placed each pile of 6 circles, where I thought I’d like them, on one of the white square pieces.
Then I removed all but one circle from each of the piles, and pinned that one circle down…….to hold its spot.
Then I began making each flower by folding one circle in half……..
Then folding it over a little more than a third………..
Then flipped it over and folded the last almost-third over, centering it over the section below it. I didn’t fold it in even thirds because I wanted the bottom section to be bigger than the top, to give more fullness to the flower later on.
Then I removed the circle from the pillow, and replaced it with one of the folded circles………
…..and made 5 more folded pieces to complete a circle. Pin all 6 pieces in place.
I did the same thing with each sized circle.
Then I placed each circle under my sewing machine needle…….and slid each pin outwards, away from the center. (I’m using an embroidery foot, but a regular foot will work too.)
Then, I sewed a small circle in the center, making sure to grab a piece of each of the 6 points.
Then, I sewed around and around, making a spiral look in the center of each flower……and tacking it down nice and secure at the same time. And don’t worry about precision. I like the uneven-ness of the center.
Repeat with all the flowers.
Then place this square piece on top of another of your white square pieces…..making it a double layer.
Then, I placed the other 2 white layers on top….which will be the back of the pillow cover.
I pinned all sides and corners in place…
Then I sewed around the edges, using a 1/2 inch seam allowance……except for leaving about an 8 inch opening on one side, to turn the pillow cover right side out. Then I clipped the corners, zig-zagged around all the sides, and trimmed off the excess.
Here’s the opening.
Next, I turned the cover right side out, poked out the corners, and ironed it flat.
I also folded over the opening a 1/2 inch and ironed that flat too.
Want to know a secret about where I find my pillow inserts? I usually find them at Ross…….and are home decor pillows. They are cheaper than the craft store pillow inserts usually, and often times are filled a lot fuller. They are, however, not usually white. So I have to cover them with two layers……or cover them with fabric that’s dark enough to disguise them. It’s worth it at this $3.99 price though.
Then I shoved this pillow inside and hand-stitched the opening closed. (Need help with hand-stitching? Check out this post
here.)
And that was it.
And yes, the flowers all have raw edges. And may fray a little.
But I actually like the shabby look of raw edges. And I hope the flowers do rough up a bit.
The look of these flowers sure make me happy.
I am expecting my fourth baby and would love to make a beautiful bedding set to corrdinate with my daughters room. This seems so simple and easy to use. I would love to try some new quilting projects.
I love it!! I featured it over at Sassy Sites! Come by and check it out and grab a button! ;)
love the pillow and the quilt too!! I seriously need to get me a free motion foot for my sewing machine… soon!
Oooh, those colors are amazing! My classroom could use a few of those!
great job, I love this its soo cute.
I love your pillow! The flowers are fantastic! What a great use for the circle cutter. I imagine that it will find many uses!
Ashley-thank you so much for making the post about the Sullengers! It breaks my heart to know what they are going through right now, and I appreciate all the support and love many people have shown them because of your post! Ashley is such an amazing woman, she always has been! I knew her in high school, she is such an inspiration! So thank you again!
Wow! What a beautiful project! And thank you for sharing about the Sullengers. I hugged my sweet thangs a little tighter tonight. What an amazing example they are. Thanks again for sharing their site with me – and this project!
The pillow is so bright and pretty. I have never seen the circle cutter. I would love to have one —- I plan on making a yo-yo quilt. That would be a time-saver.
What a fun pillow! :D I must say, that I just found your blog today and I am head over heals in love with ti! :D I must have printed just about every tutorial you've done on here…went all the way through to your first posts! ;) I have quite a few projects ahead of me to do! :D Yeah!
You have such a fun and modern style that is also very homey. :) Love it! Thank you for sharing your talents with us! :D
God Bless!
~Miss Rachel~
younghomemakers.blogspot.com
I Would love to have this. I love how you can cut the shapes. I have spent hours cutting circles and this would be amazing to have.
Ooo, Love!
Love the pillow. Thanks for the directions. Even without the cutter, I think I can make this.
Thanks for sharing your ideas – which your blog is FULL of. Oh my, I could get lost here for days. Now I need to stop reading and get to crafting.
Clever! I like the 3-D effect of this. I could see it used with many different textures. Very cool, as always, thanks for sharing!
those flowers are amazing really
how DO you think of all these amazing projects you do?
LOVE the pillow! That Go! Cutter is looking more and more fun ;o). Can't wait to see what you do with it next.
I will keep the Sullenger family in my prayers…
I'm thinking this would be CuTe in black and white…hmmm…Another project added to the ever-increasing list!
I love your quilts–they turned out so perfect and beautiful! And I still can't believe you machine quilted that on your new machine. Wow! Great ideas for pillows–I am going to need to make some for Pablo and I's new sofa soon so these are fun ideas!
I love love love the flowers on the pillow!! Thanks for sharing it. I'm thinking of making some right now for my living room. Hopefully I would win the Go! Cutter, otherwise I'd spend a lot of time cutting the circles.
I saw this on Ucreate. I just LOVE this….and I absolutely love the colors! So bright and fun! I will def. be following your blog =)
What gorgeous orange flowers! Great technique! So cute!
I LOVED the Pillow!!! That is so pretty!!! I hope I can win the go cutter!! So I will be making that pillow for sure. My house need some color for sure :D I love colors!
I am leaving you my email address, because I don't know yours. If I paid you would you make me this whole pillow and blanket set??!! brittanymchugh@gmail.com
I missed the first part of this post when I first read it. It absolutely breaks my heart. Loving thoughts to everyone affected by this tragedy. Life is precious and it's a great reminder to make the most of every day.
So super cute! Love it!
Very cute. I love it. Just love it.
SewCalGal
http://www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com
I love the quilt, but that is the most adorable pillow! My daughter's bed just might need one! :) Thanks for sharing all of your wonderful ideas and tutorials!
LOVE it! I'm going to try it with the Olfa circle cutter I just bought.
wow, I want that cutter. Very cool. Love the pillow.
So sorry to hear about that family. How awful. I will keep them in my prayers.
Very cute!!! It's funny, as I posted something very similar today. I love the idea of using htis on a pillow. https://littlelizardking.blogspot.com/
sweet gonna try this one next! love all of your ideas!
Love this!!! Thanks for the awesome blog! ps. I have found fiber fill for way cheap at thrift stores.
I love your pillow! It is so cute, fun and colorful. So cute! Ross sure is a good store to shop at. Thanks for sharing!
Looked up that info on that family. So sad! I saw they were near Ririe/Rigby? Were you guys at the Y-I? My sis and bro-in-law just graduated and moved to Iowa for dental school this week.
Ashley! Those flowers are AMAZING and so are you!!
Thank you for sharing about Preslee Sullenger… in reading her story, it made me so sad but so greatful that families can be together forever. that song keeps playing over and over again in my mind. Also that young mommy's faith is so strong and she inspires me to be a better person. my prayers are with them as they grieve and i hope they can find comfort, that through the Heavenly Father's Plan, they will see their baby girl again!
That is so cute! I love it! Now I'm thinking of friends I can make these for… :-)
THANK YOU for posting this! This is just gorgeous! Now I know what to do with a pile of scraps I have! Yippee!
Super duper Cute!
I really need a Go Cutter now!
I love all the colors you chose too!
thank you for your fun blog!
I know you have no idea who I am but can I just say I LOVE YOU… please take this in a none creepy… I have been looking for a flower tutorial for this type of flower for months… and it just makes me add to my if I win the lottery I will get that go cutter… HOW COOL!
love these….A LOT!!! I added them to my tumblr: {https://thesweetlifebydesign.tumblr.com/} Thanks for all the great inspiration!
Oh love it! I NEED one of those machines that cut out the fabric!! LOL I entered the giveaway!
WOW! I love those colors, that is the cutest pillow!
Beautiful! I would love to do something like that for my little girl's bed…since I am not talented at all in that department I don't think it will be happening anytime soon!
You're doing *amazing* things with this, I really really really want to win one!
Thanks so much for making a note about the Sullenger family. I grew up with Ashlee but lost contact with her and this is the first I've heard about their tragedy. I will keep them in my prayers.
wow wow WOW! so stinking cute!!!! i love your blog, did i mention that? Heavenly Father blessed you with so much creativity is just not fair! well i guess it is, since you share with the rest of us! my hubby and I just bought a house and I am SO excited to sift through all your posts to find decorating stuff like this! thanks again!!!
This is such a pretty pillow – I love those bright orange flowers on the white background! I'd love to try this but I think I might need the Go! Cutter to make it happen….that's a lot of circles to cut out!