My latest Pillow Talk tutorial is up, and this is definitely the pillow I've been most excited about sharing! This pillow was inspired by the sequin pillows that are so popular, although thick seam allowances mean that this one doesn't "flip" directions.
I used a 10" square pack of Cotton Shot fabrics from Benartex. It has 42 different rainbow shades in it; I selected 23 prints to use in my pillow. (If you count in the photo below, there are only 21; I added in two more as I assembled the pillow.)
The video tutorial on YouTube shows you how to make the pillow; here are the numbers to get you started:
You'll Need: (23) 10" squares in a rainbow of colors (we'll use half of each square to make two petals, so if you're pulling from scraps, you'll need a total of (23) 4" x 8" pieces)
(1) 13" x 17" rectangle for backing (2) 2" x 17" strips for top/bottom borders
(10) 1-1/2" x 17" strips
Making the petals:
The video shows two different ways to cut and sew the petals. You'll need at least 45 - but if you sew a few extra, you'll have some options when it comes to color placement to created the gradated rainbow look.
Hellooooo, rainbow!
The finished pillow:
This Rainbow Petal Pillow is my fourth tutorial in the Pillow Talk series. Find the other tutorials here.
If you're new here, welcome! I hope you'll stay and look around a bit.
If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:
To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop.
Welcome to Week 2 of the Star Crossing QAL! I'm so glad you're here! There's still time to enjoy a friend to join in the fun, especially if you have more time at home these days. Speaking of which, scroll down to the bottom to learn about a special "stay at home" hop I'm part of, starting Saturday.
If you still need to purchase the pattern, you can find it here.
It's week 2 and time to start cutting!
The cutting instructions are pretty straightforward, but I'm going to focus on two specific areas today: template cutting and directional fabric cutting.
First, template cutting: I created the video below to show you how to create the template. If you don't have clear plastic template (I always seem to be out of it!), don't worry--especially when you're only cutting 4 triangles, paper works just fine. In the rainbow version of my Star Crossing quilt, I used a repeating stripe. If your stripe repeats, you have some decisions to make before cutting--mainly, do you want all four triangles to be identical, or do you want them to be different. If I wanted my triangles to all to be the same (spoiler alert, I didn't), make sure you position the bottom edge of the triangle template in the same spot on the stripe for each triangle. So for me, it would be along the bottom edge of the purple stripe.
Here's what my center square looks like with two pairs of matching triangles, set opposite each other:
Here are the same triangles laid out with matching triangles touching - a neat effect.
I chose the first option:
After you've joined your four triangles, you'll need to trim the center square to measure 12-1/2" square. Make sure you align the 45 degree lines on your square ruler with the seams so that your square is centered.
One more tip for this: Find the 6-1/4" x 6-1/4" center point on your ruler. Position that on the point where the seams meet. This is your center. Now that you've decided how to cut your stripe, here's a video where I talk more about cutting triangles. Second, directional fabric: If your background fabric is directional, keep reading. (If it's not, start cutting!) You'll need to decide if you want your directional background fabric to all be oriented the same way. If it's a subtle directional print, you may not care if everything is pointing the same way. If you're using, say, a low-volume stripe, and you do care, you'll need to cut slightly differently for the 6-1/2" x 12-1/2" pieces, 3-1/2" x 12-1/2" pieces, 3-1/2" x 18-1/2" pieces and the 3-1/2" x 6-1/2" pieces. Basically, two of each of those pieces will need to be cut lengthwise instead of widthwise. Then when you're assembling, you'll use the lengthwise pieces on opposite sides and the widthwise pieces on opposite sides. Leave me a comment if you're running into this issue and have questions. If you look closely at the background of this Star Crossing quilt, you can see I used a text print (it looks like a newspaper) but didn't worry about orientation. Unless your print is super directionally obvious, it's easier not to worry about it. :)
Happy cutting this week! Next week, we'll get started on star assembly.
No doubt like me, all of your upcoming quilty events have
been postponed orcancelled and you find
yourself now stitchin’ up a storm at home!Why not take a break and join me on a virtual pattern designer shop hop?
Come join the fun and virtually hop on over to some of my
favorite friends in the quilting industry!!
Starting on Saturday, March 21st, I’ll invite you
to explore the newest offerings, patterns and notions from my fellow
colleagues.You’ll meet new pattern
designers, explore new quilting websites, and perhaps make a purchase or two
along the way. All of them have something unique to offer to you – our virtual
shop hoppers !
With new and exciting sites to explore throughout the week,
you’ll be happy you took and break and virtually hopped and shopped with all of
our new friends!
