Tutorial: Pixelated Peace Pillow

Happy Christmas in July! Welcome to my stop on the Christmas in July blog hop & sewing challenge hosted by Christen from Love by Hand. All the details about the Sewing Challenge can be found here.

For this challenge, Chrissy from Sew Lux Fabrics sent me this lovely fat quarter bundle of Winter's Lane, which is 10% off right now, no coupon needed!

I LOVE this line, it is so perfect for the holidays! The reds are perfect shade of red and the prints are holiday without screaming holiday. I think that this line is perfect for home decor and my first thought went to make some holidays pillows.

So without further ado, I give you my pixelated peace pillow project!

Supplies:

66 1.5x1.5 inch squares from assorted winters lane fabrics
1/2 yard of pillow backing/front (I used essex linen from my stash but highly suggest this print if you don't have any on hand)
1/2 yard fusible interfacing

Directions:

1. Cut the following from winter's lane: (66) 1.5" x 1.5" squares (1) 12.5" x 5" piece for letters. From fusible web cut (1) 12.5" x 5" piece. From the background fabric cut (1) 5.5" x 15.5" and (11) strips 1.5"by various lengths. See the below diagram for all the cutting info.

all units are in inches

2. Layout your squares in a layout according to the diagram above. Sew each row together.

3. Next, sew each row together. Then sew the 5.5" x 15.5" piece of linen to the bottom of the patchwork piece. Then trim to 15" square.

4. Now we are going to applique the words onto the pillow top. First, using your word-processor choose a font and print out a stencil. I made my letters approximately 4.5" tall. If there is interest I can post a pdf of my template. ETA: Here is a link to the template

5. Cut out the letters and then iron the fusible webbing to the 5.5" x 12.5" piece of fabric.

6. Trace the letters onto the paper side of the fusible web. IMPORTANT NOTE: Be sure to flip over your letters & trace them so they are a mirror image. This is important because the right side of the fabric (in this case red) needs to be the front.

7. Lay the letters onto the pillow front and then iron them on one by one. Make sure you leave at least a quarter inch seam allowance on all sides.

8. Applique the letters in your preferred method. I use a small zig zag stitch and use the needle down function on my sewing machine.

9. Voila! Your pillow top is finished.

10. Make the back of the pillow in your preferred way & then insert your pillow form. I used a 14 x 14 inch pillow form. If you have any questions, I can post how I did my no zipper back.

I hope that you enjoy this tutorial! I had plenty of fabric left over from my bundle and could easily make 2 more.