Little Hand-Quilted Pillow Tutorial

There's one little pillow on our couch that I insist is mine, the perfect size for right behind my head while watching junky TV.  It's about 12x16 inches, and luxuriously feather-filled.  I decided that I needed another, of course, and thought I'd share the process.  

With the directions below, you can create fun hand-stitched a pillow out of any special block of your choosing.  

Step 1:  Pick a favorite 12.5x12.5 inch unfinished block.  I used one of my recent Star Seams blocks.  

Step 2: Cut two strips, 12.5 x 2.75 inches, and stitch them to the right and left sides of your block to create a 12.5 x 17 inch rectangle. This will become your pillow front! You can match the block's background fabric, as I did, or use a contrasting color. 

Step 3: Find a scrap piece of batting at least 1/4 inch bigger than your pillow front on all sides.  Smooth everything out, and pin your pillow front in place. If desired, machine quilt lightly to hold everything in place.  Above, I simply outlined the star once.  

Step 4:  Create some kind of hand-stitching template. You could mark simple straight lines, continue echoing some machine quilting, or create a new texture, which is what I decided to do. Using a folded index card, I cut out a pointy oval/ leaf shape, marked lines on the pillow, and traced  the shape along the lines with a disappearing ink pen.  

I decided I wanted to make it seem like the star was placed in front of the background, so I didn't mark or stitch on top of the it. 

Step 5: Using perle cotton or embroidery floss, hand-stitch in straight lines to fill in your design.  

I had experimented with creating texture via hand-stitching before, and I knew the effect would be subtle, yet also create a highly squishy, squeezable product.

Step 6:  Once it is quilted to your liking, trim pillow front to 12.5x16.5 inches, squaring up corners.

Step 7: Find, or piece together, a 12.5x16.5 inch piece of fabric for the pillow back.  I prefer to use home decor- or upholstery-weight fabrics for pillow backs, to add some structure.

Step 8:  Construct your pillow as desired.  If you love zippers, go for it! This time, I was a little lazy, since I knew that this would just be for me, and went back to one of the first methods I ever learned: just stitch the whole thing up!

To create a closed pillow like mine, layer pillow front and back together, face to face, and stitch around three sides, with a 1/4 to 3/8 inch seam allowance.  Clip corners, turn pillow right side out, stuff with a 12x16 inch pillow insert, and use a ladder stitch to close the final side.

For my back, I used a scrap of ancient home dec fabric (maybe Amy Butler?) I got in a scrap pack once,  to which I added a strip of gray, since it wasn't quite big enough.

I love how the print is so different it is from the straight lines of the front, yet the colors match up nicely.

My product: a soft, nubbly, pretty pillow. And there's one less couch asset to fight over.  Maybe now I "need" more throw quilts?