I'm not sure what I had more fun doing....making the Crazy Triangle Quilt (you can peek at it here, but I'm still working on the pattern) or making use of all the leftover strips of fabric afterwards!
They're beautiful even just sitting in the trash can...but I didn't actually throw very many of my awesome Halloween fabric scraps away.
I used the tiny scraps to cover buttons for different pillows....
and I promise I'll post tutorials for these cuties soon.
For this one I sewed long strips together and then cut the strips into triangles, which I pieced together into a whats-its-called-agon. Not a pentagon, not an octagon, but a hexagon...and yes, I had to look that up to make sure. :-)
Again, a future tutorial-to-be.
In case you hadn't guessed, I have had a LOT of fun playing with these strip scraps!
But I'm getting way ahead of myself....
Time to start the instructions for the pillow in above photo.
Gather your strip scraps and organize them according to width. I used strips which were 2" and 1.5" wide. The width can vary quite a bit, this is just what I had on hand. If you have super long strips, cut them into rectangles varying from 2" to 10".
As shown in photo above, start pairing up the strips which are the same width and run them through your machine, one pair after the other, without stopping to cut the threads in between. Use a 1/4" seam throughout this project. Try to pair contrasting fabrics for best results.
Clip the paired strips apart and repeat process of pairing the new groupings together, repeating until you have ended up with one big, giant strip. Press seams to one side.
Repeat process with other strip widths.
Decide how big you need your pillow to be, and cut all the big long strips into shorter sections that are that measurement + 1/2" (for seam allowances).
(I apologize for a lack of step-by-step photos for this, by the way...I really thought I had taken more pictures along the way but apparently not.)
Arrange the strips however you would like, paying attention to the most dominant fabrics and making sure that they are spaced the way you would like. Stitch the strips together until you have enough to create the dimension you're aiming for, + 1/2" for seam allowances. In this case, I made a square.
If you would like a flanged border around the pillow as I have done, sew 2 strips on either side, press toward outside and trim even with pieced square. Then sew 2 more strips on the other two sides, repeating the pressing and edge trimming.
For the back of the pillow, either use a zipper closure (not shown) or do what I have done with the two pieces of backing fabric:
Cut 2 rectangles that are the same width as the pillow front but the length is determined by adding about 3" to whatever the half point is on the pillow. In this case, the pillow front is a 15" square. I cut 2 rectangles at 15" x 11" (11 = 8 + 3).
Press under 1/4" of one of the 15" edges on each rectangle. Press under again to hide the raw edges. Stitch along that "hem".
Place pillow front face up on table. Place the 2 rectangles face down, aligning outer raw edges so that there is about a 3" overlap over the middle of the pillow. Pin in place all around outer edge of pillow.
Stitch 1/4" all the way around, clip corners to reduce bulk. Turn right side out, press edges. If no flange is wanted, insert pillow form now.
If you're sewing a flanged edge (like mine), "stitch in the ditch" all the way around the dark border fabric. Insert pillow form. And now you're done!
The one with the trees and the adorable buttons is my favorite! I have a thing for trees...and owls...and birds. :) So fun!
Posted by: Natalie Rose | September 20, 2011 at 04:22 AM
Love the color combos! The button trees are my fave!!
Posted by: Heather Valentine | September 21, 2011 at 07:57 PM
Impressive blog! -Arron
Posted by: rc helicopter | December 20, 2011 at 11:59 PM
I like your pillow tutorial. In each pillow there are many different pattern with perfect color combination. It's look like beautiful.
Posted by: טיולים מאורגנים | January 08, 2012 at 11:08 AM
What a soft pillow. I like it's design with different colors. It will very useful in my next project. Thanks for sharing with us.
Posted by: טיולים מאורגנים לסקנדינביה | March 20, 2012 at 06:44 AM
Love the black and white trees fabric. Do you mind if I ask where to purchase it? Thanks.
Donna
This Year's Dozen blog
Posted by: Donna | August 20, 2012 at 11:24 PM
I like the idea that it was from recycled materials. What I do not like is putting buttons on the pillow. It is, for me, very annoying. I must use a pillow for me to be comfortable but this would annoy me only.
Posted by: Barbara Gonzalez | December 27, 2012 at 08:54 AM
Great tutorial. Keep them coming. Lovely pillows by the way.
Posted by: Earlene Balzer | February 05, 2013 at 08:04 AM