Hi everyone!  It’s Andy here, visiting from A Bright Corner.  Well, it’s official!  Spring is here!  Now we’re just (somewhat patiently) waiting for the leaves to return to the trees.  To help speed things along I created this Summer Leaves pillow.

The finished pillow measures 20″ x 20″ and I love that it’s made with scraps.  I think this would be great in fall leaf colors too!

Summer Leaves Pillow Tutorial

Summer Leaves Pillow

To make one of your own you’ll need:

 

First, cut your gray fabrics into 4″ squares.  You’ll need a total of 16 squares.

Summer Leaves pillow tutorial

 

Using a scant 1/4″ seam, sew squares together into 4 rows with 4 squares each.  Press seams and then sew rows together, matching seams.  Press well.

Summer Leaves pillow tutorial

From the white fabric cut two strips that measure 3.5″ x 14.5″ and two that are 3.5″ x 20.5″

Sew the two shorter strips to the sides of the pillow center section.  Press seams to the outside.

Sew the two longer strips to the top and bottom of the pillow center section.  Press seams to the outside.

 

Summer Leaves pillow tutorial

Using the leaf template (download Leaf Template), trace 25 leaves onto the HeatnBond Lite.

Summer Leaves pillow tutorial

 

Cut out each leaf, leaving about 1/4″ space around each one.

Summer Leaves pillow tutorial

 

Iron each leaf onto the wrong side of your green fabric scraps.

 

Summer Leaves pillow tutorial

Then cut out each leaf, right on the traced lines.  Remove the papers from the back.  Sometimes it helps to crease the leaf a bit on the tip to get the paper to start to peel.

 

Summer Leaves pillow tutorial

 

Arrange the leaves on the pillow top as shown.  Press in place.

Summer Leaves pillow tutorial

Cut a piece of thin batting to be about 23″ x 23″.  Spray baste the batting to the back of the pillow top using SpraynBond basting adhesive spray.  This will help hold the batting in place while you do the quilting.

Summer Leaves pillow tutorial

 

Using coordinating thread and a straight stitch, sew around each leaf.

 

Summer Leaves pillow tutorial

 

You can add additional quilting lines if desired.  I added six vertical lines and six horizontal ones.

Summer Leaves Pillow tutorial

Trim the pillow top to cut off excess batting.

Next we’ll make the pillow back.  From the backing fabric, cut two pieces that are 13″ x 20.5″

Hem one long side of each backing piece by turning under 1/4″ and pressing then turning under another 1/2″ and pressing again.  Topstitch along that folded edge to secure it and give it a nice, finished look.  Repeat with the other backing piece.

Summer Leaves pillow tutorial

Layer pillow top and two backing pieces with wrong sides together.  Line up raw edges.  The two backing pieces will overlap one another by several inches.  Pin in place around the outside edge of the pillow.

Summer Leaves pillow tutorial

Sew a basting stitch around the edge of the pillow using an 1/8 seam.  This stitching will help to hold everything in place while the binding is added and will not show when the pillow is finished.

Summer Leaves pillow tutorial

To finish your pillow, add binding to the edge as you would for a quilt.

 

Summer Leaves Pillow tutorial

 

Summer Leaves Pillow tutorial

 

Thanks for following along with my Summer Leaves pillow tutorial.  If you do make your own Summer Leaves pillow I’d love to see it!  You can add it to the Sewing With A Bright Corner Flickr group or share it on my Facebook page.  Have a great week!

5 Comments on Summer Leaves Pillow Tutorial

  1. marylouh
    March 29, 2014 at 9:35 am (10 years ago)

    the green leaves really pop off the neutral background. It’s good to see green leaves after such a cold winter.

  2. Sandy A in St. Louis
    March 30, 2014 at 5:11 pm (10 years ago)

    Love the pillow! I haven’t tried any of the spray basting products yet. Will have to look in to them next time I baste a small project!

  3. Chris
    March 30, 2014 at 11:03 pm (10 years ago)

    I use Heat n Bond Interfacing but I will look for the new sheets to try.

  4. Heather Thompson
    March 31, 2014 at 7:42 am (10 years ago)

    very nice tutorial!!

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