Opal Pillow

Welcome! This pillow was designed and created by Pippa from Pippa Quilts. It features the lovely hues of a Bella Charm Pack against a white background. The elegant modern design of the pillow is easy to stitch up in a couple hours and the envelope opening on the back, makes for easy cleaning. I like a nice big pillow, and this 26″ size is the perfect for lounging on the sofa with.

1 Bella Solids Charm Pack
3/4 Yards Bella Solids White
3/4 Yards Marble Flannel Pastel Grey
30″ Square piece of muslin
30″ Square piece of batting
1 26″ Square pillow form

1. Select 18 charms from your pack, whichever colors you like. Cut a 2 3/4″-wide segment from each of these charms. Set aside the leftover bits of the charms.

2. Sew together 2 of the 2 3/4″-wide charm pieces along their 5″-long side to create a two-toned square. Press the seam to one side. Repeat to create a total of 9 two-toned squares.

3. From the white fabric, cut 4 strips 3 3/4″ x 26″, and 12 strips 3 3/4″ x 5″. 

4. Decide how you would like to arrange your squares on the pillow top, following this arrangement as you continue piecing. Sew one of the 5″-long white strips to one side of a two-tone square. Press the seam toward the two-tone square. Repeat on the opposite side of the square, again pressing the seam toward the two-tone square.

                                     

5. Sew another two-tone square to this unit, then another white strip, continuing in this manner until you have 3 two-tone squares and 4 white strips pieced together, like so:

                                    

6. Sew a 26″-long strip to the top and bottom of this unit, pressing the seams toward the two-tone squares.

                                   

7. Create another unit of 3 two-tone squares and sew this to the above unit.

                                   

8. Sew another 26″-long strip to the bottom of this unit. In the same manner as above, add another row of two-tone squares, and the final 26″-long strip. The pillow top is now complete.

                                  

9. Layer the muslin, batting, and pillow top (right-side up). Baste the three three layers together and quilt as desired; I stitched a simple stippling pattern with white thread. When done, trim away the excess batting and muslin.

10. From the flannel, cut two pieces that are approximately 20″ x 34″. Fold in a 1/4″ inch along one of the 20″ sides of one of the pieces, then fold in another 1/4″ and stitch just along the fold to secure it. Repeat with the second piece of flannel.

                                  

11. Lay one of the pieces of flannel right-side up with the folded edge toward the bottom, then lay the second piece of flannel on top with the folded edge toward the top and layered about 5″ on top of the first piece of flannel. Lay the pillow top on the flannel, right-side down and so the top folded edge runs along the middle of the pillow top. Pin together and stitch around the perimeter with a generous 1/4″ seam allowance.

                                             
12. Trim away the excess flannel and sew along the perimeter with a zigzag stitch, catching the raw edges.

13. Cut across the corners and turn the pillow right-side out, gently pushing out the corners and pressing the seams. Insert the pillow form, and voila!

 

Pippa Armbrester

{www.pippaquilts.com}

"Bubbles" Mod-Improv Color Pop Lap Quilt

Hi all!
Erin Davis here from Sew at Home Mummy with my contribution to Moda’s May Color POP! Challenge!  I think the colors of the “Noteworthy” line really pop against that Bella “Cloud”; this project incorporates both easy-peasy strip piecing and for a bit of a challenge, some gorgeous set-in circle work! Not to fear – you can do it – curved piecing just requires a bit of patience and a little practice! And for fun, you can personalize this quilt – after all, it’s improv!

This 50″ x 70″ lap quilt was a lot of fun – I hope you’ll give it a go!

1 Jelly Roll (“Noteworthy” by Sweetwater)

1 Layer Cake (“Noteworthy” by Sweetwater)

3.25 yards of Bella Solid, (front: Bella “Cloud”)

3.5 yards of Bella Solid, (backing: Bella “Snow”)

Twin-sized Batting

Circle Templates (in the “Printer Friendly Version” of the post)

Cutting Instructions:

Circles:

Cut 4 circles, using templates A – D provided, from layer cake pieces.

Cut 4 circle backgrounds:

–          from front color yardage, cut 4 squares measuring  12.5” square

–          from squares, remove circle cut-outs using templates E – H provided

Strips:

From Jelly Roll, choose at least 10 strips, and, cut strips at different lengths randomly (making sure the shortest is no less than about 12”); I left mine either 

– full length of strip    or/

– cut the strip in half

From front color yardage, cut approximately (6) 2.5” x wof strips (amount of strips required will depend on how many and how long the patterned strips you’ll be inserting)

Background:

“Cut on the fly”; once you start piecing the top, it’ll be really handy to have your cutting station set up so that you can cut fabrics as you need them – cut, piece, repeat.

Backing:

– Cut 2 pieces of backing fabric 36″ x 63″ (1yd27″).

– Select 7 layer cake pieces for the back piecing.

Instructions:

Inset Circles:

1.       Fold background and circles in 4 & finger press raw edges. Match circles with the appropriate background cut-out (A with E, B with F, etc.) 

2.       Pin circles to background, right sides together, easing fabric to fit.

3.       Sew, pivoting and easing fabric accordingly so as to eliminate risk of puckers.

4.       Press seams to inside of circle using steam and starch.

5.       Trim circle blocks to 11.5” square, centering circle while trimming.

Strips:

1.       Lay strips out in order you are happy with on your design wall/floor/table,  staggering/offsetting them randomly; organize your circle blocks in an orientation you’re happy with.

2.       Once you’re happy with your layout, attach pieces of background strips to the top ends of 4 of your patterned fabric sitting to the far left of your quilt, creating a “strip set”, so as to bring the ends even. 

3.       To the strips on the bottom of the quilt, add solids to either end; to the

a.       left side: enough to hit the vertical strip set already pieced (approximately 8″ wide strip)

b.      right side: enough to bring the horizontal strips to the end of the quilt 

4.       Sew in background fabrics accordingly to the blank areas surrounding the circle blocks, filling in the space as you go, starting from the top of the quilt and working down. Leave the sewn strip sets separate for now.

5.       Now, Sew all of your strips together, alternating the end you start sewing each time so as to avoid warping. Start with the vertical strips and sew them into one ‘section’. Next, sew your bottom strips together creating another “section”.

6.       Attach vertical strip-set section to the left side of the circle-block section; attach the bottom horizontal strip set section to create the quilt top.

Backing:

1.       Attach 7 layer cake pieces in a row randomizing patterns.

2.       Take the (2) cut back pieces and attach them to either side of your layer cake row lengthwise; press seam open.

Finishing the Quilt:

1.       Layer, baste, and quilt as desired.

2.       Bind quilt with left-over jelly strips.

One color-popping, gorgeous, 50″ x 70″ lap quilt!

…. and the back:

Erin Davis
{mummyquilts.blogspot.com}

Picnic In The Shade Quilt

Hello, it’s Amanda from Material Girl Quilts and I am so pleased to be back on the Moda Bake Shop with this latest project.  Picnic In The Shade has now become one of my favorite quilts.  I absolutely adore the PB&J line from Basic Grey (it’s not only pretty on the eyes, it feels amazing as well!)  The names and colors of the fabrics in this line are just too cute (Raspberry Jam, Bag of Chips, Fluffer Nutter, etc.)  My absolute favorite fabric from this line is the beautiful floral called Daisy Mae, it is gorgeous in every colorway.  So whether you decide to picnic on this quilt or put it on your bed, I hope you enjoy my latest design.

16 fat quarters (PB&J fat quarter bundle)
3 1/2 yards background fabric (PB&J Grunge – Picnic)
3/4 yard inner border fabric (PB&J Raspberry Jam – Fluffer Nutter)
1 1/2 yards outer border fabric (PB&J Bag of Chips – Tonal Picnic)
6 yards backing fabric (PB&J Daisy Mae – Picnic)

Block Cutting Instructions:
Select 16 fat quarters and from each one cut the following:

• 5 – 5 1/2″ squares
• 8 – 3 1/2″ squares

From background fabric cut the following:

• 80 – 5 1/2″ squares
• 128 – 3 1/2″ squares

Border cutting instructions:
Inner border – cut 8 strips 2 1/2″ by WOF
Outer border – cut 8 strips 5″ by WOF (Depending on the width of your fabric selection, you may need to cut 9 strips.  I was able to *JUST* make two strips pieced together work on each of the long sides of the quilt.)

Piecing Instructions:
Pair a background 5 1/2″ square with a print 5 1/2″ square (right sides together) and sew 1/4″ all the way around the squares as shown below.

Now you have 2 squares completely sewn together.  Line up your ruler on the diagonal from the top left corner to the bottom right corner and cut as shown below.

Without moving the fabric, line your ruler up diagonally from the top right to the bottom left corners and cut as shown.

Now you will have four separate “triangles”.

Open each of them up and press towards the background fabric to create four half square triangles (HST).

Repeat this step for all 80 5 1/2″ square sets.  This will result in a total of 320 half square triangles.

Now you need to square up and trim your half square triangles.  Using a small ruler, line up the 45 degree line with the diagonal line in your HST.  And trim/square up to be 3 1/2″.  Using this HST method, I almost always only had to trim off the dog ears from the seams, but you should check them all just to make sure they aren’t off before piecing them into the blocks.

Block layout:

Block A – Using the photo below as a guide, create 2 A blocks (per print fabric) using 8 trimmed 3 1/2″ HST, 8 print 3 1/2″ squares and 2 background 3 1/2″ squares.  You will have a total of 32 A blocks.

Piece each block row and press the seams towards the solid print squares.  Then sew the rows together and press toward the center row as shown below.

Block B – Using the photo below as a guide, create 2 B blocks (per print fabric) using 12 trimmed 3 1/2″ HST and 6 background 3 1/2″ squares.  You will have a total of 32 B blocks.

Piece each block row and press the seams in opposite directions with each row.  Then sew the rows together and press away from the center row as shown below.

Using 63 of your 64 blocks, lay them out in 9 rows of 7 blocks each, alternating between Block A and Block B as shown below.

Sew each row together pressing the seams in the odd numbered rows toward the right and the even numbered rows toward the left.  When sewing your rows together, you can either press all seams up, down or open depending on your preference.

Border Instructions:

1. To determine the length of your side borders, measure the quilt from top to bottom in three locations (right side, midpoint and left side).  If they are not all the same measurement, then add those numbers together and divide by three to determine the appropriate length for your inner side border.  Using two 2 1/2″ strips of the inner border fabric, piece them together end to end and then trim to match the measurement you determined above.  Do this two times to create your two inner borders and attach them to the right and left sides of the quilt.
2. Once you have pieced the inner side borders onto the quilt top, repeat the measuring instructions above to determine the appropriate measurements of the top and bottom borders (across the width of the quilt).  Once again, use two 2 1/2″ strips of inner border fabric sewn together end to end and then trimmed to the appropriate length per border.  Sew the top and bottom inner borders to the quilt.
3. Following the same instructions as above to determine the new length of your outer border.  Using the PB&J line, I only needed two 5″ strips pieced together per side border.  Double check to make sure your fabric selection will be long enough.  If not, then use the 9th strip you created in the cutting instructions above, cut in half and attach one to each side border pieced strip and then trim to the correct measurement.
4. Using the same method, piece and attach the top and bottom outer borders.

Backing Instructions:
Cut your backing fabric into two 3 yard pieces.  Then sew them together along the selvage edge far enough into the fabric so that the selvage won’t be seen once pieced.  You should end up with a pieced backing that measures approx. 84″ x 108″.

Layer your backing, batting and quilt top and quilt as desired.

One 75″ x 93″ quilt perfect for family picnics or your favorite bed.

Amanda Castor

{Material Girl Quilts}

Color Pop Challenge

May is the month of color here on the Moda Bake Shop. Our Chefs are working on projects that make colors pop! No white backgrounds, no playing it safe. Join us all month long to see what they have in the works. For a sneak peek of an upcoming Color Pop project, check out The Cutting Table blog.