Applique Hearts Pillow

 

Hi All! This is Jera from www.QuiltingintheRain.com bringing you this simple Applique Hearts Pillow tutorial just in time for Valentine’s day. Depending on what fabrics you use, the pillow can be used year round. This pillow has an easy envelope enclosure, making this a quick and fun weekend project that you can complete in a few hours.

Also, I wanted to share that I have a quilting book coming out this year, so come check out my blog for details (or for some great tutorials!), or follow me (and my corgi, Paige) at Quilting in the Rain’s Facebook to see my latest quilts and projects. Thank you so much for stopping by! Let your creativity rain!

• 1 yard Moda Solids Prairie Cloth in Buff (this material is home decor weight but has a linen/canvas feel to it) 
• 1 Bella Solids charm pack in Porcela, plus one scrap for the colored heart
• Clear glue that works on fabric
• Coordinating thread
• 20″ square pillow insert

1. From the prairie cloth, cut one 21″ square. For the back of the pillow, cut two 15″ x 21″ rectangles (these will be made into the envelope closure).

From the charm squares, cut hearts of varying shapes and sizes. I think the variety and imperfection of the heart shapes adds character to the pillow. To cut a big heart, simply fold a charm square in half and crease it with your finger so it stays folded. Then, use fabric scissors to cut the arch of ‘half of a heart’ along the folded edge. When you unfold it, you will have a heart shape.

 

To make smaller hearts,  repeat but cut two hearts from one charm square. 

I started by cutting approximately 8 big hearts, and then filled up the pillow with smaller and medium sized hearts. Also, from your scrap fabric cut one medium-size colored heart.

2. Next, arrange the hearts on the 21″ square.

3.Use clear glue that works on fabric to temporarily hold the hearts in place. Use very little glue as this is just an alternative to using pins and is meant to be temporary. For each heart I put the tiniest drop of glue and then spread it with my finger to make a very thin layer.

This is the glue I ended up using but i’m sure Elmers would work just as well. I just recommend getting a clear adhesive.

4. Sew the hearts in place using a regular presser foot. I simply guided the edge of my presser foot along the heart to sew a 1/4″ seam allowance, using a straight stitch setting.

If you’ve never done this before, to get around the curves of the heart you will need to stop and pivot the fabric quite often. To do this, simply stop sewing with the needle in down position, lift the presser foot and pivot the fabric underneath to follow the curve. You’ll get the hang of it. 🙂 

5. Along the length of a 15″ x 21″ rectangles,  turn the edge 1/4″ under, press, then turn under 1″, then press again. Stitch along the fold to keep in place as shown below. Repeat on the other rectangle as well.

6. With right sides facing together, take one rectangle and align it along the left side of the pillow cover. The finished seam you created from the previous step should be facing toward the right. Pin to keep in place, then sew a 1/2″ seam allowance along the perimeter as illustrated by the dashed line below. Start and end your stitch with a back-stitch.

Repeat with the other rectangle, but align it on the right side of the pillow.

Clip the corners to rid of bulk and then turn right side out through the envelope opening.

7. Lastly, rub your hands up and down the pillow to help ruffle-up the edges of the hearts. The semi-freyed and ruffled hearts adds texture to the pillow. The freying will not go beyond the stitch. 

And there you have it! A beautiful, applique heart pillow!

One fabulous 20″ x 20″ pillow

Thanks again for checking out my tutorial! Come visit me at www.QuiltingintheRain.com or follow me on Facebook at QuiltingintheRain. You can also find me on Instagram.

Let your creativity rain! 🙂

Jera Brandvig
{www.QuiltingintheRain.com}