Quilted Pillow TUTORIAL

I love to make pillows! And quilted pillows are my favorite. This tutorial is for everyone, but at the request of Pam, Patsy & Laurie:) This tutorial is very simple to resize, but I made it with the popular Swoon block which finishes 24x24". This tutorial is designed for those with a basic understanding of quilt binding. If you have any questions, let me know!

1. Fabric: You will need your quilted pillow front. You will also need 1/2-7/8 yard for the backing and 1/3-1/2 yard for the binding. For my 24x24" pillow, I needed 24" x width of fabric for the backing and 144" of binding.

2. Backing: Cut two pieces for the backing. They should be the width of your pillow x (1/2 the height of your pillow + 4 to 6"). My pillow is 24 x 24". So I cut 24 x 18". 24" is the width of my pillow. 18" is half the height of my pillow (12") plus 6". The 4 to 6" is for the overlap. I use 6" on larger pillows, 5" on medium sized pillows and 4" on smaller pillows.

3. Binding: Make your binding. You will need 4 x pillow width + 2 x pillow height. I needed 144". I make my binding by cutting 2" strips.

4. Binding the Edges: Sew binding to the wrong side of the backing pieces with a 1/4" seam. You will sew to the top edge of one piece and the bottom edge of the second piece. For my pillow, these edges were 24".

You'll have this!

Fold the binding back over to the front. Press. And top stitch. I'm normally 100% against machine sewn binding BUT this is the BACK of a pillow. It's okay;) Be neat and it will look great. It's just a straight seam, no corners.

5. Sew it Together: Lay the back pieces on the pillow. I lay the bottom piece first. NOTE: This is NOT inside out. You're laying the wrong sides together.

Then lay the top. Pin. I like to use wonder clips instead of pins.

Sew all the way around with a scant 1/4" seam.

6. Finishing & Binding: Attach the binding to the front all the way around with a liberal 1/4" seam.

It will look like this.

Hand sew the binding down to the back as you would on a quilt.

That's it!! There are tons of different modifications and adjustments you can make depending on pillow size. I sometimes quilt the back panels as well. Happy pillow making!!xo LC