I love decorations. I always see such pretty things at the stores and project ideas online. I would love to decorate for every occasion. But my dislike of pulling out bins, and putting decorations away when the season/holiday changes prevents me from that kind of decorating. So to help fight this silly issue I decorate mostly for the seasons: Spring, Summer Fall and Christmas. (sorry winter…maybe next year lol).
I love decorating for the summer here in the States. From Memorial Day through Labor Day my décor is all RED WHITE & BLUE.
With Summer season just around the corner, a new patriotic pillow was just what I wanted to make.
I used my Crafters Edge Crossover II machine and their Square die set. Having the machine cut out my squares for this project helped ease cutting up a lot of the scraps that I used. Several weeks ago I made a similar star for my “Sparkler” pincushion. I did not use the Crossover machine, but wish I had! I have issues with my elbow if I use the rotary cutter too much and the machine made cutting these squares a breeze.
Here is the die I used for this project. I used the 4″ and 5″ squares. This project makes a cover for an 18″ pillow form.
Supplies: (supplies assume you have a sewing machine and other basic sewing supplies such as pins, rotary cutter, matte, ruler, pins, scissors etc.)
For the Star:
- 10″ base block (can be any scrap since you wont be seeing it.)
- (9) 5″ squares. (star fabric)
- (2) 5″ squares cut on the diagonal 1x (star fabric)
- (8) 4″ squares (white fabric)
- (8) 4″ squares (confetti fabric)
- (12) 4″ squares (light blue fabric)
- Crafters Edge Crossover II machine
- 4″ and 5″ Crafters Edge Square dies
For the Pillow:
- Sewn Star Block
- (9) Red 1 7/8″ x 9 1/2″ strips
- (6) White 1 7/8″ x 9 1/2″ strips
- (6) Blue 1 7/8″ x 9 1/2″ strips
- Batting approx. 20″ square
- Backing Fabric (can be scrap since you won’t see it) approx. 21″ square
- 2 pillow backing pieces 18″ x 13″ (these will be the back of your envelope pillow)
- Quilt Binding (2 1/2″ strips approx. 82″ folded over and pressed)
Below is a slide show tutorial on how to make the folded star portion of the pillow cover.
![]()
Using your 10″ square, draw horizontal diagonal and vertical lines. ![]()
Cut out all your squares ![]()
Make your prairie points. Start by folding your square in half with the folded edge towards the top. Next fold each corner down to form a triangle. Leave 1 5″ square flat (see next slide). ![]()
Place your one flat 5″ square in the center of your base block. ![]()
Line up 4 white triangles matching the bottom of the triangle with the bottom of your 5″ square. ![]()
Sew 1/8″ to secure the triangles. ![]()
Placement of next section. ![]()
Sew the next section using 1/8″ ![]()
Placement of next section. ![]()
Sew the next section using 1/8″ ![]()
Placement of next section. ![]()
Sew the next section using 1/8″ ![]()
Placement of next section. ![]()
Placement of next section. ![]()
![]()
Placement of next section. ![]()
Placement of next section. ![]()
![]()
All the prairie points sewn to the base block. ![]()
Placing the corner triangles. ![]()
Approx. 1″ apart side to side. ![]()
Approx. 1 1/4 ” apart up and down.. ![]()
Trim your block to 9 1/2″ and carefully do a victory lap around your block ![]()
Sew down the points to secure them. ![]()
Sew. ![]()
Finished Star.
Follow the instructions below for making the stripes and pillow front assembly.
Your pillow front should measure 18 1/2″ square.
Pillow quilting and assembly:
- Create your quilt sandwich. Layer your pillow top on top of your batting. To have less bulk, I trimmed out the batting from the star area. See the photo below.
2. Next, place your quilt sandwich backing onto your pillow front and batting and baste however your choose.
3. Quilt your piece the way you want. When finished, trim/square up your piece to 18″ square. (I trimmed only the striped areas and left the star sides untrimmed).
4. Take one piece of your pillow back fabric and fold over 1/2″ and then again another 1/2″ (long edge) to form a small hem.
5. Stitch along the edge of the pressed fabric. Repeat for the other back piece.
6. Placing your pillow front facing away from you (right side down), place your backing flaps onto your pillow, matching the sides and corners. Your backing flaps should be right side up (facing you). Essentially your pillow will have the wrong sides together.
7. If you choose, now would be the time to trim your piece for tapered corners. Here is a link to a video by Sew Sweetness and template for tapered corners. Doing this helps the pillow be more square vs. a pulled out corner look. If your choose to not have tapered corners continue to the next step.
8. Pin/clip your front and back panels right side facing out. (If you choose not to bind your pillow, like the one in this tutorial, pin your pillow front and back pieces right sides together )
9. Sew around your pillow using a 1/4″ seam.
10. Sew your binding to your pillow form just as you would a quilt. For more detailed instructions on how to sew binding go here.
FINISHED!
Not interested in a patriotic pillow cover? Make 4 stars in any color combination you choose and skip the quilting for another fabulous pillow cover!
Edit: Someone suggested making the star the Sun so I did and I love how it turned out! You can find the umbrella pattern in the FREE PATTERNS section.
Happy sewing!
Starting to bloom by choosing JOY ~ Julia
Your new cushions look fantastic!
Thank you Anorina! I really enjoyed making them.
Your tutorial is wonderful–great instructions that anyone should be able to follow. Beautiful pillows! Clever use of the square dies. (I must get them.) I wonder if you could have used the 1 1/2″ dies for the stripes, but then, of course, the stripes would be narrower and there would be more of them… Thanks, Julia, for sharing this project with us!