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DESIGN CENTER
CONTENTS
Bird-of-Paradise Pillow
Member
BBB Online
BIRD-OF-PARADISE PILLOW
by Sharlene Jorgenson
Courtesy of Quilting from the Heartland
Skill
Rating: Intermediate
Make this gorgeous bird-of-paradise pillow with just three templates from Quilting from the Heartland's Wheel of Mystery set
Tools & Supplies
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5 print fabrics for pillow top (referred to as purple, red, pink, green, and black in our instructions)
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Fabric for pillow backing
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Needlepunched quilt batting
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Rotary cutter
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Cutting mat
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Templates A, B, and C from Quilting from the Heartland's set Wheel of Mystery (QS31)
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Iron
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Pressing surface
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Cotton thread
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Sewing machine
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Small scissors
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Pins
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(Optional) Ruffler attachment for your sewing machine
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(Optional) Rotary ruler
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(Optional) Piping
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Hand needle
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Round pillow form
Instructions
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Use template A to cut 12 pieces from your purple fabric and four pieces from your black fabric.
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Use template B to cut four pieces from your purple fabric and eight pieces from your black fabric.
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Use template C to cut two pieces from your red fabric, two pieces from your pink fabric, and four pieces from your green fabric.
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Fold your A and B pieces in half and make small notches in the seam allowances of the curved edges you'll be sewing together. With right sides together, matching the points and notches, as shown, use a 1/4-inch seam allowance to sew four purple A pieces to four purple B pieces. Do the same to sew eight purple A pieces to eight black B pieces. Clip off the "ears," as shown, and press the seam allowance of each pair toward piece A, pressing from the wrong side.
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With right sides together, using a 1/4-inch seam allowance, stitch one pink C piece to one of the black-and-purple pairs you made in step 4. Please look at the diagram carefully to see how the pieces should align. Now stitch another black-and-purple pair to the other side of the same pink C piece. Press the seam allowances toward the A-and-B pairs. Repeat this entire step with one red C piece and two more black-and-purple pairs.
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Stitch one all-purple A-and-B pair to each side of your remaining red C and your remaining pink C pieces, following the instructions from step 5, and press the seam allowances toward the A-and-B pairs. Now, with right sides together and using a 1/4-inch seam allowance, stitch two green C pieces together across the smallest edges, as shown. Press the seam open from the wrong side. You now have three rows. Matching the edges and center points, use 1/4-inch seam allowances to stitch the rows together, as shown. Again, press the seam allowances away from the green C pieces.
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With right sides together and using a 1/4-inch seam allowance, stitch a black A piece to either side of your two remaining A-B-C units. Press the seam allowances toward the black A pieces. Now use a 1/4-inch seam allowance to sew your three large rows together, as shown. Press the seam allowances toward the center of the pillow top.
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Place your completed pillow top face down on three layers of backing fabric. Trace around the pillow top and cut out three pieces from the backing fabric.
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Place your pillow top on a piece of needlepunched quilt batting. Trace around the pillow top and cut out one piece of batting.
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Make a quilt sandwich with one piece of backing, face down, the batting in the middle, and your pillow top, face up on top. Pin generously to hold the three layers together. Set your machine to a long straight stitch with the top tension loosened by two numbers. If you have a walking foot, put it on the machine. Now quilt your pillow top by stitching in the ditch (in the well of the seam) and echo-quilting inside the pieces, as desired. When you're finished, reset your top tension to normal and shorten your stitch length to eight or 10 stitches per inch.
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If you're using piping instead of a ruffle on your pillow top, trim the seam allowance of the piping to 1/4 inch. Place the piping on the right side of the pillow top, with the raw edges aligned to the edges of the pillow top. Hand-baste the piping into place, to prevent puckering later. Clip the curves of the piping seam allowance. Now use a zipper foot to machine-stitch the piping to edge of the pillow top.
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If you're making a ruffle, you'll need to measure around the outer edge of the pillow and then experiment with your ruffler to see how much fabric to cut. Then cut and piece a strip of fabric six inches wide by that length. If you're planning to do a simple gathering stitch, the ruffle strip should be about two and a half times the pillow circumference. Your ruffler experiment will tell you how much to cut and piece for a ruffle.
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Press the ruffle strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Pin the gathered or ruffled strip to the outer edge of the pillow top, with raw edges aligned and the ruffle edge pointing to the center of the pillow top. Stitch the ruffle into place with a 1/4-inch seam, leaving a few inches of ruffle free at the beginning and end. Take the pillow top out of your machine and open both free ends of the ruffle. Join these ends by sewing with the right sides together. You'll have to fiddle a bit to get the seam placed so the finished ruffle will fit the pillow. When you're satisfied, stitch the remainder of the ruffle to the pillow top. Press the seam flat.
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You're ready to make your pillow back. Press one backing piece in half with the wrong sides together. Now press the remaining backing piece with the wrong sides together, but about two inches off center, so it's a little larger than half of the original circle. Carefully place your two backing pieces face up so the folded edge of the larger piece overlaps the folded edge of the half-circle, as shown. Baste around the edges, to hold everything in place.
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Place your pillow top face down on your pillow back, which is face up. Use a 1/4-inch seam allowance to sew the front to the back, all around the edges. Press the seam allowance flat. Turn the completed pillow cover through the flap you created in the back, pulling on the ruffle to staighten the seams. Press carefully so you don't crush the ruffle. Insert your pillow form into the finished pillow cover.
Add tools and supplies to complete this project to your shopping basket!
SewAndQuilt.com offers virtually everything you need to make this project! Check out these products in our online store.
Warm & White Needlepunched Cotton Batting, Craft Size
Metrosene #50/3 Mercerized Cotton Thread (547 yards/500 meters)
Fiskar's 45-Millimeter Ergonomic Rotary Cutter
June Tailor Quilter's Cut 'n Press
Quilting from the Heartland Template Set QS31 (Wheel of Mystery)
Omnigrid 6- x 24-Inch Rotary Ruler
Collins Quilting Pins (200/package)
Dritz Assorted Hand Needles (50/package)
SewAndQuilt.com also offers a wide selection of products to help you mark and complete your quilts. Please proceed to the Marking Tools and Quilting/Sewing Tools departments of the online store.