For Christmas I decided to give my mom a gift of the seasons. I made a pillow sham for Christmas and then promised a new sham for each season.
March:
For Christmas I decided to give my mom a gift of the seasons. I made a pillow sham for Christmas and then promised a new sham for each season. This is the pillow sham for March. I wanted something that would reflect the colors of St. Patrick’s day but would work with her decor all month long.
To make the pinwheel star-
Cutting instructions:
Choose two contrasting fabrics and a solid fabric. I choose a white clover and a green polka a dot. Out of the white clover I cut two 3 7/8” squares and four 3 ½” squares. Out of the green fabric I cut two 3 7/8” squares, four 3 ½” squares, four 3 ½” x 6 ½” rectangles.
Sewing instructions:
1. Draw a diagonal line across from corner to corner on back of clover fabric.
2. Layer two 3 7/8” squares of clovers right sides together with two 3 7/8” squares of green. Sew a seam ¼” away from the line on both sides of the diagonal.
Cut on line and press open.
You should now have four 3 ½” squares. This is the middle of our pinwheel.
3. Sew four half flying geese blocks. Place clover 3 ½” block with right sides together on green 3 ½” x 6 ½” rectangle.
Trim bottom two layers of fabric to ¼” from seam allowance. Repeat for other three squares.
4. Lay block out to look like finished block picture and sew together making sure seams match in sections. Iron and trim to 12 inch block.
To make the sham-
Cutting instructions:
cut two 3” x 6 ½” rectangles out of green fabric. Out of white fabric cut two 12 x 9 ½” rectangles, two 3” x 18 ½” rectangles, and two 14” x 11” rectangles.
5. Sew the white 12” x 9 1/2” rectangle to both sides of your square. Press seams open. Then, sew the white 3” x 18 ½” rectangles to the top and bottom of your square. Press seams open. Trim to measure 14” x 18”. This is the front of your sham.
6. Hem one side of the width of the rectangles measuring 14” x 11” so that they measure when hemmed 9 ¼”.
7. With right sides facing together lay the hemmed rectangles so that they slightly overlap in the middle on top of pinwheel square. Pin and sew ¼” seam all the way around the edges.
8. To make the ties with right sides facing together fold the green rectangles and sew ¼ inch seam all around but leave one side open. Turn fabric right side out and press. Tuck in raw edges of open side and sew onto wrong side of opening on each of the hemmed squares fabric. Turn sham right side out place a 12"x 16" inch pillow in your sham and tie back close.
Enjoy your new bit of spring!
April:
How About a cute Bunny for an April Pillow Sham!
April:
How About a cute Bunny for an April Pillow Sham!
I came across Iris Folding patterns and thought they would make a fun quilt! I was surprised how easy and fun this quilt was to put together. It looks like a lot of work, but is really quite simple.
First, find a pattern that you like. I found the bunny pattern at http://circleofcrafters.com/irisfolding/index.html
Print off two copies of the pattern. Cut out the bunny on one of the copies and tape it to a table. Here comes the fun part.
I used my scrap fabric which I folded over and cut to fit the pattern. You can also make 1” strips and fold with wrong sides facing and iron to use as your fabric.
The bunny pattern calls for 3 different fabrics. Using the pattern place your fabric so the fold is right on the line marked 1. Use a thin line of fabric glue to secure each layer.
You may want to tape this fabric to the table so it won’t slip. Continue to follow the pattern in number sequence.
Keep following the numbers and layer the fabric until you have created an iris opening.
It does not look pretty, but from the back, but wait till you flip it over and see the fun pattern you created.
Next, using the second copy of the pattern cut out the bunny shape and trace it onto a background fabric. It is easier to work with if your fabric is a little stiff. You can use iron on interfacing to stiffen fabric or like in this quilt use pre-quilted fabric. Remove the paper pattern from the folded bunny and if you would like glue a small piece of fabric to cover the iris opening.
Place the background fabric over the folded fabric. Stitch around the bunny to prevent fraying using a zigzag stitch or blanket stitch. I also, used pink DMC floss to baste around the bunny and make it stand out.
Now you have a cute bunny block that would be perfect in a wall hanging. I have decided to us this as block as part of my pillow sham of the month. You can find the other pillow shams under the tab at the top of the page.
To make the pillow sham cut the bunny square to 6 ½”x9”. If you want to cover the bulk of fabric created by the folding technique, you can baste a 6 ½”x 9” fabric to the back of the bunny square. Cut two 6 1/2”x9” blocks of the cherry. Sew on both sides of the bunny square. Cut two 3 ½” x 20” strip out of red polka a dot fabric and sew to the top and bottom of the block. Trim to 14” x 18”. Cut two rectangles measuring 14” x 11”. Hem one side of each of the rectangles measuring so that they measure when hemmed 9 ¼”. With right sides facing together lay the hemmed rectangles so that they slightly overlap in the middle on top of pinwheel square. Pin and sew ¼” seam all the way around the edges.
To make the ties with right sides facing together fold the green rectangles and sew ¼ inch seam all around but leave one side open. Turn fabric right side out and press. Tuck in raw edges of open side and sew onto wrong side of opening on each of the hemmed squares fabric. Turn sham right side out place a 12"x 16" inch pillow in your sham and tie back close.
Happy Easter!
May:
July:
May:
Since the May always reminds me of spring flowers, I created
this whimsy pillow sham for my pillow sham of the month post.
Instructions:
Chain the length of your pillow, then add three chains. (My
chain was 18” long) *Double crochet in
the next 10 chains. Chain 5 then skip 5
chains and repeat from * Do this all the
way across to complete your row. Keep
adding rows till your sham measures the same size as your pillow. (My rows
added up to 14”). You are creating the
front of your pillow sham.
Working from
bottom to top of the single crochet row, braid the row together by pulling the
loops through each other. Repeat this with all the single crochet rows.
Now start on your back panels. Chain half the length of your pillow, then
add three chains. (My chain was 9”) *Double crochet in every chain across, chain
three and repeat from * keep adding rows
till your sham measures the same size as your pillow. (My back panels measured
14”). Repeat this step to make the
second back panel.
Now using your
crochet hook and yarn slip stitch the back panels to the front panel on sides,
top and bottom.
Make sure you catch the end
of your braided rows into the slip stitch as you crochet the pieces together.
To make the flowers I used a small crochet hook and dmc
floss.
1. Chain 5
2. Slip stitch in first chain to make a circle.
3. Chain 3
4. Double crochet in the middle of the circle 10 times
5. Slip stitch together
6. Add a new color
7. Chain 3
8. Do 2 double crochets in the same chain.
9. Double crochet 3 times
in all the chains until you complete the circle.
10. Slip stitch together
*11. Chain 3
12. Skip next chain
13. Single crochet in next chain
14. Repeat from * till you complete the circle.
15. Tie off
16. Using dmc floss that
matches the flower sew the flower onto the front of the pillow sham.
Enjoy your new pillow sham!
June:
For the June pillow sham, I decided to go with hexies. They remind me of all the flowers blooming at this time of year. I must warn you once you start making hexies. They can get pretty addicting.
I made my hexies by first cutting out a bunch using standard computer paper with a Fiskars hexagon squeeze punch.
I like using the cutter because it cuts out the perfect size hexie to fit on a charm pack.
I used two charm packs to make this pillow sham. Place cut out hexie on a square of fabric. Fold down the corner and sew through both layers.
Then, go back and double sew the same corner to secure it down.
Next, move to the next corner and repeat.
Do this all the way around the hexie and tie off your thread.
You will need to make 49 hexies to make this sham.
Now, iron all your hexies so they will hold their shape.
Take out the papers and sew 7 hexies together to make a flower. You will get seven flowers.
Iron your flowers and then sew them together.
Choose a background fabric and cut to measure 20” x 20”. I like to have a little extra, because it is a lot easier to trim than add fabric.
Pin your flowers to the middle of the fabric and sew 1/8” around the all the flowers.
Now, use dmc floss of your choice to sew around the middle hexie of each flower. Trim the front of your pillow sham to 14” x 18”. Cut two rectangles measuring 14” x 11”. Hem one side of each of the rectangles measuring so that they measure when hemmed 9 ¼”. With right sides facing together lay the hemmed rectangles so that they slightly overlap in the middle on top of pinwheel square. Pin and sew ¼” seam all the way around the edges.
To make the ties cut two rectangles measuring 3" x 5". Fold in half with right sides together and sew ¼ inch seam all around but leave one side open. Turn fabric right side out and press. Tuck in raw edges of open side and sew onto wrong side of opening on each of the hemmed squares fabric. Turn sham right side out place a 12"x 16" inch pillow in your sham and tie back close.
July:
I love pinwheels! They always remind me of summer so this month’s pillow sham is patriotic pinwheels.
Instructions:
Cut out eight 4” squares of the white background fabric and four 4” squares of the red polka dot and flag fabric. This website is a great source on how to assembly the pinwheel blocks:
To have one pinwheel slightly above the other sew a 3 x 7 ½” strip of background fabric to the bottom of the red pinwheel block and another 3 x 7 ½” strip to the top of the flag pinwheel block. Trim and iron. Cut out two 3 x 10” strips of fabric from the background fabric. Sew one to the left side of the pillow sham top and one to the right side of the pillow sham top. Iron and trim to 9 x 18”. Cut out two 4 x 18” strips from the brown fabric. Sew one to the top of the sham and one to the bottom of the sham. Iron and trim to 14 x 18”
To sew on the rick rack, lay it under one of the pinwheels and sew on at a diagonal using a straight stitch.
Sew on a fun button to go in the middle of your pinwheel.
Next, cut two rectangles measuring 14” x 11”. Hem one side of each of the rectangles measuring so that they measure when hemmed 9 ¼”. With right sides facing together lay the hemmed rectangles so that they slightly overlap in the middle on top of pinwheel square. Pin and sew ¼” seam all the way around the edges.
To make the ties cut two rectangles measuring 3" x 5". Fold in half with right sides together and sew ¼ inch seam all around but leave one side open. Turn fabric right side out and press. Tuck in raw edges of open side and sew onto wrong side of opening on each of the hemmed squares fabric. Turn sham right side out place a 12"x 16" inch pillow in your sham and tie back close.
August:
September:
August:
For this month’s pillow sham I wanted to cross stitch one of my Mom’s favorite scriptures.
I went to my stash of craft books that I bought at a second hand book store and found the picture of the house.
After searching some more I found a fun font to go with my house. I stitched Joshua 24:15 “...As for me and my house we will serve the Lord” and a cute little house to go with the saying.
Next, I sewed the saying onto the middle of a blue and white piece of fabric that I had cut to 14”x18”.
Then, I cut two rectangles measuring 14”x11”. Hemed one side of each of the rectangles measuring so that they measure when hemmed 9 ¼”. With right sides facing together I laid the hemmed rectangles so that they slightly overlapped in the middle on top of pinwheel square. Then, I pined and sewed ¼” seam all the way around the edges.
I turn sham right side out placed a 12"x 16" inch pillow in the sham.
September:
I used a Moda Charm pack to create this month’s fun pillow sham. To start lay out all the charms and choose the ones you want to use in your sham.
I loved working with this charm pack so much that I made two more pillow shams. Both are on sale in ebay, if you would like one too.
If you want to make your own sham this is what I did. First I had fun looking at all the patterns and colors in the charm Pack. Then, I laid out all the charms and choose the ones I wanted to use in my sham. I sewed four across and then ironed the seams flat. Then I sewed three rows together and again ironed the seams flat.
Next, I cut two rectangles measuring 14” x 11”. Then, I hem one side of each of the rectangles measuring so that they measure when hemmed 9 ¼”. Next with right sides facing together I laid the hemmed rectangles so that they slightly overlap in the middle on top of the sham.
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