Make a Name or Letter Pillow on the Long Arm
I often scroll through Pinterest in the evenings, admiring quilts, embroideries and crafts in general. I came across some 'name' pillows and decided that's exactly what my granddaughter needed for her new bed. I don't know about you, but when I see something I like or get a new idea, I MUST make it immediately!
I love to make a pillow directly on my long arm, so this photo heavy post will cater to the longarmmer, however, you can sure do this on your regular sewing machine. The first thing I did was free hand draw the letters onto freezer paper. With the shiny side down, I ironed the letters onto the fabric. Next, I added a layer of fusible interfacing to the back of the fabric, then I cut everything at the same time. This way, I can iron my letters to the background fabric and I'm ready for handstitching the edges.
I spent a few evenings, using a buttonhole stitch and pearl cotton to embroider the letters. I love the background fabric! It’s a hand dyed piece I found somewhere on my travels.
The background piece is about 20" x 30". I basted around the perimeter of the piece so I have a nice frame and area to do the quilting. I used one layer of Hobbs 80/20 and Glide 40 wt. thread.
https://youtu.be/D2cAVmhVdNA?si=8Y-dvGEvsghqAWJO
I use my notched rulers to outline around the applique before I set off on the free motion quilting. I had a blast doing a whimsical, free flowing design.
Yes! I quilt every tiny space, yikes!
You can see I added a stitch line at the halfway mark. This way I will be able to easily add the fringe and have a cut line to split the pillow.
Can you believe I found this perfectly matching fringe at my local Hobby Lobby! I couldn't believe the colors were so perfect and who doesn't love fun fringe!
I used the horizontal channel locks on my long arm to stitch down the fringe. Of course, this could all be done on your regular sewing machine, but I try to do everything I possibly can on the long arm so that when I take it off, it's just assembly!
Now that the fringe is all stitched, I'm ready to take it off the frame and give it the old, 'right sides together'!
You can see how easily it split apart.
Right sides together now and I'll take it over to my sewing machine. I will tell you, it takes a bit of thought. I kept repeating to myself, 'right sides together, inside out', things like that.
As I worked on this pillow I thought, how much fun would Junie have if she had a treasure pocket! Juniper is a treasure LOVER and a pretty good treasure hunter. SOOO, I created an envelope with a secret pocket underneath. Hopefully you can follow my photos to see what happened!
I stitched on ready made patches for some fun!
The most special part is this secret pocket under the false envelope that ONLY Juniper will know about! ;)
There you have it! What a fun project that can be completed pretty quickly. I think any child would love this. I hope you'll give it a try!