In case you lost your directions or missed out on a kit, we have you covered. In this series, we will be showcasing past projects, in particular those that were originally released as Surprise Craftertunity kits at the library. So get ready to grab some spare materials and start crafting!
Cozy Four-Square Quilted Pillowcase
If you do enough sewing or crafting, chances are you have some excess fabric lying around. This project is great for what's known as "stash busting," or using up that excess fabric.
Basic Materials:
Thread
Needle (for hand sewing) or sewing machine & bobbin(s) Hand sewing works, but machine sewing is faster
Scissors/Snippers/Rotary Cutter
Rulers
Pins
Iron & Board
Included:
Assorted cotton prints for patchwork
Cotton Batting - 4 10" squares
Not Included But Needed:
Linen/cotton blend or solid cotton (for back of pillow)
one 17 3/4" x 19" piece
one 17 3/4" x 26" piece
I used muslin for the back of the pillow instead
Cotton Print (for double-fold binding)
Two strips 2" x 18"
If you are more of a beginner, feel free to purchase binding tape instead.
Cotton Muslin (for the backing to the quilted section)
Four pieces 10 1/2" square each
16-18" pillow form
The original pattern called for the smaller size, but I found the slightly larger size filled the case better. I probably could have gone even larger.
Directions:
Make the Patchwork Front -
Iron your fabric flat. As you go, any time you finish a section to go onto another, you’ll want to press all seam allowances to one side, if using thinner fabric, or apart, if you use a heavier fabric like I did (I used flannel).
Sew together several 9 1/2” cotton prints of various widths with the same or similar main color(s), long sides together using a 3/8” seam allowance, to make a 9 1/2” square. This is called the rail pattern. You will be making four squares like this.
Make a quilt sandwich with the patchwork square, batting square, and muslin square. Pin, then quilt the square in the same direction as the patchwork seams, with the quilting spaced about 3/8” apart. Repeat with the other three squares. Don’t worry if there is extra on the sides. The next step will take care of that.
Using your rulers and scissors or rotary cutter, square up your patchwork squares to 9 1/4” (remove any excess material so that your finished squares all are 9 1/4” on all sides).
Arrange your blocks as desired, so that each block is at a 90° angle to the blocks next to it. Zigzag stitch the two side edges of each block. If hand sewing, a tight blanket stitch should work as well. This just helps to keep the edges from unraveling.
Sew the two squares on the left together with a 3/8” seam allowance. Repeat with the right squares.
Piece the two patchwork rectangles right sides together, wrong sides outward (for explanation on right vs. wrong, see the blog post “Surprise Craftertunity! : 3 Ear Savers! (part 1)” on our staff blog.), being careful to match the center seams. If you finish and you discover it isn’t quite matching, that’s okay. It is a tricky process and minor fluctuations happen as you sew.
Using your rulers and scissors or rotary cutter, square up your finished front so it comes to 17 3/4” square.
Make the Back Envelope -
Fold and press the two rectangles of linen in half so the large rectangle measures 17 3/4” x 13” and the small one measures 17 3/4” x 9 1/2”. Use the 18” strips to make double-fold bias tape (or get out your premade bias tape). Bind the folded edges of the linen pieces. Trim the tape to size.
Place the pillow front right side up, and then place the small linen rectangle on top of the pillow front, raw edges matching the top of the quilted square and binding toward center. Place the large linen rectangle on top of the first so that the raw edges match the bottom of the quilted square and the binding toward the center.
Sew all the way around the pillow with a 3/8” seam. Trim the corners and zigzag stitch the raw edges (again, a tight blanket stitch should work for hand sewers). Turn the sham right side out, press and place pillow form inside to finish.
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