DIY Geometric Pillow
Zest up your décor with a unique combination of geometry and bold color. While simple to sew, this pillow is sure to make a striking impression. By combining striped fabric with easy on-the-bias piecing and straight line quilting you’ll create a new favorite accent piece for your home.
Supplies
- 1 yard of fabric with 2ʺ-wide stripes
- 1 yard of a matching solid fabric
- 1 yard of a solid white fabric
- 20ʺ- to 22ʺ-long invisible zipper
- 22ʺ square pillow form
- One 24ʺ square and one 21-1/2ʺ square of batting
- 505 Temporary Fabric Adhesive Spray
- Spray starch or Mary Ellen’s Best Press Starch Alternative
- 11ʺ square (or larger) Nifty Notions “Cut for the Cure” gridded clear acrylic ruler
- Invisible zipper foot (BERNINA Invisible Zipper Foot #35)
- Quarter-inch foot (BERNINA Patchwork Foot #37)
- Walking foot (BERNINA Walking Foot #50)
- Basic sewing supplies
step one) Piece the pillow front.
Press and starch your striped fabric. You will be cutting it on the bias, and this will help prevent stretching.
Cut four 11” squares from the striped fabric, using a gridded ruler to center a stripe along the diagonal of each square.
Lay out the four striped squares, creating an “X” pattern.
Sew the four squares together using a ¼ʺ- wide seam allowance, taking care to match the seamlines. Press seam allowances open.
step 2) Quilt the pillow front and back.
Cut one 25” square of white fabric and one 24” square of batting.
Layer the white square (face down), batting, and piece pillow front (face up).
Baste the layers together with safety pins or 505 fabric adhesive spray.
Attach the walking foot to your sewing machine.
Quilt the pillow top using straight lines following the “X” pattern.
Trim away the excess batting and backing fabric, making a 21½ʺ square pillow front.
Cut two 21½ʺ squares of the matching solid fabric and one 21½ʺ square of batting for the pillow back.
Sandwich the batting between the solid fabric squares, baste the layers together, and quilt them using the walking foot.
step 3) Construct the pillow.
Next you’ll need the pillow back and top, the invisible zipper, and the invisible zipper foot.
Unzip the invisible zipper. Pin one zipper tape right sides together with one edge of the pillow top; note that the zipper tape will extend past the end of the pillow top.
Attach the invisible zipper foot to your sewing machine.
Align the teeth on the zipper tape with the left groove in the sole of the foot; stitch along the side of the zipper. Backstitch when you reach the zipper pull at the bottom of the zipper.
Pin the pillow back to the other side of the invisible zipper, right sides together. Again, the zipper tape will extend past the end of the pillow back.
Align the teeth on the zipper tape with the left groove in the sole of the foot; stitch along the side of the zipper. Backstitch when you reach the zipper pull at the bottom of the zipper.
Open the zipper halfway. Place the pillow front and back right sides together; pin.
Using the walking foot, sew around the remaining three edges of the pillow using a ⅜ʺ wide seam allowance and backstitching at the end.
Trim the corners.
Turn the pillow cover right side out through the zipper opening.
Close the invisible zipper.
![Is that big, bold scrap of fabric staring at you? This quilt square is designed to let a large print fabric shine. This simple block is quick to make and easily stitched into a pillow. With a bit more fabric you can turn it into a placemat or table runner. The perfect project for turning fabric scraps into something bold and beautiful. Geometric Quilt Block Pillow Supplies Large scraps or fat quarters of 100% cotton quilter's fabrics: One large print One light solid or small print One medium solid or small print One dark solid or small print 1/2 yard of white cotton fabric for the pillow lining 1/2 yard of fabric for the pillow back Coordinating thread 14" square pillow form Universal or Sharp needle, size 75/11 1/4" foot (BERNINA Patchwork Foot with Guide #57) Straight stitch foot (BERNINA Straight Stitch Foot #13) Zigzag foot (BERNINA Reverse Pattern Foot #1) or overlock foot (BERNINA Overlock Foot #2) Rotary cutter and self-healing cutting mat Clear acrylic gridded ruler Download and print the Geometric Quilt Block Pillow Cutting and Piecing Diagrams: [download id="90"] Step 1) Cut the fabric pieces. Accurate cutting helps avoid crooked, puffy, or uneven seams in your quilt block. Use a self-healing mat, a clear acrylic gridded ruler, and a rotary cutter to cut the pieces for your quilt block. Rotary cutters Rotary Cutting Tips Self-healing mats come in different sizes. 24" x 36" is a good size to have, but if you don't have a dedicated sewing space or don't plan to use it often, try an 18" x 24" mat instead. Acrylic rulers also come in many shapes and sizes. A standard 6" x 24" ruler is a good start, and I've also found a 12-1/2" x 12-1/2" square ruler to come in very handy. Rotary cutters are measured by the size of the circular blade in millimeters. A 45 mm rotary cutter is perfect for making the kind of straight cuts needed for this project. Use the grid on your cutting mat to help square up fabric pieces when needed, but when measuring to cut the pieces be sure to use the gridlines on the acrylic ruler. Hold the ruler firmly on top of the fabric, and use a steady, firm, pressing motion when cutting with the rotary cutter. Cut one of each pattern piece from the corresponding fabrics (also see downloaded Cutting Diagram): Piece #1 - Light solid or small print, 4" x 3" Piece #2 - Dark solid or small print, 4" x 5" Piece #3 - Light solid or small print, 4" x 2-1/2" Piece #4 - Large print, 9-1/2" x 9-1/2" Piece #5 - Light solid or small print, 2-1/2" x 9-1/2" Piece #6 - Dark solid or small print, 14-1/2" x 2-1/2" Piece #7 - Medium solid or small print, 14-1/2" x 3-1/2" Step 2) Piece the block. Set your sewing machine for a straight stitch about 2.5 mm long. Attach a quarter-inch foot, such as BERNINA Patchwork Foot with Guide #57, to your sewing machine. The blocks will be sewn together using a 1/4"-wide seam allowance. Stitching an accurate 1/4"-wide seam will help your block come together with nice, straight seams and avoid pieces not fitting together as you sew on. Geometric Quilt Block Pillow Patchwork Piecing Tips Us a quarter-inch foot to help you keep the correct seam allowance width. The BERNINA Patchwork Foot #37 is designed specifically so that following the edge of the foot will create a 1/4"-wide seam allowance. BERNINA Patchwork Foot with Guide #57 is similar to foot #37, but adds a metal guide at the side of the foot to help you like up your fabric piece exactly at the edge of the foot. Attach a seam guide to the bed of your sewing machine along the 1/4" seam allowance mark on your stitch plate, then place the edges of your fabric pieces against the guide as you sew. Alternatively, place a piece of blue low-tack painter's tape along the 1/4" seam allowance mark on your stitch plate as a guide for your fabric. Piecing Diagram Geometric Quilt Block Pillow Start by stitching Piece #1 to Piece #2 along one 4" edge. Press the seam allowances to one side. Next, sew Piece #3 to Piece #2 along one 4" edge as shown in the diagram; press after stitching. Geometric Quilt Block Pillow Continue adding pieces to the block as shown in the diagram, pressing each seam as you go. Tip: When pressing seams, be sure to press DOWN with the iron as opposed to "ironing," or pushing the iron back and forth over the seam. Ironing (back and forth motion) can cause straight seams to go crooked. Pressing straight up and down with the iron will help your seams stay nice and straight. Press all seams again from the back of the block when finished. Geometric Quilt Block Pillow The finished block should measure 14-1/2" x 14-1/2". Geometric Quilt Block Pillow Step 3) Construct the pillow cover. Cut one 14-1/2" x 14-1/2" square of fabric for the pillow lining. Cut two 11" x 14-1/2" rectangles of fabric for the pillow back. Create a 2" hem along one edge of each 11" x 14-1/2" pillow pocket piece: Turn under 1" along one long edge; press. Turn under an additional 1"; press. Geometric Quilt Block Pillow Topstitch close to the inner edge of the folded hem with a straight stitch, using either a multi-purpose foot or a straight stitch foot. Geometric Quilt Block Pillow Layer and pin the pieces of the pillow together: Begin with the 14-1/2" square of white cotton for the lining. Add the finished patchwork block, right side up, matching all edges. Add one pocket pillow back, right side down, matching the raw edges. The finished hem will be about 5" from the other end of the pillow. Add the other pocket pillow back, right side down, on the opposite edge. The hemmed edges will overlap. Geometric Quilt Block Pillow Pin around all four edges of the pillow. Set your sewing machine for a straight stitch of 2.5 mm long. Stitch around all four sides of the pillow using a 1/2"-wide seam allowance. Trim all seam allowances to 1/4". Attach an overlock or zigzag stitch foot to your sewing machine. Set your machine for a zigzag or overlock stitch and sew over the raw edges to keep them from unraveling. Geometric Quilt Block Pillow Turn the pillow cover right side out, gently pushing each corner from the inside to turn it. Insert the 14"-square pillow form through the opening in the back of the pillow cover. If needed, use a little fiberfill to help fill out the pillow corners. Geometric Quilt Block Pillow Geometric Quilt Block Pillow](https://weallsew.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2014/01/Geometric-Quilt-Block-Pillow-WeAllSew.jpg)
4 comments on “DIY Geometric Pillow”
I struggled with the invisible zipper. I used Bernina invisible zipper foot 35. I did NOT press in a seam but butted the zipper coil right up at the raw edge of the pillow. The hardest part to deal with — for me — was sewing the end, where the pull tab is. I wondered if I should have pulled the zipper up a bit but with the needle down and the presser foot up it wasn’t possible. Any suggestions?
Hello, @porter1938! You are right on track — I like to use the needle down position and raise the foot just enough to pull the zipper pull to the other edge. You should have enough room to just sneak it by. If this doesn’t work, you may have to raise your needle too, advance the zipper pull and finish your seam (back stitching where you ended off). Let me know if you have any other questions!
Thanx,Megan. I’m making a second big geo pillow — same instructions but struggling less with invisible zipper. I’m also making a small-of-the-back pillow with the yellow stripe scraps and calling it my “waste not/want/not” pillow case.