How to Make a Winter Snowflake Pillow
Wintry Whimsy! Turn the season’s frost into a warm touch for your home. Nothing embodies the charm of winter like this snowflake pillow.
Tip: Contrast the cold snowflake motif with a warm and fuzzy fabric like flannel or wool felt.
Supplies
- Two 14″ x 14″ squares of wool felt
- 1-3/4 yards pompom trim
- White buttons in assorted sizes
- Tear-away stabilizer
- White thread
- Chalk marker
- Gridded quilters ruler
- Wing needle
- 14″ square pillow form
- Hand-sewing needle
- Sewing machine
- All-purpose foot (BERNINA Reverse Pattern Foot #1/1C/1D)
- Button sewing foot (BERNINA Button Sew-On Foot #18), optional
- Zipper foot (BERNINA Zipper Foot #4 or Zipper Foot with Guide #14)
Step 1) Create the snowflake outline.
Using a chalk marker and gridded quilters ruler, draw lines marking the vertical and horizontal centers of one 14″ square of felt.
Using the 45° angle marked on the ruler, draw diagonal lines through the center of the felt square.
Draw additional lines as desired to make the snowflake shape.
Step 2) Stitch the snowflake design.
Pin the tear away stabilizer on the back of the 14” square of felt.
Install the Wing needle in your sewing machine and thread the machine with white thread in the needle and on the bobbin.
Tip: A Wing needle has two “wings” that extend out from the sides; these make large holes in the fabric to create a hemstitched effect.
I used a special heirloom straight stitch (#713) on my BERNINA sewing machine, designed to work with a Wing needle and create a hemstitch effect. To do this, it sews back and forth six times before moving on to the next stitch. This heavy straight stitch, with six side-by-side strands of thread, looks like a hand-sewn backstitch.
Tip: If your machine doesn’t have a hand-look backstitch, try using a triple straight stitch (#6 on most BERNINA sewing machines) and/or a heavier thread, such as a 30 weight cotton embroidery thread or 40 weight cotton quilting thread. Adjust the stitch length to 4.o mm to approximate the look of a hand-sewn backstitch.
Begin sewing down one of the chalked lines. The machine will make six back-and-forth stitches before it moves on to the next stitch. Complete the line, moving at a steady pace and staying on the lines.
Stitch all of the lines on the pillow, pivoting where necessary. Leave thread tails at the beginning and end of each line of stitching; later these will be pulled to the back and tied in knots to secure the stitching.
After you are done with all the stitching, very carefully remove the tear-away stabilizer. Be careful not to pull out the lines you just stitched! It’s okay to cut some of the stabilizer away if needed; just be sure you don’t cut your stitches.
Pull all thread tails to the wrong side of the pillow front and tie them in knots to secure the stitching. Clip, leaving thread tails about 1/2″ long; these will be on the inside of the pillow and won’t show.
Step 3) Sew on the buttons.
Sew buttons to the pillow front as desired. I stitched 3three to each end of the snowflake and one large button in the center of the pillow.
Tip: Rather than stitch so many buttons on by hand, let your sewing machine do the work for you! Use a button-sew-on foot and stitch if your machine has them. For my BERNINA this is Button Sew-On Foot #18 and button sew-on stitch #60. For other machines, see Susan Beck’s “Three Little Stitches” post on sewing buttons.
Step 4) Add the pompom trim.
Using a zipper foot with the needle moved all the way to the left (or the guide moved to the right, depending on your machine’s zipper foot design), sew the pompom trim to the edge of the completed pillow front.
Using a zipper foot with the needle moved to the left, sew the pom pom trim on the edge of the completed pillow front.
Step 5) Complete the pillow.
Pin the second 14″ felt square to the completed pillow front, right sides together. Stitch them together sewing just inside the line of stitching used to attach the pompom trim, leaving an 8″ opening in the middle of one side.
Clip the corners.
Turn the pillow cover right side out through the opening.
Slip in the pillow form. Turn under the edges of the opening and pin them together. Slipstitch the opening closed by hand.
![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)
2 comments on “How to Make a Winter Snowflake Pillow”
I was particularly interested in how the pom poms were sewn on and found it confusing because I think you changed the order of the second and third photos. Plus, I do not know why there were two lines of instruction about using the zipper foot with the needle position to the far left to sew the trim on the edge of the completed pillow front.