Triangular Quilted Pillow Tutorial

Thank you for stopping by today!

A few months ago, I designed this pillow for a friend's new grandson. It's a really simple design, but a great way to showcase some favourite picture prints, and certainly not limited to a baby!

Today I thought I'd share the pattern with you, and a simple tutorial showing how easy it is to put together.

I've included some tips to add a personalised script to the front, for gifting to that special someone.

First up, I recommend reading through the whole tutorial to make sure you understand the steps.

To complete this pillow you will need basic sewing supplies and click and download the template below.

Materials

• 6 coordinating fabrics, fat 1/8th of each
• 30 cm x 40 cm (12" x 16") piece of batting
• 30 cm x 40 cm (12" x 16") fabric for the back of pillow
• thread to coordinate with fabric+
• pillow insert, approx 30 cm x 40 cm
• optional 12" zipper

‍

Optional for adding personalised script:

• Fusible paper like Wonder Under, Heat'n'Bond or Vliesofix
• Scraps of denim
• Top stitching thread
• Free font 'Playball' available here

6 mm (1/4") seam allowances are used throughout.

1.  Starch all your fabrics. Using your template, cut 3 triangles from each fabric, for a total of 18.

You can stack up your fabrics, and cut multiples at once.

You need to add 1/4" seam allowance to the template, and I simply lay the template on the fabric, and line up the 1/4" line of the ruler along the edge of the paper, and cut around each side of the template doing this.

You can see here that I am left handed, and do it all backwards to most of you, but it still turns out the same!

2. Now you want to lay out the triangles into 2 rows of 9, and switch the fabrics all around until you are happy with the layout.

At this stage I like to take a quick photo with my phone, just so I can remember what I came up with, and refer back to it.

3. Lay your triangles with right sides together, in pairs.

You will have one triangle left over on each row to sew on after.

Now you can chain piece all of these if you like, or if you're like me, you only remember that half way through...lol.

Press all seams open. Then sew the rest of the rows together, until all the 9 triangles are joined on each row.

4. Before you can join your two rows together, you need to trim the seams along the bottom and top of the rows to 1/4".

Then sew the two rows together, pinning to get nice matching points.

5. Trim

Now you need to trim off the extra sides of the triangles that you don't need, to square the pillow top off.

Line up the 1/4" line of your ruler along the points of the last two triangles of each row and trim.

Repeat for the other side.

6. Lay your pillow top onto your piece of batting, and baste.

I like to spray baste as there's no puckering from the pins and no pins to remove as you go.

I'm all for making things as easy as possible!

7. Quilt as desired.

I stitched 1/4" each side of each seam, for nice clean lines.

The pillow top is now finished, you can either read on for tips on how to add a personalised name to the front, or skip to step 12 to read how to finish off.

8. I love the unique touch of adding a name to the front of a pillow for that special friend or child.

You can use any font available on your word processor, or download the free one that I have used here.

You will need to reverse the font to trace it on to the fusible paper.

I use Illustrator to do this, but if you don't have that, you can just print it out and trace it by holding it up to a window or even just taping it to your computer screen.

You will find that appliqueing lettering is much easier if the thinnest part of the letter is no thinner than 0.5 mm.

I always increase the stroke on my fonts to make them thicker.

9. Fuse the script on to the denim scrap, and cut out carefully using small pointy scissors.

I love using recycled denim for this style of pillow, as it lends a modern grunge feel, that's still classy.

10. Remove paper backing, and place on to the pillow front, making sure to centre the design.

When you're happy with the positioning, carefully fuse into place.

Using top stitching thread, and a short stitch length, sew closely around the edge of the lettering.

I used thread that matched the top stitching that was already used on the denim jeans, so added to the 'old jeans' look.

This gives a raw edge finish that is quite rustic, but won't fray too much.

12. Now all that's left is trim the edges neatly, and sew the backing fabric onto the front to complete your cushion.

You can choose how to finish it off by using a zipper closure, or do a simple envelope closure.

Insert your cushion insert and you're done!

Here's another one I did for another cute baby boy!

I hope this was an inspiring and fun project. I'd love to hear from you if you make one!