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Sew a Heart Pillow

two colorful pillows with a large heart emblem on each

Today’s heart pillow comes with a bit of a twist. We first piece a block cut from 16 smaller blocks, quilt that mini quilt top, and stitch the whole thing into a pillow. Ready to sew your very own heart pillow?

Ingredients

Scale

Pillow pieces:

Find the Pattern and instructions for the heart block in this blog post.

  1. Finished quilt block measuring 8.5″ square
  2. Top and bottom sashing: 2.5″ x 8.5″
  3. 2 side sashing pieces: 2.5″ x 12″
  4. Back Piece 12.5” square

Materials needed to sew a Heart Pillow:

  1. 2 Contrasting fabrics. 3 if you feel a little more adventurous
  2. Thread
  3. Quilt Batting. I use fusible quilting for small projects like this
  4. Light or medium weight interfacing
  5. Embroidery floss
  6. Poly fil (stuffing)

Instructions

How to finish your Quilted Pillow:

  • Construct the quilted top to include the block and sashing stips.
  • I suggest applying at least a light weight interfacing to the backing fabric as it makes a sturdier pillow. But it’s optional, and some fabrics are heavy enough they don’t need the interfacing. But if your project is a gift, I would definitely interface the back panel.
  • Place quilted front and back piece right sides together and sew using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Remember to leave an opening on the bottom big enough to get your hand inside.
  • Clip the corners to take out weight.
  • Turn the work and use the point turner to fully open the seams and corners.
  • Press the pillow being sure to steam the seam allowance at the opening. Steaming the turned fabric makes sewing the pillow closed easier.
  • Stuff the pillow as desired.
  • Sew pillow closed. I recommend two strands of embroidery floss to close projects as it’s much sturdier and uses a larger needle which makes closing the work easier. I use ladder stitch but overcast stitch works well.

Notes

Getting away from absolute precision and perfection allows one to more fully enjoy the process. Hobbies are supposed to be fun and relaxing, so I like to find ways to make that happen. Also, for a beginner, it can be difficult to get everything perfect and when the blocks are not going together as expected it can be demoralizing. A quilted pillow like this is the best of both worlds. Build your skills AND enjoy the process while creating an adorable finished object.

Keywords: sew a heart pillow

Find it online: https://pattymacmakes.com/sew-a-heart-pillow/