Thursday, July 4, 2013

Old Glory Star Pillow


What did I do with my rainy day 4th of July?  Made a pillow for the occasion.

While in Paducah, KY's National Quilt Museum last month, I bought a quilt calendar.
It's a calendar that can be used every year which isn't wasteful.
It has a different quilt block pattern for each day of the year, with a layout & piece sizes provided.  There are also some basic instructions in the back.
Well, the July 1 pattern really impressed me.

This will be my quilt block shot tomorrow, which means you'll get more piece directions tomorrow.
The pattern is called Old Glory Star and I haven't found another online like it.
To make a pillow I added a border.
I took 2 inch wide strips, placed at right angle, and sewed as you see above.
I folded the strip in half, and pinned raw edges.  When I came to the corner, I folded back the strip. Then I folded a 45° angle.  Put a pin in the corner, to make a perfect corner.

 After I pinned all around, I could tell where the edging needed to meet at the ends, and cut a mark 1/4 inch from where the end should be.  When I placed the ends of the strips at right angles, the slit mark was where I placed the corner and started my stitching.
After stitching the ends together & trimming, fold the remaining strip in half and make the mitered corner.
Stitch around the edge using 1/4 inch seam.
I chose colors to oppose the colors in the block after applying a white strip around the block.

This was a 12" square that turned into 16" square after adding the strips on the edge.
Cut two 16x11" rectangles.  Stitched a double fold 1/4" hem along one 16" edge on each pieces.
Lay this piece right sides together.  Then overlap the second piece.
Stitch around edge along the 1/4" stitch line already made when adding the edging.
Trim corners, turn right side out, insert pillow.
I used a pillow I already had.  The envelope pillow case is a great method for temporary seasonal pillows like this one.


When I was making this pillow today from the bandana fabric, I couldn't help but think of my 201st Follower that came on board yesterday.  She has a great blog over @ Still Woods Farmhouse where she said she loves bandanas and used one to decorate a cute little portable table.  Her beautiful farm house is really decked out for the 4th.  You should take a look at all her red, white and blue decor.  Glad I found out about this beautiful blog.

To look more closely at the block layout, please go HERE.

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Meanwhile, hope you had a dry or wet 4th of July, whichever you wanted.
As you can see, we are wet, and the rain is traveling only north and stretches down to southern AL.
So, tonight's fireworks look pretty soggy as well.
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Thanks to the FREE programs:
possibly used for this post
GIMP for cropping & other digital effects
 Photoscape for downsizing & watermarking photo
PicMonkey creating collages used on this page

30 comments:

  1. Oh lovely ! Talented lady.

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  2. What an adorable pillow! I think it would look great on one of my rockers out front! The tutorial will be helpful if I ever attempt making one. Thank you for mentioning my blog in this post. I am honored that you spoke so kindly about Still Woods Farmhouse. Enjoy your 4th!
    Blessings from Still Woods Farmhouse

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  3. Love the pillow you made with the blocks too! Hope you soon see some sunshine. ~Diane

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  4. Your pillow looks great, very cute! I love the patriotic theme.

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  5. Cute pillow! I'm pinning it to my patriotic pins board!

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  6. This is certainly a project to add to my "to do" list. This pillow is so festive!

    Debra

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  7. What a great patriotic pillow. Love the pattern!

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  8. Another awesome tutorial :)
    Thanks so much for linking up on Tutorial Thursdays Linky Party this week. Voting has begun, if you have a moment, please do drop by and vote for your favourite link of this week. Thanks :)
    See you again on Thursday.
    x
    Natalie
    Marigolds' Loft

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  9. Super sweet! Pinned in my Americana board:) New follow for your page. Swim by http://www.sewsweetvintage.com/2013/07/vintage-swimwear.html

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  10. What a gorgeous pillow!!!

    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    Hope you have a fabulous week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  11. Wow! Just a gorgeous pillow! Love it!Thanks so much for sharing the great tutorial! Would love to have you visit me sometime.
    Have a fabulous week!
    Hugs from Portugal,

    Ana Love Craft
    www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

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  12. You won the voting this week on Tutorial Thursday with this gorgeous pillow, and as such have been featured :)
    Do come by and grab your featured button if you haven't already!
    I look forward to see what you have to share with us this week :)
    x
    Natalie
    Marigolds' Loft

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  13. This is a perfect pillow for 4th of July or just to show off how much you love America! Thanks so much for sharing this great tutorial Joy!

    My readers would love this DIY! I’d love it if you linked this up over at Living Well Spending Less for Thrifty Thursday this week! http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/category/thrifty-thursday/

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  14. Love the Americana feel of this pillow! Very talented. Thank you so much for sharing at All Things Pretty!

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  15. It's a gorgeous pillow!!
    You did a wonderful job, and I'd loooooooove to have this pillow :)

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  16. Oh so very fun. Love that you chose to do it with bandana print. Uniquely you. :D Thanks for sharing on beColorful this week.
    p

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  17. Neat! I really like the pattern.

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  18. Your pillow is lovely! Thanks for sharing it at our Celebrate the USA Party. Pinned to the party board.

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  19. totally cool! I am trying to teach myself quilting and I LOVE this pillow! I am so giving it a try :)

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  20. Love the pillow! I really like the envelope pillow case style. You're so talented! Thank you Joy for linking up at the #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty. I shared this post.

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  21. I agree with your other readers. This pillow is gorgeous...and you are very talented!
    #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty

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  22. Oh Joy the pillow looks great and you make it look so easy. Thanks for linking up at #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty.

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  23. That pillow is so cute! I'd love to make one of my own!! Thank you for sharing at ‪#BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty‬.‬

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  24. I love this. You are so talented. Thank you for sharing at #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty!

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  25. Excellent tutorial. The pillow is perfect for this time of year, and your directions make it look easy to make. Thank you for linking up at #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty. I’m sharing your link on social media.
    Carol (“Mimi”) from Home with Mimi

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