Color is such a magical thing! The lack of color can bring emotions of seriousness, sadness and emptiness. An abundance of color can bring feelings of pure joy, excitement and beauty. There is a time and place to add and take away color depending on what you want to achieve in your quilting/sewing creations but for most people we can’t help but enjoy the beautiful dance color brings to our eyes when we see a colorful quilting project! Which is why I couldn’t help myself when I saw the prints in Artista fabrics! Artista is one of our newest Cur8tor collections to be added to the mix.
To celebrate my love for color and precuts I created the ‘Shine Brighter’ Strip Roll Friendly Pillow Pattern!
This beginner friendly project showcases flying geese using the corner square method, four patch blocks and a log cabin unit. It’s arranged in such a way that it looks like the colors are bursting with brightness, radiating color with the direction of the flying geese and placement of prints and color! All you need are 15 strips to create your pillow top. Follow along to the video tutorial below.
Fabric and Cutting Requirements:
Fabric A-CUR8-AR-600- 1 strip- Subcut Four (4) 2 1/2” squares
Fabric B-CUR8-AR-601- 2 strips- Subcut Eight (8) 2 1/2” squares; Eight (8) 2 1/2“ x 4 1/2” rectangles
Fabric C-CUR8-AR-602- 2 strip- Subcut Twenty (20) 2 1/2” squares
Fabric D-CUR8-AR-603- 1 Strip-Subcut Eight (8) 2 1/2” x 4 1/2” rectangles
Fabric E-CUR8-AR-604- 1 Strip- Subcut Twelve (12) 2 1/2” squares
Fabric F-CUR8-AR-605-2 strip- Subcut Twenty (20) 2 1/2” squares
Fabric G-CUR8-AR-606- 1 strip- Subcut Sixteen (16) 2 1/2” squares
Fabric H-CUR8-AR-607- 1 Strip- Subcut Four (4) 2 1/2” x 4 1/2” rectangles
Fabric I-459- Tumeric-1 Strip-Subcut Eight (8) 2 1/2” x 4 1/2” rectangles
Fabric J- PE-4391- 1 strip- Subcut Sixteen (16) 2 1/2” squares
Fabric K- FE-542- Cobaltic- 2 strips-Subcut Eight (8) 2 1/2” x 8 1/2” strips
Backing- I like to take my finish size pillow top and add 6″ inches to width to create my two envelope backing pieces, making sure there is enough coverage to keep pillow closed and secure.
Construction For 24″x 24″ Pillow:
Corner Square Method Flying Geese:
To make your flying geese take all your 2 1/2” squares from Fabric C and F and draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the fabric on the diagonal from corner to corner with a straight edge and fabric marking pen. Next take 2 1/2” x 4 1/2” rectangles from Fabric D, H, I and place one square right sides together to one side of your rectangle and pin it into place. Sew on the line you drew and trim your seam allowance to 1/4” and press open. Now place your other 2 ½” square on the other side of your rectangle and sew on the line you drew and trim your seam allowance to 1/4”. Press open to reveal your flying geese units. Make a total of the following flying geese units.
Assemble your flying geese units as follows making two of each row.
To Make the Corner Blocks:
Sew all your 2 1/2” square from Fabric G to a 2 1/2” square from Fabric J. Sew all your G,J units together to form a 4 patch block that looks like the diagram below. Make a total of 8 of these blocks.
Next sew all your 2 1/2” squares from Fabric B to a 2 1/2 “ square from Fabric E. Then sew this unit to a 2 1/2” x 4 1/2” rectangle from Fabric B to get a total of eight of these blocks.
Take 2 of each block you created and sew them together to form four blocks as follows. (Diagram Below)
Next take your remaining 2 1/2” squares from Fabric E and sew it to a 2 1/2” x 8 1/2” strip from Fabric K. Next take a 2 1/2” x 8 1/2” strip from Fabric K and sew to one side of your block then sew the other strip you created on top as follows. (Diagram below) Make four of these blocks.
Sew all your 2 1/2″ squares from Fabric A together to get a square that measures 4 1/2”.
Sew up all your units following the block design to create your pillow top and quilt as desired! I practiced my straight line quilting and made a grid like pattern.
To Make Envelope Backing:
Once you have quilted your pillow top grab two 24” x 30” rectangles and fold in half wrong sides together. Topstitch on the folded edge to secure the fold. Place each rectangle right sides together to your pillow top overlapping each other. Stitch around your entire pillow at ½”. Clip corners and flip your pillow through the envelope backing. Give your piece a nice press and insert a pillow form. Place it in a spot in your home to add a splash of color.
It was such a treat sewing up this make and creating this tutorial for you all! I hope it helped you to shine a bit brighter today! Let me know what you think in the comments below and make sure to share your Artista makes on social media using the hashtag #AGFAstista and share with your quilty friends so we all stay shining BRIGHT! :)
Happy Sewing,
Melissa