Sew Solid Sunday #7!

Smooth Sailing

Welcome back to another Sew Solid Sunday!  I had so much fun making this month’s project!  Going into last week, I had another project in mind for today, but it wasn’t working out like I’d hoped. So I was trying to decide whether to go ahead with it or not.  (You know how sometimes you hate a project when you are in the middle of it and then when you finish it, you love it again?)

Friday morning I was looking for my graph paper for another project (not Sew Solid Sunday) and I stumbled across this sketch I did several months ago.  It yelled at me – “I am perfect for a summer Sew Solid Sunday!”  So I listened 🙂

I mean how can you go wrong with the classic cool of blue and white in the summer time?  In another bit of serendipity, I also happened to have some scraps left from a Kona True Blue color story bundle.  I used seven darks from that bundle and added a bit of Navy from my stash.  And I always have plenty of Kona White on hand.  Bonus – a total scrap/stash project!

Here is what I did for this 16″ Smooth Sailing pillow:
Cut one 3″ square from 8 different dark blues

From the white (you will need 11 usable inches x WOF), cut:
1 3″ strip, 2 2½” strips and 2 1½” strips (all WOF)
subcut these to:
8  3″ white squares
12  2½” white squares
3  2½” x 14½” strips
2  1½” x 14½” strips
2  1½” x 16½” strips

Match a 3″ blue square with a 3″ white square and make a half square triangle (HST) block.  Repeat with the remaining 3″ squares to finish with 16 HST blocks.  Trim to 2½” square.

Lay out a row with four HST blocks, placing three white 2½” squares in between them.  Sew together for one row.  Repeat to make four rows.

Sew the 2½” x 14½” white strips between the rows.  Then sew the 1½” x 14½” strips to the sides of the pillow and the 1½” x 16½” strips to the top and bottom.

Layer your pillow top with a backing and batting and quilt as desired.  

I quilted my pillow with straight lines and made a zippered back.  You can find my tutorial on how to make a back with a covered zipper here.

I thought about binding the pillow in dark blue, but decided to let the blue “sailboats” keep all the attention instead of sharing it with the binding, so I just sewed the front and back right sides together and turned the pillow right side out.

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5 Comments
  • 333HB
    Posted at 03:18h, 14 July Reply

    Love, Love this pillow! So fresh and lovely! Great work!!!

  • Anne
    Posted at 18:03h, 13 July Reply

    A fun summery looking pillow. Makes me want to go boating. Now if only I had a boat and a lake nearby. Clearly I don't know the right people. I'm linking up a post that I wanted to add to last month's Sew Solid Sunday but didn't get done in time.

  • Jayne
    Posted at 15:30h, 13 July Reply

    Gorgeous and a perfect summer pillow! Love the blue and white combination.
    I know exactly what you mean about being in the middle of a project that feels 'wrong'! After fighting through the doubts and making yourself finish, there is usally a little more satisfaction at the end when it turns out great!

  • Sharon
    Posted at 13:57h, 13 July Reply

    I Love blue and white!

  • Ellyn
    Posted at 12:49h, 13 July Reply

    I love this pillow! thanks for your tutorial.

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