I love leftovers! Especially fabric leftovers.
My Christmas project this year used seven leftover tree blocks from my “A Home in the Forest” wall quilt, patchwork rectangles, batting with hand quilting, and red piping to make an pillow cover. I quilted little tree shapes on some of the patchwork squares.
Making my own piping was worth the extra steps. I wanted to match the binding on my “A Home in the Forest” wall quilt.
I cut 1 and 1/2 inch bias strips and encased the clothesline cord using the machine’s zipper foot.
Then I moved my needle closer to the piping and sewed it to the quilted front of the pillow. The edge of the fabric on the piping has to be clipped as you come to the corners to help the piping lie flat when you make the sharp turns.
Lastly, I put the two pieces for the envelope back face down (wrong side up) on top of the pillow front and moved my needle all the way to the left to get as close to the piping as possible. In this step you can’t actually see the piping, but you can feel and see the raised ridge it makes.
My completed top before sewing front and back together was 14 and 1/2 inches to fit a 14 inch square pillow form. I cut the fabric for the back 20 inches long to allow for the overlap, then cut it in half and hemmed both sides.
In hindsight, I should have arranged the squares differently and added a tree block to the middle row so that a tree would be the focal point in the center instead of the two patchwork squares. With the chubbiness of the pillow form the bottom trees aren’t as visible. Oh, well. I don’t want to take it apart. I was thinking about appliqueing a tree to the center. Maybe I will give it a try before putting it away because I feel it needs a “fix” to be artistically pleasing. Do you agree or am I being obsessive?
Unlike most of my sewing, I was more process oriented than product oriented when making this pillow. It was fun, relaxing, and soothing to create.
The tree blocks are from Amy Smart, who writes the blog “Diary of a Quilter”. She wrote tutorials for both a small size block and a larger size for big quilts. This is a fun block to make as the cuts to make the tree are done freehand instead of by measuring. You can’t go wrong!
Thank you for reading along this year on my sewing and crafting journey. I appreciate your comments and encouragement as I try to improve my sewing and write posts that are interesting for you to read.
Happy New Year!
Stitch It Again 
I think you’re being a little obsessive, by my standards, but you should fix it, if it bothers you! It wouldn’t be terrible difficult to applique one small tree, would it? I love the piping–it adds the perfect touch!
I’m usually in the “leave well enough alone” camp, but I think I’ll play around with it a little more and see if I come up with something I like.
I think an appliques tree in the center would give it another “dimension”. Good idea! Love the cozy, warm beauty of your tree projects.
I’m working on it. Hand sewing at home on a rainy day.