Have you seen Betz White’s new Juxtaposey fabric collection? We seriously can’t get enough of it. The vibrant colors and fun, international motifs were practically calling out my name – especially those llamas, I mean, just LOOK at those llamas!
I am a sucker for one-of-a-kind, yet simple projects. With that in mind, I decided to make a few zipper pillows. These three pillows are all quilted – I am a big fan of quilting the pillow covers I make because the quilting gives them added structure and durability.
The first pillow I made was by far the most time consuming, only because it took a little math to get the measurements right. I fussy cut the little llama motif (did I mention I love the llamas?) and framed it in Riley Blake WATERFALL. I then added another thin border in Riley Blake WHITE. The half square triangles were made using Riley Blake solids in RILEY TEAL, BEAR LAKE, WATERFALL, BLEACHED DENIM, PEAR, RILEY LIME, OLIVE and RILEY NAVY.
For the quilting on this pillow, I placed a layer of batting behind the pillow front, and used navy blue thread to stitch first along the diagonal lines, about 1/8″ inside the diagonal of the navy triangles. Then I did the same, going vertically and then horizontally.
For the pillow back, I used THIS TECHNIQUE to add the zipper. I love how it gives the exposed zipper installation a clean, professional look. Did you know we have YKK zippers that are custom dyed to match our Riley Blake fabric colors? YES! We really do! You can get them with metal or polyester teeth. Take a look at our zipper offerings HERE, and be sure to contact your local quilt shop about carrying them.
For the second pillow front, I opted to simply go with a whole cloth look because the blue tonal print was just perfect all on it’s own. I stitched straight lines of differing widths on a diagonal for the quilting, skipping over the embroidered design. Again, I place a layer of batting behind the pillow front and quilt the 2 layers. This is what gives the pillows a solid, substantial feel to them.
Of course, when I see llamas and alpacas, I think of the bright colors of South American textiles, so I decided to add a hint of that with some very basic embroidery – basic as in, “I stitched this up while sitting at soccer practice.”
I am a complete beginner when it comes to embroidery, so if I can do this, you certainly can, too!
For the third pillow, I again used whole cloth, with the addition of a 2″ gingham border. I just LOVE how the black and white GINGHAM looks against the chartreuse floral print.
I like my pillow covers to have a snug fit, so I cut the fabric measurements the SAME as the pillow. For example, the fabric I cut for the pillow front of this 20″x20″ pillow was also 20″x20″. For the back, I cut a 6″x20″ piece and a 14″x20″ piece. I used the same zipper method mentioned earlier for each or the pillows. For pillows, I use a 1/2″ seam allowance. If you haven’t done this before, you may be nervous that cutting the fabric the same as the pillow dimensions would make it too small, but trust me, the pillow has fit every time, and you end up with a super nice, puffy pillow. I prefer to use a DOWN PILLOW INSERT. They seem to hold their shape and last longer at our house.
The quilting on this pillow front was just straight vertical lines. I followed the design lines on the print and on the gingham. Easy as that!
What are YOU making with Juxtaposey? Show us your work on Instagram using #juxtaposey #rileyblakedesigns
You can view Betz White’s complete Juxtaposey fabric collection HERE.
