Yesterday I showed you how to use some 10″ fabric squares along with Therm Fleece to make some attractive and useful bowl cozies.

Bowl cozies from 10″ fabric squares and Therm Fleece
Today’s project is another one that will help you use up some of your fabric stash and create a bench pillow that will be perfect for both inside and outside use.

Bench pillow
The bench pillow form I used is 16″ x 38″ and is available in fabric and craft stores.

Bench cushion form
I used fabrics from Northcott Banyan Batiks collection for my bench pillow cover.

Banyan Batiks fabrics
materials
- ½ yd [.4m] focus fabric; I used a large floral print
- ½ yd [.4m] accent fabric (bright green); this is used for the pillow front and the corded edge
- ¾ yd [.7m] background fabric
- 1 yd [.9m] pillow back; I used the focus fabric with the large floral print
- 120″ of cording. I used a soft, ½” diameter cotton cording.
cutting instructions
-
accent fabric 2 – 1½” x WOF (width of fabric, approximately 40″)
- background fabric 3 – 8½” x WOF
- focus fabric 2 – 6½” x WOF
- for ease of handling, cut the WOF strips in half so they measure approximately 20″.
Let’s start sewing!
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Make a strip set using 2 background strips, 1 accent strip and 1 focus fabric strip.
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Press seams in one direction. Press carefully so you don’t distort the strip set.
- Cut the strip set into 2½” segments. You’ll get 8 segments from the strip set.
- Make 2 more strip sets like this and cut them into 2½” segments. You need 19 – 2½” segments for the pillow top, so you’ll only need to cut 3 segments from the last strip set. Keep the rest of the strip set for another project – maybe a smaller pillow?

Strip set cut into 2½” segments
Come back tomorrow and learn how to re-arrange the strips to create your own original pillow top!
This is part 3 of 5 in this series.
Go back to part 2: 5 easy steps to finish your bowl cozy
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8 comments
Very cool. I love the bargello look to it.
Thanks Cathie
This would be an awesome pillow for my porch swing!
What a great idea…might get me to relax OUTSIDE a bit more!
I just love your bench pillow…so adorable. I love making those cozies as well…yours are great!
Thanks Barbara. Glad you are enjoying these projects.
Beautiful pillow! Thank you for sharing your inspiration!
You are welcome Linda. It’s always fun to share ideas!