Turn your applique project into a cozy pillow with the right stuff

It’s time for the big reveal and see how easy it is to finish the Snow Crystals Hexie Pillow designed by Christine Baker and available at Upper Canada Quiltworks. I must say, this was a nice relaxing project to do over the holidays, and the final step to transform the wool applique into a warm and cozy pillow was just a breeze.

Time for the big reveal of the Snow Crystals Hexie Pillow

In yesterday’s post, I showed you how to blanket stitch the hexagons onto the wool background. Now let’s get to the final step and finish the pillow. For this part, I chose a fat quarter in cotton fabric for the backing. I felt it was just perfect to go along with the mood of a warm and cozy winter day at the cottage. I love the accent the fabric gives on the back of the project and matches the colors perfectly.

Finishing the Snow Crystals Hexie Pillow

To finish the pillow, I pulled out some of my favorite quilting tools.

• OLFA Quick Change Rotary Cutter
• Omnigrip Ruler – 20½″ x 20½″
• Gütermann Cotton 50wt Thread 100m – Beige

Thanks to my Omnigrip ruler, it was simple to trim my backing and wool applique to 13’’ x 18’’. All that was left to do was to sew my pillow right sides together by machine, leaving an opening on the bottom for turning. I used my sewing machine and kept the ¼’’ foot to sew the project and then switched to the regular foot for a quick zigzag to make the pillow sturdier.

But if you prefer finishing the project with wool fabric, you could also position your fabrics wrong sides together and blanket stitch the edges. I also clipped the corners slightly to reduce bulk before turning the pillow over and pressing the seams.

Poly-fil is the perfect solution to finish your pillow, whatever the size.

I left a 4’’ opening to insert some Fairfield Poly-Fil Premium Fiber Fill. As mentioned in my blog post How to make a custom filler for the oversized Diamond Hexagon cushion, this is my new best friend! I am still using what’s left of the 10-pound box I got last year which made it a very good investment. And I love the feel of the cushion with this filler. It’s dense and keeps its shape. Once I was satisfied with the amount of fill in the pillow, I hand stitched to close off the pillow.

I hope you enjoyed following this week’s project as I introduced you to wool applique with a simple warm and cozy pillow. Hope you give this project a try as it was just the best to help me relax over the holidays. Now every time I use it, it reminds me to find my inner peace.

Namaste

This is part 5 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 4: A beginner’s guide to blanket stitch wool applique (tutorial)

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