State-shape Embroidered Pillows

Finally, I am back to blogging! Feels good. I felt like we had a busy spring, and I totally put the blog on the back burner. Sorry! I have lots to catch you up on. Many projects, pillows, a mini master bedroom update, a finished yoyo quilt, and too many Birch Boxes to count!

This State pillow set was a wedding gift for a dear friend. I knew that they would love anything with their much-loved home state on it, and this is what I came up with. I wanted to keep the colors neutral so they had a better chance of matching their existing decor.  These pillows were a lot of fun, and I learned some new things, like a new transfer method. Yay!

The fabric I used I bought from a remnants bin at Joannes (surprise, surprise). It was from their home decor line, and I new it would hold the embroidery well.

I started by planning out my design on the computer. I made the document 14"x14", the same as the pillows, so I knew my design would fit and use the space well. I then printed out the design in tiles and taped the pages together.  I made sure to measure everything again just to make sure it came out the right size.

I cut a piece of Fuse-N-Tear and traced my design on it with a soft pencil. Make sure you are drawing on the side that will get glued down, so when you iron it the design will be mirrored. This also traps the pencil line so the graphite doesn't smear while you work. The Fuse-N-Tear worked great as a guide to my design and helped strengthen the fabric throughout the sewing.

I was using an embroidery hoop to stitch in the design and stabilizer does not fit comfortably into the bind of the hoop. So, I cut the design, using my hoop as a guide, so I could stitch the design in hoop-sized pieces. 

I ironed on the first quadrant and began stitching. I used a chain stitch (my fave!) for the outline and a backstitch for detail. After I was done, I ironed on the next quadrant and continued stitching.

You can see in pictures above how I matched up the lines and edges of the two pieces. I continued sewing all the remaining pieces.

I wanted to make the heart a little different, so I used some patterned fabric as an accent. I cut the heart out of my original print-off, and cut a small piece of the accent fabric. I tried my best to fold and iron so the heart had clean edges. I then stitched the heart-shaped fabric onto the pillow with embroidery floss.

I used the same method on the other pillow. Using a printed-off design, making a guide out of the Fuse-N-Tear, and stitching in the design.

I sewed the rest of the pillow using the envelop method (The same as the Star Wars pillows). I used patterned fabric on the back to make it more fun.

I then put the pillows in their cases and they were ready to go!

I loved the way they turned out. I would like to make more and change up the design using different colored floss and fabric.

Thanks for checking out my post! Make sure to check back soon. More pillow posts to come.