Crimson Christmas Scraps!

Well, would you look at that?! This week, I took inspiration from an older project and made a new poinsettia pillow using scraps left over from Crimson Christmas! Below is the original blog post and pillow I made in sweet spring pinks. I followed the same process, only this time in Christmas colors, and I am in love with it!!

It’s time to change out the snowflake throw pillows in my living room, now that we are well into spring, haha! This week, I had the idea to make a 3D flower pillow to add some pretty spring blossoms to my pillow collection.

I like to use up scraps any way I can, so I dug around to find the palest pink scraps in my stash. I didn’t have enough of any one shade, but that makes for an even more lifelike flower. I plan to shade my petals from lightest to darkest.

I cut three different petal sizes out of paper. I made 12 large, 6 medium, and 6 small ones. You can print my petal templates here.

Place your lightest outer petal colors, right sides together, and trace twelve sets of the largest petals. Repeat this process with six sets of medium petals of a slightly darker shade(s). Finally, trace six sets of the smallest petals of the darkest shade(s) you use.

Stitch on the two curved sides, pivoting at the point, backstitching at the flat bottom edge (leave the flat bottom open for turning).

Cut out each petal with ⅛” seam allowance so the edges aren’t too bulky.

Turn each petal right side out, poking out the pointed end with a point turner or other semi-sharp tool. I finger-pressed each petal at this point. I didn’t want to crush the petals super flat by using an iron, and finger pressing worked beautifully!

I quilted up a pillow front panel with my go-to straight lines, and without taking it off my longarm, I started adding petals. You could do this with a domestic machine in a similar fashion if you dropped your feed dogs and used the darning foot (free-motion foot). Here, you can see the first six large petals ready to stitch.

For my Christmas one, I decided to quilt with red thread and make a sort of ticking stripe pattern in the background. I also switched out three of the first six petals for green "leaves" instead of all red petals.

I stitched down the flat edge of each and then did a curvy line up the middle, leaving the last inch or so unstitched. This is where those soft finger-pressed edges really show well.

I added another set of six large petals, overlapping just a little and making the opening in the center of the flower a little smaller. I stitched these petals down in the same way as the first set.

Now for the medium petals. You can see these overlap much more, and the opening in the middle is getting pretty small. I stitched these down the same way as before. I was surprised that it didn’t feel all that bulky. I suppose the staggering of the petals is the key to lightening the bulk.

Now for the final set of petals. These are the smallest petals, and I decided to add a little fold to the flat edge of each one. For these, I just stitched the flat edge with its fold down and did not stitch up the middle.

My Christmas version is taking form :)

Because of that little fold, these petals curled over a little and lay against the others. I was debating if I should hand-tack the outer tips down to hold them in place, but so far they look great as is!

For the center, I decided on a fabric-covered button. I love doing these, they are so easy, and they make such a nice finishing touch. You could use a cute decorative button or any embellishment to cover the center opening.

I hand-stitched the covered button down and added my backing to the pillow. The flower came out about 12” across. I made the pillow cover to fit an 18” form.

And here it is! This year's first Christmas pillow to add to my collection. 

Happy Sunday, everyone,

Krista

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