Fabric Pillow Sleeve from Dozen Squares Designs

If you have purchased any of 

the Dozen Squares Quilt Block designs 

from Silhouette America's online store 

and wish to create a fabric pillow sleeve like the July design pictured here, 

this tutorial will provide cutting measurements and overview construction.

These are the elements needed. August is illustrated as the completed A panel. Substitute the completed month design of your choice. B-F and ribbon tie sizes will be the same for any design from the series. You only need to create one G pillow, since the different sleeves are replaced for each new month's display.

Reduce the center panel size from the cut file from 7" (original file) to 5", (reduce at 71%) making sure to preserve the ratio of all elements.


Choose colors to coordinate with your selected month design. Sample pillow is created from natural (muslin) "sandcastle" pre-quilt look fabric, or use actual pre-quilted muslin.

CUTTING SIZES
All seams should be sewn at 1/4". 
Measurements here include 1/4" seam allowances 
on cut edges to be included in seams.
A  5 1/2" x 5 1/2"
B(2) 7/8" x 5 1/2"
C(2) 7/8" x 6 1/4"
D(2) 1 3/4" x 6 1/4"
E(2) 1 3/4" x 8 3/4"
F back 8 1/2" x 8 3/4"
G pillow (1) 12 3/4" wide x 17" tall
     -OR- (2) 12 3/4" x 8 3/4"
Facing muslin strips (2) 2" x 17"
Ribbon ties (4) 1 1/4" wide x 12 1/2"

CONSTRUCTION
1. Complete the applique for A center panel.
2. Join B & C narrow, D & E outer borders to A panel in order. 
Press seams outward after each is stitched.
3. Join F back to upper edge of front assembly; press seam toward F.
4. Find and mark center of E and F sides (shown on illust. above as hashmark).
Center one ribbon straight cut end over the mark, with raw edges of panel and ribbon aligned, ribbon laying on top of the assembly. Pin or baste across ends.
5. With pillow/back panel laying "open" or flat, face side up, position long edge of facing strip along side edges, raw edges aligned. Join with a 1/4" seam, catching ribbon ties securely between. Press seam toward facing strips, then fold facings behind panel assembly and press. Open facings flat again.
6. With face side inside, fold and bring together front and back bottom edges. Match up facing seam allowances of each layer and pin. Stitch across, backstitching at seam ends. Press seam open, then turn pillow face side out, fold facings to the inside.
7. Prepare pillow by folding face side(s) together, stitching aligned edges, leaving a turning and stuffing opening along the top/bottom edge (hidden when sleeve is in place. Turn, stuff, close opening with neat hand stitching.
8. Insert pillow through sleeve opening. Tie ribbons neatly at sides (trim ribbon ends in "snake tongue" points, if desired). 

If you would like an emailed copy of this text, please email me with a request for the "Dozen Squares Fabric Pillow Sleeve" Instruction Sheet. Email: hearthsewnpatterns@yahoo .

Dozen Squares Paper Quilt Blocks Display Suggestions

The "Dozen Squares" quilt blocks have recently become available 

from the SnapDragon Snippets design team 

through the online store at Silhouette America. 

"Dozen" refers to the fact that the collection includes 

one quilt block design for each of the 12 months.

If you have been interested in this set of designs, 

but aren't sure how to include them in your decor, here are some ideas. 

Select one you like best, then you are ready 

for a full year of sharing your paper (or fabric) creations!

The first display version is a wonderful tabletop easel that is made from wood components. It comes from staff designer Whitney at the Wood Connection Crafts in Midvale, Utah. (For more information about this project, click here, then scroll down to "Chic Multipurpose Block".)

Here I have displayed the April block connected to it's month label panel, with ribbon knot tails at top. It is held in place with strong magnet discs attached to its backside that attract to the metal plate on the easel. (NOTE: the cut file for each variation in this post is scaled smaller to fit the particular display treatment shown.)

This picture shows the display piece by itself. The block with finial, candle stick, wood applique and routed oval are joined, painted and distressed, with metal plate glued in place on the front. Another variation replaces the metal plate and magnet discs with a square of cork so the blocks can be pinned in place like a bulletin board.

My next variation is a cute tabletop wire frame from Ackfeld Wire Co. I used sheer ribbon ties threaded through the block's top hole punches to tie the block to the top of the frame. Frame details: item no. 88027, 6x6 fringed single stand in text linen (creamy white). Find this frame at www.ackfeldwire.com.














Or follow this link http://ackfeldwire.com/product_info.php?products_id=1000055 for the specific wire stand used here.

This side shot gives a better idea of how the wire frame 
actually looks and works.

The final display idea for this post is a fabric version. July's square is cut from Silhouette fabric interfacing (fusible web), assembled as a block, then fused to the front fabric panel of the sleeve (or fabric tube with muslin-faced side edges and ribbon on front and back at each end). For this version, I used the "July" tag from the Docket quilt block, but you could get creative to use the "July" from the lower panel of the Dozen block, too. The sleeve is placed over a stuffed muslin "quilted" pillow.

The sleeve is removable, so that when one month is done, the ribbon tie at one end is loosened to allow the sleeve to be removed. Then the new month's sleeve is replaced. Only one pillow needed for all twelve months.

Here is a closeup of the pillow with sleeve.

(If you would like more specific information about how I made my sleeve, dimensions, ribbon length, etc., email a request for "Dozen Squares Sleeve fact sheet" to hearthsewnpatterns@yahoo.com.)



At least one more idea for using this series of "quilt block" designs will be presented in a later post. Hope this gets your imagination and creativity flowing!