A Quilted

Family Tree Pillow

Materials:

Main Fabric – 1/2 yd or 2 fat quarters Blue Painter’s tape

Leaf Fabric - Various green scraps Sewing machine

Tree Fabric - Brown 12”x10” Walking foot

Printable fuse-on fabric sheet Zipper foot

14” coil zipper Rotary cutter and mat

Cotton or fusible batting 17”x17” 6”x24” ruler

Muslin 17”x17” Iron

16” square pillow Straight pins

Fusible web Basting Spray

Thread to sew and for applique/quilting

Approximate Finished Size: 16” x 16”

The information in this pattern is presented in good faith. Every effort has been taken to assure the accuracy herein.

Copyright©2020 Sally Silliman

Print:

Print out small 1”x1-1/2” pictures of people to placed on the tree or print out names/birth dates to fit in 1-1/2”x 1” ovals (see pattern pieces) on the printable fuse-on fabric sheet. To save materials try to print multiples on a sheet.

Follow the printed fuse-on fabric manufacturer’s instructions.

Cut:

From the Main Fabric cut – 1 (one) 17”x17” for the front and 2 (two) 17”x9-1/8” for the back.

Appliques:

Trace tree parts onto fusible web matching the edges to create one piece. Cut out leaving at least 1/4” margins around the lines. Following the manufacturer’s instruction, fuse to the wrong side of the brown fabric and cut out on the lines.

Trace leaf patterns onto fusible web. Cut out leaving at least 1/4” margins around the lines. Following the manufacturer’s instruction, fuse to wrong side of green fabrics, cut out on the lines. Make approximately 16-20 leaves depending on how many people you are putting “in” your tree, more people less leaves.

Arrange the tree parts and the leaves on the 17”x17” piece of fabric, center 2” from the bottom and fuse.

Arrange the people on and around the tree and fuse following the manufacturer’s instructions.

Quilting:

Layer the muslin, batting, and tree piece. Spray baste or pin in place. Machine applique the pieces starting with the tree, then the leaves, and finally the people. Use a walking foot to prevent slippage. Use either a narrow loose zigzag, a narrow blanket stitch, or straight stitch close to the edges. Optional: Add additional stitching to the tree to give the trunk texture.

Zipper:

Using a 1/2” seam allowance, stitch the 2 long sides of the remaining cut pieces in 1” on both sides, back tacking. Baste the rest of the seam. Press the seam open.

Lay the zipper right side down over the seam and center between the 1” sewn ends. Hold in place with a couple of pieces of Blue Painter’s tape.

Using a zipper foot, stitch the zipper in place. Remove the tape and cut open the basted part of the seam.

Assembly:

Open the zipper. Placing right sides together, stitch around the outside using a ½” seam allowance. Trim the corners on a diagonal.

Turn right side out and push out corners with the eraser end of a pencil or a chop stick.

Insert the pillow form and you are done!