Hip To Be Square Pillow Tutorial

I love layer cakes. I love those beautiful bundles of gorgeous 10" squares, all coordinated and stacked beautifully. I love that I can have a little piece of every fabric from a new designers range in a handy bundle. 







I had a few layer cake squares in my fabric basket which were left over from a quilt project I worked on last year (or perhaps even the year before). I joined the 'It's Cool to be Square' blog hop, hosted by Carol of Just Let Me Quilt and thought it would be fun to somehow play with layer cake squares. You know, in keeping with the 'square' theme.


I experimented with my idea of square in a square in a square by stacking two of the 10" squares.


I cut (2) 2" x 10" rectangles from the side of the square and then turned 90 degrees and cut another (2) 2" x 6" rectangles from the bottom of the remaining layer cake.




I then put these pieces aside and from that remaining square, I cut (2) 1" x 6" rectangles from one side. And then went 90 degrees and cut another (2) 1" x 4" rectangles.


Still with me?




These are all of the pieces laid out on the cutting mat. I hope they make sense.


Anyways, as I'd stacked two layer cake squares to start with, from this point, I swapped out the 1" rectangles with the ones underneath and began to sew. We'll call these Fabric 1 and Fabric 2.

Sew the Fabric 2 rectangles around that central (Fabric 1) square. Trim and press.

Then sew the Fabric 1 rectangles (same as the centre fabric) right around the block. Trim and press.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy, right?

Do the same for the remaining fabric and you end up with two blocks without too much effort or brain strain. I'm calling these my 'Square in a square in a square' blocks. 





I had a few more pieces of the layer cake remaining so I found a little bit of yardage that had nice coordinating colours and cut out a few more 10" squares.

I ended up making 9 of these square in a square in a square blocks.




I layered up some batting and quilted the piece on my machine with straight lines, using the seams as a guide. I then added some fun hand quilting with perle 8 cotton in a lovely delicate cream colour for extra texture.

I finished this huge pillow off with an envelope style back. This project is the perfect size for a European pillow insert. I bought mine from Ikea, but I'm sure they're a standard size which can be bought anywhere you'd buy pillow or cushion inserts.

It's been super cold and wet and windy today, so I ran out this afternoon for a quick photo shoot. Brrrrrr it's cold out there.




If you decide to make a #HipToBeSquarePillow project, I'd absolutely love to see it.

Thanks to Carol for hosting this fun blog hop. Don't forget to check out all of the other square projects which have been shared so far this week as well as my fellow Friday makers.


32 comments

  1. Gorgeous cushion Anorina! I can see a lovely quilt made with this pattern too!

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  2. Beautiful fabrics give a beautiful pillow case. I love it. Thanks for the tutorial.

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  3. What a beautiful pillow! Thanks so much for the tutorial too.

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  4. Beautiful pillow! Thanks for sharing the instructions!

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  5. Great pillow and those fabrics are wonderful! Nice tutorial too, thanks.

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  6. Wonderful pillow in gorgeous fabrics!

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  7. What a beautiful way to use a layer cake. Your pillow turned out absolutely stunning (and very cool, too!) Your tutorial makes it look so easy. Thank you for being such a cool blog hopper and sharing your talent!

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  8. What a fun pillow in design and fabric choices! Thanks for the tutorial.

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  9. What a beautiful pillow. Love the pattern and the fabrics. Me too, I love having all the fabrics in a collection when you buy those pre-cuts. Thank you.

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  10. Ohhh...I love those skinny squares. That really give it a fun look. Great way to use some "strings" too! I'm going to have to play with your tutorial! Thanks.

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  11. What a great square in a square in a square block. I gotta go try it. Thanks so much for sharing the cutting info with us. The pillow turned out amazing.

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  12. Thanks for sharing this lovely pillow.

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  13. Oh Anorina, every thing you make is incredibly beautiful
    I love this pillow. You are really inspiring.

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  14. I posted a layer cake slice and dice type tutorial on my blog not too long ago. Will DEFINITELY have to try your design!! Thanks for sharing with the Hop.

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  15. Very pretty pillow! Nice choice of colours! The simple squares are perfect for this blog hop!

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  16. Looks great Anorina. I have put this on the "to do list".

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  17. What a fun pillow, and a great way to display those last few squares from your layer cake. Thanks for sharing!

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  18. That is a cute cushion and a well explained tutorial.

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  19. Such a pretty pillow! I love the simplicity of the blocks and how it becomes completely complex with contrasting fabrics. Lovely finish!

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  20. Love it and a great tut....

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  21. I love layer cakes too and i totally love what you have made with it... I can see this as a wonderful quilt also.... now to find a lovely bold layer cake so I can make one.... great design... and thanks for sharing the tutorial...
    Hugz

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  22. What a fun way to use layer cakes! Thank you for the tutorial and for inviting us over for a visit.

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  23. Hi Anorina wow i love this i hope to make a couple soon,thankyou for the tutorial,hope your day is a good one my friend xx

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  24. Gorgeous pillow. Love the way there is no wastage with the cutting. Great result.

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  25. So cute pillow. Thanks for the tutorial
    marie-francoise from France

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  26. Very pretty. Hope you made more than one - to avoid fights between family members :-p
    I am sure everyone will want one!!!

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  27. Cute! Thanks for the tutorial! The only layer cake I have Christmas-y. But I could do Christmas in July! Yes I could!

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  28. I'm making this pattern in a baby quilt for my new granddaughter. I'm very excited about the pattern as I think it is very feminine without being to babish.

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  29. Fun pillow! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish.

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  30. I love your pillow. I love your blog! I will be back to visit often.

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  31. Anorina, I just love this! I can’t believe I haven’t seen it before! Thank goodness for Pinterest!

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