May 15, 2018

University of Utah Pillow Pattern


This is a very funny post for me to be writing. A while back, my sister in law asked me to make a University of Utah pillow for her son. It felt a little wrong to do so, considering I graduated from their rival school BYU, ha! I don't care about sports though, and truly it wasn't a big deal. So I made the pillow and on we went. Well funny enough- my nephew ended up switching sides and becoming a BYU fan, much to his father's horror. We are pretty sure this decision had something to do with a certain girl :) Anyway, since I went through the trouble of figuring out the math for this spiffy little U, I figured I'd share it with those who care before I delete the files from my computer and move on from this strange little episode in my life. So here you go U fans! A pillow for your making pleasure. That's probably about two people who read this blog, if even. I suppose the only other parties this would interest would be those with names starting with U, another very small group. I am cracking myself up today.


From red fabric, cut:
A- 4" square
B- (2) 1.5" squares
C- 3.5" x 4.5"
D- (2) 5.5" x 2.5"
E- (2) 3.5" x 8.5"

From white fabric, cut:
A- 4" square
F- 4.5" x 8.5"
G- (2) 3.5" x 2.5"
H- 2.5" x 2.25"
I- (2) 11.5" x 4.5"
J- (2) 3" x 18.25"

I recommend Alpha Bitties for this project to keep track of your pieces!

Start by placing the A white and red pieces together and sewing 2 HST units. See this tutorial on making HSTs if you've never done it. I like method 2 the best! Trim to 3.5" each.

Now draw a diagonal line across the 2 B pieces, place them in the lower corners of the F piece, and sew along the lines. Trim 1/4" away and press out.

You are ready to sew all the pieces into horizontal rows as shown. Press toward the red wherever possible. Then sew the rows together, centering, and press again. Trim to an 18.25" square if needed.
I quilted mine with a diagonal grid, backed it in Volume II gingham by Sweetwater for Moda, and bound it in Bonnie and Camille Basics red bias stripe. Here you can find a tutorial for how I like to add zippers and binding to pillows. There is also a zippered pillow tutorial on my Instagram that doesn't include binding, as well as other tips and tricks for pillow making.  


I really hope that is useful to someone out there, and now I can move on! :) Hope you're all having a happy May. We've almost made it to summer, hurrah!