52 Projects by Night: Project #2: Sew a Pillow Quilt (Quillow Pilt!)

When I was in elementary school, my grandmother made all seven of her grandkids pillow quilts for Christmas one year. They came as cute pillows with decorated fronts. These pillows unfolded into a cozy, soft blanket. And the bonus was that the pillow "pocket" served as a great foot warmer in cooler weather.

I took my pillow quilt with me everywhere--on road trips, on the couch, etc. And I still have and use it today. When we were younger, my brother and I often got tongue-tied trying to say "pillow quilt" and it often came out as "quillow pilt." Well, the name stuck in our family! We all have our own quillow pilts now and love them. They make perfect gifts for all ages. In fact, this year, all my nieces and nephews are getting handmade pillow quilts from me! I'd better get busy!

I made my second project by night this weekend. It's the first of my pillow quilts--one for my daughter. I think I could have done it in a single night, except I needed some extra supplies, and of course the cloth store isn't open at 11:00 p.m. I also think the pillow front took me more time, as I tried to decide exactly what to put on it. If I'd had an idea going into the project of what it was to look like, I probably wouldn't have wasted so much time just playing around and trying different things.

I'm rating this project as easy. The only real difficulty in this project is not the sewing itself. It arises in dealing with sewing such a large piece of fabric. It also stems from the level of complexity you choose to take on with decorating the front of your pillow. Otherwise, this is a very easy, straight-forward project! Enjoy, and be sure to share your own experiences and pictures making your "quillow pilts!"

Sew a Pillow Quilt

Materials Needed:

2-1/2" yards of 45”-wide, 100% cotton fabric ("Fabric X")
2-1/2" yards of coordinating 45”-wide, 100% cotton fabric ("Fabric Y")
2-1/2" yards 45"-wide (or wider) quilter's batting (light or medium weight)
Coordinating thread
(Optional) Remnants, ribbon, rick rack, buttons, etc. for decorating front of pillow

Cost: $20 - $30
Time to Complete: Two Nights
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Instructions:

Cut the following pieces:

2 yards Fabric X (finished size: 72” x 45”)
2 yards Fabric Y (finished size: 72” x 45”)
2 yards batting (finished size: 72” x 45”)
18" x 18" Fabric X
18" x 18" Fabric Y
18" x 18" batting

(Optional) Decorate the 18" x 18" piece of Fabric X as desired. Note that larger items should not be placed within the outer 2" of the square for seam allowances. (I appliqued a letter on this one using the same technique as described in this post about appliquing a t-shirt. I simply used MS Word to print the outline of a letter on an 8.5" x 11" letter sheet of paper, which became my pattern.)
Place the 18" x 18" piece of Fabric X against the 18" x 18" piece of Fabric Y, with right sides together. Place the 18" x 18" piece of batting on the back of Fabric Y. Match and pin all edges.
Sew all thicknesses together, using a 5/8" seam and leaving a 6" gap at the middle of the top edge of the pillow. (I used my serger in this picture, which made the seams a lot less bulky in the end!)
Turn right sides out. Press, easing seam out along edges.
Press under 5/8" of Fabric X and Fabric Y along 6" gap. Tuck batting underneath one fold of fabric. Pin. Edge stitch to close.
Place the 2 yards of Fabric X against the 2 yards of Fabric Y, with right sides together. Place the 2 yards of batting on the back of Fabric Y. Match and pin all edges.
Sew all thicknesses together, using a 5/8" seam and leaving a 10" gap at the middle of one of the short ends of the quilt.
Turn right sides out. Press, easing seam out along edges.
Press under 5/8" of Fabric X and Fabric Y along 10" gap. Tuck batting underneath one fold of fabric. Pin. Edge stitch to close.
To quilt blanket:

Place the pillow, face down, on the right side of Fabric Y. (Fabric Y should be showing on the back of the pillow.) The pillow should be centered, left to right, on the blanket and flush left with the end that was edge stitched (see Step 10 above). The top of the pillow design should be along the edge-stitched edge of the blanket. Pin.
Measure the distance from the edge of the pillow to the outer edge of the blanket. Add 1/4". This is your quilting distance.
Measure, mark, and pin (through all thicknesses) the quilting distance down both sides (long edges) of the blanket. This will result in two stitching guides.
Stitch two straight lines along the stitching guides from the top of the blanket (including on top of the pillow) to the bottom (lengthwise). You may want to use a slightly longer stitch length to compensate for the extra thickness.

Sew top of pillow to edge of blanket, using a 1/4" seam allowance. The bottom of the pillow (facing toward blanket center) should not be sewn to the blanket.
To fold pillow quilt:

Turn blanket pillow-side down. Fold blanket in thirds lengthwise, along stitching.
Fold over about 8" of blanket (non-pillow end).
Fold blanket into squares (roughly thirds) towards pillow end.
Tuck blanket into pillow and fluff to form.

UPDATE: And now I've made five pillow quilts for nieces and nephews for Christmas. Check out these beautiful fabrics from JoAnn's, Walmart, and Hancock's: