Wonky Christmas Tree Pillow Tutorial
This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share a commission.The Wonky Christmas Tree Pillow Tutorial is another great project for the Christmas and is fast to make.
This tutorial makes a 15 inch pillow that is perfect for the holidays and also matches the Wonky Christmas tree mug rug and placemats that I made last year. Can you believe it took me this long to write the tutorial!
Fabrics:
- 1 yard of the background fabric for front and back of pillow
- Scrap of yellow, brown and four greens
Cut the following pieces:
White or light colored print
- White – cut 4 – 1½” x 4½” pieces
- White – cut 6 – 1½” x 9½” strips
- White – cut 2 – 1½” x 4″ pieces
- White – cut 2 – 1½” x 3″ pieces
- White – cut 2 – 1½” x 2″ pieces
- White – cut 2 – 1½” x 1″ pieces
Yellow
- Yellow – cut 1 1½” x 1½” square
Green prints
- 1st print – cut 1 – 1½” x 2½” piece
- 2nd print – cut 1 – 1½” x 4½” piece
- 3rd print – cut 1 – 1½” x 6½” piece
- 4th print – cut 1 – 1½” x 8½” piece
Brown
- Brown – cut 1 – 1½” x 1½” square
Use the following diagram to piece the Wonky Christmas Tree block, use a ¼” seam allowance for your sewing.
Border
Your block will measure 9½ inches, now add the borders.
- Cut and sew 2 white – 3½” x 9½” pieces for the side borders
- Cut and sew 2 white – 3½” x 15½” pieces for the top and bottom
If you would like to quilt your pillow top, do that before you add the backing.
FINISHING THE PILLOW
ENVELOPE STYLE PILLOW BACK:
For this pillow I decided to do an envelope style pillow back as I had plenty of the background fabric.
Each back side piece will be the same width as the front side and ½ of the length plus 4 inches.
This will account for seams and create an overlap which is the envelope part. If you make the pieces too short, you will have a gap when you insert the pillow form.
For example, my pillow is 15½” inches so 1/2 of that is about 8 inches + 4= 12 inches.
Cut two pieces of the print 15½”″ x 12″ for the pillow back. On each piece fold the one side under ¼” and press.
On one piece fold under another 1” and top stitch it. On the other piece fold under ¼″ and top stitch.
Place the 1″ top stitched piece face down on the pillow top, then place the ¼” top stitched piece face down on top of it. Pin the pieces to the front of the pillow.
Stitch around the pillow with a ¼” seam allowance. Double stitch over the area where the back pieces overlap. This will make the stitches stronger.
Turn the pillow right side out and press. Now all you have to do is add a pillow insert.
The Wonky Christmas Tree Pillow also goes with the little Wonky Christmas Mug Rugs. I have a tutorial for the mug rugs and also a place-mat that you should look at.
My granddaughter came over last night to do some homework and took this photo of me while I was working on this post. I love living this close to her.
I wanted to show you how I quilted the pillow but the design just disappears. Busy fabric is very forgiving when you are just learning to free-motion quilt. This little Wonky Christmas tree mug rug shows what the quilting actually looks like.
If you are looking for inspiration, hop over to Leah Day’s website and checkout her Free Motion Quilting Design Gallery. It is free and her short videos are great. I am sure I tried this design after watching one. She is one of the first free-motion quilters that I followed…..a long time ago.
Really really cute!
Love the wonky pillow. As soon as I saw it, I started digging for fabrics to make it. I’ll be making the mug rug too. Great pic of you.
When we lived in Co many years ago, we had two 2-drawer filing cabinets and an old door that I used for my desk. We still have to 2 drawer filing cabinets but no longer have that door. We actually have “real” desks now.
Thanks for the tutorial.
Love your tree pillow!!! Yes, I can believe it took you this long to write the pattern!! Patterns are difficult to write up, take lots of time and it is easy to forget a step along the way!! Only someone who has never written a pattern thinks they are simple to make!!! You are blessed to be living close to your granddaughter!!! My grands are in Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Idaho and Washington, whilst I’m in Nevada!!
The Wonky Tree Pillow is adorable. I am sure I could get a few of those made for some “pre-Christmas” gifts…so the recipients can enjoy them before the big day. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise! I thoroughly enjoy your newsletters! Oh! BTW, love that picture of you!!!
Thanks for the Wonky Tree. And I love the free motion, looks like the wind through the woods.
Great desk. Did you make it that height permanent? I have a door laying on 2 old tv stands but I’d like it to be adjustable, this is fine for sewing but for cutting, I’m bent at an odd angle even for my 5′ 2″ . My grands also use the table but they never sit long enough to make a difference.
Thanks again, Joan