Did you know you could make a fun and festive pillow from a simple quilt block? Create a simple Christmas tree block and your pillow is almost finished! Once you see how quick it comes together, you may even want to make a whole quilt to match! Download printable instructions.

Materials:

• 1/2-yard white grunge fabric for background
• ½ yard white fabric for pillow backing
• Christmas Jelly Roll
• (1) 2” x 2 ½” square of brown for tree trunk
• ½ yard Shape-Flex™ Interfacing
• 16” x 16” pillow form
• White thread
• FriXion pen
• 24” Quilters Ruler
• “J” Foot (comes standard with machine)
• 45mm Rotary cutter
• Rotary cutting mat
• Iron and ironing board

Tools:

• Baby Lock Sewing Machine

Steps:

1. At the cutting table:

   1. From white grunge fabric, cut (3) – 18” x 18” squares from white grunge background fabric

   2. From white grunge fabric, sub-cut (2) rectangles 2 ½” x 4 ¼”, (2) rectangles 2 ½” x 3 ½”, (10) rectangles 2 ½” x 2 ½”, (2) rectangles 1 ½” x 10 ½”, (2) rectangles 1 ½” x 12 ½”

   3. From white backing fabric, cut (2) – 15 ½” x 18” (fold in half along 15” edge and press along fold)

   4. From the jelly roll, cut (4) - 2 ½” x WOF strips of green and sub-cut (1) rectangle 2 ½” x 10 ½”, (1) rectangle 2 ½” x 8 ½”, (1) rectangle 2 ½” x 6 ½”, and (1) rectangle 2 ½” x 4 ½”

   5. From the jelly roll, cut (2) - 2 ½” x WOF strips of green for outer border, (2) – 2 ½” x WOF strips of red for outer border and (2) 2 ½” x WOF strips of blue for outer border

   6. From the interfacing, trim to a 15” square

2. Making the Christmas Tree block

   1. Begin by drawing a diagonal line on the wrong side of 8 – 2 ½” x 2 ½” white squares.

   2. Place a white 2 ½” square right sides together with a green rectangle. Sew on the drawn line and press. Trim the extra leaving a ¼” seam. Repeat for the remaining three.

   3. Repeat with another 2 ½” white square on the opposite side of the rectangle. Repeat for the remaining rectangles.

3. Assembling the block and inner borders

   1. Add the remaining background rectangles and squares to either side of the tree rectangles

   2. Set your machine to Piecing Stitch (right) #15. Guiding your fabric along the right edge of the foot will give you a ¼” seam.

   3. Sew the tree block rows together. Press seams in one direction.

   4. Add the 1 ½” x 10 ½” red, green, and blue background border rectangles to the left and right sides of the tree block. Press out toward the background rectangles

4. To quilt the front, fuse the block to the Shape-Flex and mark your quilting lines with the ruler and FriXion Pen. Use a zig-zag stitch, wavy straight-line quilting or sashiko stitch

5. To finish, line the raw edges of your folded fabric backing pieces to the top and bottom of the pillow front with right sides together.

   1. Sew ¼” seam allowance around the perimeter of the pillow, then trim fabric bulk from each corner and turn right side out. Insert your pillow form and enjoy!