Quillow Tutorial

We have recently received a couple bolts of pre-quilted fabrics (reversible--with a different pattern on each side) and we have had many questions about what to do with this stuff!

One option is to make a Humbug bag

 since the first (and most time consuming)instruction in this pattern is to quilt two fat quarters together! So using pre-quilted fabric would be a huge time saver! From one half yard you could get two large humbug bags and you could do one from each side of the prequilted fabric! 

We also have this new purse pattern 

which requires an 18"prequilted square and 1/4 yard of fabric for the binding and handle.

And then I started thinking about what else you could do with this and I thought, it is like a little ready made quilt so how about making it into a Quillow? 

A small quilt that can fold up into a pillow!

Here's how!

You will need

2 yards of prequilted fabric to make one 44"x54" quillow

and 8 yards of ready made bias binding:

in a color that matches your prequilted fabric. I chose black since it matched this nicely:

              

Cut off 1/2 yard from your 2 yards of prequilted fabric.

Square up your large piece just as you would a quilt you are readying for binding.

Cut the remaining prequilted fabric into a 14" square. Set the remainder aside for another project.

You will now bind your 44"x54" piece with your bias binding and your 14" square also in the method you prefer. 

You should have these:

Once your two pieces are completely bound center the square piece towards the bottom of the quilt piece as shown.

Stitch the square down on three sides leaving the top open.

Reinforce your beginning and ending for a longer lasting quillow! Keep in mind the side that faces down will be the side that faces out when the quillow is folded into pillow form.

I chose to have contrasting side up as shown.

To fold up to Pillow form: Turn the quillow pocket side down and fold the length on each side in towards the center in thirds. 

Then fold the length down towards the pocket until it is right on top then turn the whole thing inside out revealing the Pillow face with the blanket part inside the pocket!

 Bonus:Another option is to just use 1.5 yards of the prequilted fabric and use a leftover quilt square for your pillow. 

With this option you'll need to sandwich and quilt your pillow portion but otherwise the method is the same. 

You can also make your own binding to match as I did with this sample:

You can of course buy and quilt two 1.5 yards of fabric to make a quillow as well! So there are lots of options for this project! 

You could even have your pillow front embroidered with a name or initials etc... This could be a great gift, a nice blanket for a child or in the car, to take to games or the drive in where you don't want to bring precious quilt but still need a little cover! 

This little froggy seemed to find the pocket a comfy spot!