Free pattern: Simply Starry Pillow

Hello there quilting friends. I hope you all are well. I have a new free pattern that I’m excited to share with you.  It’s a fun, stash-busting project that you can sew up in a weekend: Simply Starry Pillow!

Last spring I made a beachy/patriotic Stars and Stripes quilt, featuring Brenda Riddle’s Sweet Liberty collection and other pretty fabric. When I came across that fabric at a local quilt shop, I will admit that I over purchased (tsk-tsk).  But I don’t regret it one bit, as that indulgence allowed me to also make a beachy version of Fat Quarter Flourish, as well as another quilt I have in progress (more details on that to come).

When fabric is this pretty, I save every morsel, even the smallest scraps.  I was perusing my scraps a few weekends ago and thought how I’d love to make a patriotic pillow to display next summer with my Stars & Stripes quilt. And out of that, Simply Starry pillow was born. The scrappy piano key borders feature mostly Sweet Liberty, but also a Tilda print and a pinky-red woven from an old Christmas collection by Thimble Blossoms! It’s so fun mixing favorite bits together!

I chose Robert Kaufman’s Essex Linen in White and Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in Nautical for the band of stars. Made of 55% linen and 45% cotton, these fabrics are wonderfully soft and have a lovely texture. As you can see, I did simple straight line quilting on my pillow, which finishes nicely on this fabric.

I made a second, more classic version of the pillow where I omitted the scrappy piano key borders in favor of a simple bands of fabric. In addition to the Nautical color, I used Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in Flax. I didn’t even quilt this one, as I enjoyed the simplicity of it. The free pattern includes instructions for both versions of Simply Starry Pillow.

Simply Starry Pillow finishes at 14 ½” x 20 ½”. I hope you enjoy the project. I am already envisioning other versions I could make for autumn, Halloween and Christmas! I can’t wait to see what you come up with.  If you are on Instagram, be sure to tag your pillow using #simplystarrypillow so I can see your creations! Grab the free pattern today on my Tutorials & Free Patterns page and have some fun!

~Taunja

Note: If you’d like to make a patriotic version of Simply Starry Pillow but don’t have a lot of reds and blues in your stash, I see that Fat Quarter Shop still has some Sweet Liberty Charm packs available.  You could utilize one of these for the piano key borders and still have charm squares left over.

Here are some other good options:

• American Gatherings II by Primitive Gatherings
• All American by Deb Strain
• Old Glory by Lella Boutique (coming in February)