Thursday, August 16, 2012

{Tutorial } Rainbow Hexie Floor Pillow


Go BIG, or go home! Isn't that what they say in Texas? Well we like to do things big here too in California. Those days that are extra hot we find creative ways to play in the house where it's nice and cool. My four year old girl is very creative when it comes to making forts, and playground type obstacles in our living room.
The inspiration for this pillow came from her. Watching her stack every decor, and bed pillow in a huge pile, and then jumping on it was just about the best thing she could think of.  That's when I decided to fix two small problems in the house.
1. give her a giant reading pillow (or something BIG to jump on) And 2. maybe even a place for storing stuff like those extra guest pillows.

Here is how I made it!


You will need
rainbow scraps solids or prints it doesn't matter. Even a FQ bundle would work.
Needle
Thread
Scissors
2 inch hexagons (I buy mine at Paperpieces.com)

If you like to baste your hexagons by hand the glue pen is not needed. However the basting glue method is pretty fast to get through.




The left side is basted by hand, and the right side is the sewline glue pen basting method.
This photo is just to show the difference do not remove your papers until you are finished. This makes it easier to hand sew them together.

How many Hexagons should you make?

Red - 33
Orange - 27
Yellow - 21
Green - 15
Blue - 9
Purple - 3

Start by hand sewing your 3 purple hexagons like this
I use a ladder stitch, but whatever works for you is fine. Some people really like the whipstitch for hand piecing.


Use these 3 hexagons as the basis for your pillow shape.
Sew around the shape with each color until you get to the outside of the pillow (red colored fabric)
See this diagram for an example.





After you have all your pieces hand sewn down, I like to take a quick iron over them to press the ends down before I remove the papers. After you get a nice press you can then remove all the paper pieces from the pillow cover.




After you have removed the paper, lay the pillow on your choice of back round (I choose Kona in snow. This piece is basically only to reinforce the hand sewing so that it can be used without it falling apart.
You can spray bast, or pin bast the rainbow hexagon top to the white back round making sure it's nice and smooth. I spray and pin :)




I choose a matching thread for each color and added it to my top stitch, leaving the bobbin thread white. It's a little hard to see in the photo, but I stitched down each color row of hexagons to the white back round. This is what reinforces the hand sewing.



When you are done with each color, trim1/2 inch from the point of your outside hexagons (see photo)



I added an envelope style back, but you can certainly do a zipper. I in fact ordered one to replace my back later. If you do an envelope back, make sure to make the flaps overlap a little more then you would for a smaller pillow.




After you have sewn your front ant back together, flip it right side out and stuff with all those extra guest pillow that you have up in the closet. To give you an idea on size, we stuffed this one with 2 king size pillow and 2 standard pillows with a little room to spare :)

Pillow measures approx 42" x 42"

and I am pretty sure it's kids approved :)




Important links::

Don't forget to check out all the other tutorials in the festival of Hexagons.
Monday, Aug. 13
Ali from a²(w)
Tuesday, Aug. 14
Amanda from A Crafty Fox
Wednesday, Aug. 15
Kelly from Kelbysews
Thursday, Aug. 16
Terri from Sew Fantastic
Friday, Aug. 17
Jeni from In Color Order

Monday, Aug. 20
Lindsey from LRStitched
Tuesday, Aug. 21
Wednesday, Aug. 22
Michelle from Super Orange Sewing (formerly I Like Orange, Too)
Thursday, Aug. 23
Sara from Sew Sweetness
Friday, Aug. 24


Join the flickr group here to share your projects and win prizes!



34 comments:

  1. You are such a rockstar, I LOVE This!!!

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  2. Love this idea, and looks like she does too :o)

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  3. Replies
    1. Thanks Ali, for inviting me to the festival of hexies this was fun!

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  4. Gorgeous! I'm tempted to make one for my dog since it's so much cuter than the monstrosity of a dog bed she currently has.

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  5. Perfect for getting rid of scraps. My granddaughter will love this. I will have to make some dog beds too :)

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    1. Dog beds is also a great idea you clever one you :)

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  6. This is a cute idea for a floor pillow.

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  7. I love this! Rainbows are just my thing and I love that the whole pillow is a hexagon too. So unique and great idea for storing spare pillows, they take up so much room otherwise!

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  8. What a wonderful thing....bright, hexie pillow.

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  9. that is sew fantastic!!!! What a clever idea!!

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  10. Thank you for the post and for the links!

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  11. Wat a great idea. Looks lovely and it's very practical.

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  13. Fabulous,and the instructions are so clear and well explained.Thanks.

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  14. Such an awesome idea! I'll be putting that on my "to do" list for when I have grand babies. :)

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  15. What a great idea for some extra storage and a beautiful accent piece as well. Nicely done!

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  16. So fab,and fun, and bright. I think this could become a must for 12 year old to read on.

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  17. A great tutorial Terri. I think I'd try stuffing it with bean bag pellets. A great floor pillow for kids and dogs!

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    1. That is a great idea too Suzanne. It's a lot like a bean bag :)

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  18. This is so awesome, one day I'll find the time.... I hope!

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  19. Wow! This is so cool and a great idea! Thanks for sharing!

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  20. Cute! Kid friendly and kid approved.

    Deborah
    homemakerhoney @gmail .com

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  21. Oh, wow, awesome way to make a huge pillow. Love, love this idea. I have a 2 year old granddaughter who would love to snuggle up in this. Thank you so much for the tutorial.

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  22. I don't usually like hexagons but I love that and I think my two grandsons (aged 30 months and 14 months) would too!

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  23. That cushion is fabulous! Great colours too!

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  24. Wow, what a great idea. I'm loving that you can store your extra pillows in there. I'm thinking maybe I could throw in a couple of extra stuffed animals too! :)

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  25. I am a hexagon fan big time and when I found your tutorial I was thrilled. Thank you so much for a fantastic tute and for another reason to love hexagons.

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  26. I LOVE THIS! I am totally making this pillow.

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  27. wow..that's gorgeous...i love it...never tried hexies seriously...i think i should make this...your little angel looks cute too. can i pin this...just thought of asking you before i pin it...

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  28. Wow That is absolutely awesome .... It's such a pretty floor cushions.

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