Confetti Pillow

Prepare the Scraps:
 
Select one hundred fifty 2-inch medium-value scrap squares. Coordinate them into a color theme or just go scrappy. Select thirty-six 31⁄2-in. light/neutral scrap squares.
 
Prepare the Backing Print:
 
Cut one 12-in. width-of-fabric strip; then cut two 12-in. by 181⁄2-in. rectangles for the backing.
 
Prepare the Pillow Front:
 
Sew 31⁄2-in. scraps into six rows of six scraps. Press the seams alternately by row. Sew the rows together; press the row seams open. The pillow background is 18 1⁄2 in. square.

Place the pillow background on your work table, right side up. Starting and ending about 1⁄2 in. away from the edge, arrange twenty-four to thirty 2-in. scraps over each row seam. Place the scraps one at a time, right side up and wonky. Without disturbing the scrap arrangement, place a long straightedge ruler over the 2-in. scraps, aligned with the visible seam at either end of the row. With a heat-erasable marker, draw a straight line over the 2-in. scraps. Remove the ruler carefully, and pin through all the layers to secure.
 
Sew a decorative stitch over the straight line. Repeat with all five seam lines.

Place the pillow front right side down on your work table. Make a mark 1⁄2 in. from the corner, as shown. Then make a second mark on each adjacent side 43⁄4 in. from the corner. Draw a line connecting the marks. Repeat for all four corners. Set aside.

Pillow Back:
 
Cut three 11⁄2-in. by 16-in. strips from fusible web. Place the fusible side of the fusible web strip on the wrong side of one 12-in. by 18 1⁄2-in. backing rectangle, aligning it with an 18 1⁄2-in. edge of the fabric. Abut a partial strip next to the 16-in. strip to cover the fabric edge across the entire 18 1⁄2-in. length. Fuse with a hot iron. Remove the paper, fold the fabric 1 1⁄2 in. from the edge (along edge of the fusible web), and fuse again to encase the fusible material. Repeat with the second 12-in. by 18 1⁄2-in. backing piece.

Assemble the Pillow:
 
Place the pillow front, right side up, on a large work surface. Make sure it is flat.
 
Place one backing piece, right side down, on the pillow top, with right sides facing and raw edges aligned.
 
Place the second backing piece, right side down, on the pillow assembly, aligning the raw edges on the opposite side of the pillow top. Pin liberally around the entire pillow assembly to secure the edges.

Flip the entire assembly so the wrong (marked corner) side of the pillow front is facing up. Sew a 1⁄4-in. seam allowance around the entire outside edge and along the corner markings. Remove the pins as you sew. Trim on the lines.
 
Turn the pillow assembly right side out through the opening in the back. Insert an 18-in. by 18-in. pillow form.
 
Tip: This little corner marking trick will help your pillow cover fit perfectly over the pillow form with no extra fabric bulk. When assembling the pillow, you’ll sew around the edges following these marked lines. It’s a minor adjustment that can make a big difference.

Excerpted with permission from "ScrapTherapy® Scraps Plus One!: New Patterns to Quilt Through Your Stash with Ease" by Joan Ford and published by Taunton Press. Images by Burcu Avsar.