To get the variety of colored fabrics I used a Riley Blake Stacker – a collection of their light solids. Each “stacker” comes with 20 pre-cut 5″ squares. I needed 32 squares so I used two stackers.
After tracing the circles, I pinned a piece of light weight (non-fusible) Pellon sew-in interfacing to the back and sewed the two pieces together right on the line. Then trim around the edges leaving just under a ¼″ of space from the seam. After the circle is trimmed pull the Pellon away and make a snip in the Pellon – about 2″ – just large enough to pull the fabric through and turn the circle right-side-out with the seam now inside the circle. Carefully push out the edges to shape the circle and give it a good press. (Visit Lori’s blog to see a much more detailed version of this process.)
You can then either machine or hand-stitch the circles to a coordinating 5″ charm square. To make sure your circle is centered on the square, fold them both into quarters and pinch in the middle to find the center. Use a pin through both pieces to line up the centers. Then stitch in place.
I created 16 of these blocks and then sewed them together, using a ¼″ seam to create a mini quilt top. I’m going to quilt the top and then make a 18″ throw-pillow, perfect for spring!
Another favorite polka dot throw pillow is this one I made for Christmas from wool felt a few years ago. I’m thinking I need to make a new one for summer. This is a very easy project – you can find the Wool Polka Dot Pillow tutorial here.
Thanks so much for inviting me to be part of Project Polka Dot, Melissa!
Oh my goodness Amy I LOVE your appliqué dots! I can think of all kinds of ways I would use that technique! I’ve also been a BIG fan of that polka dot throw pillow!!
I am so grateful to have met Amy. Years ago she talked me into going to a blogger meetup while I was on vacation in Utah. I am so glad that she did. I met so many people that night that I still keep in touch with. Since then I’ve been able to see Amy at SNAP and the Sewing Summit and count her as a true friend. We are both going to be teaching at the Riley Blake Fabric Fest in September! I can’t wait!
Anita says
Love the polka dot pillow! Those soft pastel colors are so yummy!
Rebecca Grace says
This is adorable, Amy! I love how it looks in the pastel solids, kind of like paint samples on a design board. It would also be a great way to showcase larger scale prints in the big circles, too, and the method you used for getting smooth circles is just genius — at first I was wondering how on earth you managed to turn the seam allowance under so smoothly!
ohhh good idea….