Lemon Slice Pillow

With the warmer breezes and trees blossoming, I am starting to get excited about summer. Although we still have a few more weeks of cooler weather where I live, I decided to get my porch in the mood for summer with this lovely Lemon Slice Pillow. The bright yellow colors just make my heart happy. Could your porch use a splash of citrus sunshine? I have the tutorial for you!

Lemon Slice Pillow Tutorial

Supplies:

lemon slice pillow applique pattern

Fabric requirements:

• large yellow scraps for the lemon rind, and lemon slices
• 1/8 yard pink fabric for shine and seeds and inner border
  • Cut 2- 1 1/2″ X 12 1/2″ strips
  • Cut 2- 1 1/2″ X 14 1/2″ strips
• small white scrap for pith
• 12 1/2″ square for applique background
• 1/4 yard yellow fabric for the large border. I used yellow scraps from my pile and sewed them together to create strips for the border. The scrappy look- and the addition of tiny hints of pink- were really fun, but they do add a bit more sewing to the project.
  • Cut 2- 3 1/2″ X 14 1/2″ strips
  • Cut 2- 3 1/2″ X 20 1/2″ strips
• fabric for pillow back using your favorite method. I used this hidden zipper tutorial for my back and it requires 1/3 yard of fabric and an 18″ zipper.

Other supplies:

• Heat n Bond EZ Print Featherlite sheets
• Optional: Heat n Bond Fusible Lightweight Interfacing. Use this to back your large lemon piece if you see shadowing behind the applique from the background fabric. I decided to use the check background after I had already created the first applique, if I hadn’t already applied the Featherlite adhesive to the lemon, I would have added the interfacing and you wouldn’t be able to see the black squares behind the lemon.
• StitchnSew Interfacing – Fleece, or quilt batting- you will need a 22″ square
• SpraynBond Basting Spray
• 20″ pillow form

Prepare Applique Pieces

• Print off the pattern onto the paper side of the EZ print Featherlite sheets
• Cut out around each pattern piece leaving a slight margin.
• Gather the fabrics for each pattern piece. *this is a good time to see if there will be any shadowing behind the large lemon, lay the lemon rind fabric over the top of the background square- if you can see the design of the background fabric, you may choose to add interfacing.

• If adding interfacing, cut a piece of interfacing slightly larger than the lemon pattern piece.
• Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the lemon rind fabric.
• Take your lemon pattern piece and fuse it to the interfacing on the wrong side of the lemon rind fabric.

• Fuse the remaining pattern pieces to the wrong side of the corresponding fabrics.
• Cut out all the pattern pieces along the printed lines.
• Remove the paper backing of the large lemon piece and place it on the background piece as desired.
  • Fuse into place.
  • Sew around large lemon with a straight stitch or narrow zig-zag stitch.
• Remove the lemon slice rind and pith piece paper backings and position into place overlapping the lemon.
  • Fuse into place.
  • Sew around lemon rind and pith using the same stitch as the large lemon piece.

Positioning Lemon wedges onto slice

• Position the lemon wedge pieces on the pith of the lemon slice. The pieces should fit together in order 1-4 but they will go from right to left, not left to right. (see the numbers on the seeds in the picture for reference)
• One at a time remove the paper backing from the wedges and return to the correct position.
• Fuse all the lemon wedges at once.

Add Lemon seeds and shine and Finish the Applique

• Remove the paper backing from the large pink heart for the shine and the small seed hearts. Make sure to position the seed hearts on the corresponding wedge.
• Fuse the shine and seeds into place.
• Sew around the lemon wedges, seeds, and shine to secure into place.

Add Borders and Finish Pillow

• Sew the two 1 1/2″ X 12 1/2″ pink strips to the top and bottom of the appliqued background fabric.
• Sew the two 1 1/2″ X 14 1/2″ pink strips to the sides of the background fabric.
• Sew the two 3 1/2″ X 14 1/2″ yellow (or pieced) strips to the top and bottom of the pink borders.
• Sew the two 3 1/2″ X 20 1/2″ yellow strips to the sides of the pink borders.

Quilt Pillow front and finish pillow

• Spray the pillow front with basting spray.
• Lay the pillow front right side up on top of the fleece interfacing
• Quilt the pillow front as desired.
• Trim the pillow front to 20 1/2″ square.
• Add the pillow back and add a pillow insert.

This pillow definitely brightens up my front porch. Now, could someone please pass me the strawberry lemonade? Happy Sewing my friends! xoxo, Amy