Rainbow Umbrella Pillow

Nothing says spring to me quite like rainbows and umbrellas. So why not combine them and make a rainbow umbrella? This Rainbow Umbrella Pillow is a fun applique project that will bring a little whimsy to your spring decor. And if you are eyeing that cute rainbow hoop- don’t worry, the pattern will be coming your way in just a couple of weeks!

Rainbow Umbrella Pillow Tutorial

Supplies:

• Heat n Bond EZ-Print Featherlite sheets (or HeatnBond Lite or Featherlite yardage)
• HeatnBond Fusible Fleece
• Small scrap of Fusible Medium or light Weight interfacing
• Rainbow Umbrella Pattern – print or trace onto the paper side of the HeatnBond Lite or Featherlite
• 18″ Pillow Form
• Fabric
  • Pillow center: 15 1/2″ X 15 1/2″ square (I used a white on white Blossoms fabric from Riley Blake Designs)
  • Pillow front border: 1/8 yard (I used the Navy Raindrop print from Noah’s Ark Fabric by Riley Blake Designs)
  • Small piece of white fabric 2″ X 4″ for hearts on umbrella
  • Rainbow Umbrella Applique: 1 3/4″ X 13″ strips of 5 fabrics (I am using a rainbow of colors of Texture Fabric from Riley Blake Designs) *Note: if you want your umbrella a solid color, you will need an 11″ X 7″ piece of fabric and then various colored scraps for the raindrops.
  • Pillow back: fat quarter or 1/2 yard

Prepare Umbrella Applique:

• Cut your strips into 1 3/4″ X 11″ strips- save the scraps for the heart raindrops.

• Sew your rainbow strips together using a 1/4″ seam allowance.
• Press the seam allowance open.

• Cut out the umbrella pattern piece from the HeatnBond, leaving a slight margin around the pattern.
• Center the umbrella on the wrong side of the sewn piece.
• Fuse following the directions on the package.
• Cut out the umbrella along the traced lines. Set aside.

Prepare Heart Applique pieces (and umbrella handle)

• Take your small white fabric piece (2″ X 4″) and fuse your scrap of fusible interfacing to the wrong side.
• Cut out the remaining pattern pieces (or set of hearts) from the sheet of HeatnBond leaving a slight margin around each.
• Fuse to the wrong side of the corresponding fabric color. For the heart sets, I used one set for each color in my rainbow, and handle- for a total of 6 sets of three.
• Fuse your large heart pattern pieces to the interfacing side of your white fabric.
• Fuse the handle pattern piece to the wrong side of the navy fabric.
• Cut out each pattern piece along the drawn/ printed line.
• Remove the paper backing from each of your pieces.

Prepare Pillow Front:

• Cut 2- 2″ X 15 1/2″ strips from the border fabric (Navy Raindrop in this picture).
• Sew strips to the sides of the 15″ white square.
• Cut 2- 2″ X 18 1/2″ strips from the border fabric.
• Sew strips to the top and bottom of the white square.
• Peel the paper backing from the umbrella top and umbrella handle and center the pieces on the white center square.
• Fuse the umbrella and handle in place.
• Add the white hearts to the umbrella and fuse into place.
• Use a straight stitch or narrow zig-zag to sew down the umbrella, handle and hearts to the pillow front.
• Scatter the small heart raindrops on the pillow front as desired and fuse into place. *NOTE: I recommend doing this at your ironing board so you don’t have to move the pillow front to fuse them.
• Square your pillow front to 18 1/2″ X 18 1/2″.

• Cut a piece of Fusible Fleece to 18″ X 18″.
• Fuse to the wrong side of your pillow front.
• Quilt your pillow front as desired, being sure to stitch down each of your heart raindrops in the process. Alternatively, you can stitch around each of your raindrops before fusing the fleece and skip the quilting step.

Finish Pillow

• Create a pillow back using your favorite method. I used this Hidden Zipper Pillow Back method for mine.
• Place your pillow front and pillow back right sides together and sew around using a 1/4″ seam allowance. *If you prefer a firmer pillow, you can use a 1/2″ seam allowance.
• Turn right side out and press out the side seams.
• Add your Pillow insert.
• Enjoy!!

If you would like to make the coordinating “Watch for Rainbows” pillow, you can find the tutorial and pattern on my blog.

For more rainbow goodness, you might like this Rainbow Sunshine Mini quilt, this Wool Applique Rainbow Pincushion on my site, or these Rainbow Heart Zipper Pouches right here on the ThermOWeb blog.

Wishing you lots of Rainbows my friends! Happy sewing!! xoxo, Amy