As quilters, we know how time-consuming it can be to finish a project, and sometimes we just need a quick win. This is why I love making quilted pillow covers! You still get to try out that pattern you've been eyeing, or maybe you ran out of steam and have one or two blocks and now you don't know what to do with them. Pillow covers are my go-to!
This tutorial will focus on how to finish a pillow cover with binding, but it's totally not needed! If you need an extra quick quick finish, head on over to the previous envelope cover tutorial!
Panda Pillow Cover
For this tutorial, I am using a Pandamonium block – I just couldn't resist having a panda pillow! The Pandamonium quilt pattern includes information on making a single block. This is a great way to try out this pattern before jumping into making a full quilt!
Materials and Supplies
- Fabric: For a single Pandamonium block you'll need three cuts of fabric– 13" x 9" piece for the Panda details, ⅓ yard for the background, and FQ for the white Panda face.
- Batting: roughly 20" x 20"
- Lining fabric: 20" x 20"
- Backing: Half a yard. Cut two pieces of fabric from it, one 19.5" x 14.5" and one 19.5" x 11.5".
- Binding: ⅛ yard
- Pillow insert: 18-20" in size
- Walking foot is recommended
- Pins or binding clips.
Preparing the Quilt Top
First, cut and make a Pandamonium block according to the quilt pattern. Make a baby-size quilt block, measuring 20.25" x 20.75".
Once you've finished the block, layer the lining right side down, batting, and the quilt top right side up. Baste using your preferred method and then quilt. I used spray basting and quilted in a grid with the lines 1" apart.
After the quilting is done, trim the whole quilt to size. The easiest way to do this is to find the center of the block and trim it from there. This tutorial is aiming for a 19" x 19" finished pillow cover so I trimmed my quilt top to 19.5" x 19.5".
Prepare the Back Panels
Next, let's prepare the back envelope panels by finishing the edges.
On each back piece, fold the long edge under twice, about ¼" to ½". You can measure this so it's precise or eye it. Give this fold a good press, then top stitch ⅛" from the folded edge.
Constructing the Pillow Cover
If you are not adding the binding, you'll place the quilted front and two back pieces right sides together, sew around the edges with a ¼" seam allowance, and then flip it right side out.
If you're adding the binding, place the quilted front and two back pieces wrong sides together and sew around the edges with a ⅛" seam allowance.
When placing the back pieces on the quilted front, make sure to align the raw edges and pin or clip in place. Note that the big back piece will be on the bottom and the smaller back piece will be on the top.
Attaching the Binding
Attaching binding to a pillow cover is more or less the same as you do on a full-size quilt. For this project, I cut 2¼" x WOF strips for my binding, sewed both strips together using a 45º seam and trimmed my ¼" seam allowance, pressed open, then folded my strip in half.
Now comes decision time – you can attach the binding to the back or front of the pillow cover. If you're hand-stitching the binding at the end, I recommend attaching the binding to the front and then folding it to the back. However, I chose to machine bind the pillow cover, so I attached the binding to the back, then folded it to the front and finished with a top stitch.
For detailed instructions on how to attach and finish the binding, read the binding tutorials below:
- Quilt Binding - Part 1: Making the quilt binding
- Quilt Binding - Part 2: Attaching the binding to the quilt
- Quilt Binding - Part 3: Finish the binding by machine
- Quilt Binding - Part 4: Finish the binding by hand
Once you've finished your binding, the only thing left to do is cram the pillow insert into the pillow cover and enjoy it!
I adore how this quilted pillow cover came out and how fun is it alongside the full Pandamonium quilt? Love it so much!
