Handprint Machine Applique Pillow ~ 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop

Hi, I'm Paige!  Welcome to my stop on the 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop hosted by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Thanks to Sarah who has worked so hard organizing the hop. She has a fun trip around the world quilt along going on during the hop and great giveaways, but more about them later!

I've got a hand print machine applique pillow cover project to share that can easily involve the little ones if you so desire.  My preferred applique method uses fusible web and zig zag satin stitch by machine but this project can certainly be adapted for your favorite method of applique.

This tutorial is written to accommodate a 16" x 16" pillow insert but can easily be adjusted depending on the number and size of hand prints you want to include.  The hand prints I used are from my great nephews ranging in age from just under one to five years of age.

Fabric Requirements 

• Background for Applique: 10 1/2" x 10 1/2" square
• Handprint Appliques: 10 1/2" x 10 1/2" square or scraps for different colored handprints
• Inner Border: (2) 1"  x width of fabric strips
• Outer Border: (2) 3" x width of fabric strips or fat quarter
• Backing for Quilted Pillow Top: 18" x 18" (this will not be visible)
• Pillow Backing: Fat quarter
• Binding: (2) width of fabric strips cut to your preferred width

You can read about my fabric selection here in this Sunday Stash post.

Other Materials and Notions

• Paper Backed Fusible Web (my favorite is Soft Fuse Premium)
• Iron-On Tear-Away Stabilizer (my favorite is Sulky Totally Stable)
• Thread to match applique hand prints, for quilting and general construction and bobbin thread for applique
• Embroidery Floss such as Aurifil's Aurifloss
• Batting: 18" x 18" (my favorite is 100% cotton Warm & White by the Warm Co)
• Pencil and paper
• Parchment Paper or other see-through paper for tracing
• Removable Fabric Marking Pen
• 18" zipper
• Pillow Insert: 16" x 16"

Note:  Cutting instructions will be included in each section as we go along. In the construction of the pillow, 1/4" seams are used throughout.

Let's get started!

Hand Print Applique Shapes

First, we will need to draw or trace around the little hands.  This can be tricky as little hands are often times wiggly.  Older children will want to participate by drawing the hands of younger siblings.

As you can see, you may need to adjust the edges a bit. And I even drew this hand print.

Trace over each hand print onto the parchment or other see-through paper.  I put each child's first initial so I would not get them mixed up if you have children close in age with the similar size hands.

Now, turn over the hand print you just traced.  As you can see the initial is backward.  This is an easy way of reversing the handprint so when the fusible is applied to the fabric, it will be correct.  Do the same for each handprint.

Place the paper backed fusible web over the reversed hand print and trace around the hand print again onto the paper side (not the fusible side) of the fusible web. Again, note each child's initial.

Roughly cut out each hand print and fuse to the back of the hand print fabric.  You can see I needed to extend the hand print for the layout I had in mind and added an extra piece of fusible.

Next, cut out the hand prints, remove the paper backing and arrange them onto the background square. My background measurers 10 1/2" x 10 1/2" and I decided to place the hand prints in the corners with the fingers pointing inward.

And here all four hand prints are arranged.

Fuse the hand prints in place.  Since my hand prints extended beyond the background and needed trimming, I carfully fused the center, then trimed away the excess and finished fusing the hand prints in place.  The hand print in the top right corner has been trimmed.

Appliqueing the Handprints

Now, we are ready to applique the hand prints to the background but first, iron the stablizer to the back of the background fabric.  Stabilizer supports the background fabric and aids in a prettier applique stitch.

Refer to "Appliqueing the Shapes" included in the Blue Christmas tutorial for detailed instructions on setting up your machine for applique and tips for acheiving a smooth zig zag satin stitch.

You will not need to worry about burying threads because the stops and starts will be hidden in the seam once the inner border is added.

Here's a close-up a sweet little handprint and the thread used for the applique.  Aurifil 2260 (Wine) was used in the top and a fine polyester was used in the bobbin.

Once you have all the hand prints appliqued, carefully remove the stabilizer supporting the stitches as you tear it away.

And here are the hand prints once the stablizer is removed.  The pillow center should measure 10 1/2" x 10 1/2" at this point.

Adding the Borders

For a 1/2" finished inner border, cut (2) 1" x 10 1/2" rectangles and sew to each side.  Then cut (2) 1" x 11 1/2" rectangles and add to the top and bottom.  The pillow to should look like this.

For the outer border cut (2) 3" x 11 1/2" rectangles and add to the sides. Then cut (2) 3" x 16 1/2" rectangles and add to the top and bottom.  The pillow top should measure 16 1/2" x 16 1/2".

Quilting the Hand Print Pillow Top

Layer the top, batting and pillow top backing.  Quilt as desired.  I free-motioned around the hand prints and background.  Using a walking foot, I stitched in the ditch around the inner border.  I wanted to keep the quilting simple as not to compete with the hand prints and the printed fabric.

You can see more of the quilting from the backside.  I also stitched around the perimeter of the pillow top to hold all the layers together while assembling the pillow.

Embroidering the Initials and Year

After the pillow top was quilted, I embroidered by hand the boys' initials of their first name and the year with a backstitch.  In this Instagram post you can see the I used a dissapearing fabric marker for writing the letters and year.  This was the first time I embroidered with Aurifloss, Aurifil's 6 strand embroidery floss and I used all 6 strands.

Finishing the Pillow Cover

I made the backing by installing a zipper closure for the first time.  I followed this tutorial by Svetlana at Sotak Handmade and added 1/2" to her measurements as she was using a 16" pillow also.  This method uses less fabric, results in a neater finish, and I found it easier than making an evelope backing and will definitely use this method again.

Binding the Pillow

I layered the pillow top and zippered backing wrong sides together and stitched around the perimiter to secure the two layers together.

I cut (2) 2 1/4" width of fabric binding strips, joined them end-to-end with a diagonal seam, folded wrong sides together for a double fold binding and stitched like I describe here.

Insert the pillow and your done!

I'm sure you know a mother or grandmother who would love to receive a handprint pillow for Christmas or even Mother's Day.

Today, be sure to visit Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Susan at QuiltFabrication and Katie at Katie Mae Quilts for more Christmas inspiration.

Each day I am updating my original blog post and will be linking to each blog for the 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop posts so they can easily be found.

Excited that I have one Christmas present finished...I'll be linking to:

Finish Up Friday

Finished or Not Friday

TGIFF hosted by Becca at Pretty Piney
Tips and Tutorials Tuesday #21 with Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl
Show Off Saturday

and last but not least

Whoop Whoop Friday with Sarah,
 our very on 12 Days of Christmas in July host!