Moda Scattered Square Pillow

I got on a kick of buying MINI CHARM PACKS. They are awesome in so many ways. You get to see a large portion of a pattern line and they usually cost under $4. It's a cheap thrill. 

So after buying the mini-charm packs I started to make hexies (more on that later) but I wanted to complete something sooner than the hexies would allow.  I searched Pinterest for "what to do with mini-charm packs". That's when I found this tutorial for the scattered square pillow. 

My inspiration

I used mostly Vanessa Christensen's Color Me Happy fabric line. The basic white was purchased from JoAnn Fabrics and the backing and binding was picked up at a quilt shop in Indian River. 

The tutorial I used above was very helpful but when I got to the "put the binding on" part. I had to google some more. I found this helpful you-tube video that talked about machine binding.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWh90tXr7g4&index=2&list=WL

Overall I liked machine binding but in a few places I either had to go back and sew over again to catch the back binding or I hand stitched it. I thought it was MUCH faster than hand quilting and it looked pretty good too! 

Materials: 
The pillow took just under 1 charm pack- but I mixed a few packs together. The binding and border were each 1 fat quarter and the back was a 20"x20" piece. You'll also need batting and another layer under the batting to make the pillow top. A full material list is in the tutorial. 

So here's my finished pillow: 

It's holds a pillow that is 20"x 20". It may be a little over stuffed but I like how it makes the stitching of the quilt layer POP. Quilting the top was my favorite part. I love how it adds texture. I also got used to using a walking foot on this pillow. It is a necessity when trying to quilt the top and feeding multiple layers through your machine at one time. It was VERY easy to use. 

  

The back I wanted to be a solid pattern in case I needed to make my couch a little more neutral. I added the trim piece where the pillow comes together. 

The pattern does have the colored squares off centered and I achieved that! However my white boarders are supposed to all be the same size and straight- I failed at that. The good news though is that I failed all over so it looks like it's supposed to be that way. I attribute this fail to not sewing on a scant 1/4" accurately. Accuracy isn't my strength right now but it will come with time. 

Sewing Level: Beginner just measure accurately and go slowly
Cost: $20
Time: 5 hours
Special materials: Walking foot