Illusion Pillow

3 months ago

Now here is something fun. A quilted pillow that is a bit of an optical illusion. This pattern makes you stop and stare for a second to figure it out. I’m going to show you how to make this simple Optical Illusion quilted pillow pattern that looks like you put a lot of time into it.

If you don’t know, I’m a big fan of strip piecing. I love making strip pieced quilts and other projects that are quick to put together.

You can get the full directions for this pillow for free on the Baby Lock project page by clicking HERE.

This block works best if you select one dark fabric and one light fabric. Prints are fine, but I’d stay away from directional prints. I chose a black floral print with a light background.

The lighting on this picture is horrible, but I started by stitching my strips together on my Baby Lock Lyric, using my 1/4″ foot.

Following the instructions, you’ll cut blocks from your strip sets, and cut those blocks in half.

I always press to the dark side, but I knew for this block I would have several seams meeting in the middle. So I opted to press my seams open.

Once your block is together it’s time to add batting and backing and stitch out a quilting design. I pulled out my Baby Lock Echo Quilting Foot Set.

I’ve been wanting to use this echo foot for a long time, so opted to make a large spiral. I chose the 1/2″ echo foot to accomplish this.

I will say it takes some getting used to as you echo the previous circles. But don’t worry if it’s not 100% accurate. Once you’re done, you have a beautiful spiral design and nobody will see any uneven lines. The end result turned out so cool.