Make it Modern Pillows – August 2025 Tutorial

It’s Jamie again from Sew Brainy Designs! It’s year 4 of my Make it Modern Pillows series! I’m so excited and I have some fun designs in store for this year! In case you missed 2022 or 2023 pillow fun, you can click the link below. Last year we started a fun Facebook Group so we can all sew along together!

July’s block had some some geometric flowers.

August’s block has a fun 90’s vibe.

This year I’m using low volumes for the background. I went with Sugar from the Hush Hush 4 line by Christopher Thompson for this one.

I love these blues, greens, and purples!

And the little gummy bears in the background are so fun!

I did a 1/2″ grid quilting with Aurifil 50wt. off-white thread for this fantastic texture!

This month’s pillow features POParazzi by the RBD Designers. The colors I used were Alpine, Glade, Aqua, Peacock, Washed Denim, Blue, Grape, Orchid, and Violet.

There are soooo many nice colors!

Now let’s make a pillow!

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August 2025 Pillow Tutorial

Pattern Notes

• Please read through all instructions before beginning.
• Seam allowances are 1/4″ unless specified.
• Press all seams open (or in preferred direction).
• To avoid confusion, there is not FABRIC I.

Material Requirements

For the block (pillow top):

This pattern uses (1) BACKGROUND fabric [FABRIC A] and (9) ACCENT fabrics [FABRICS B-K]. Below are the requirements to make ONE 18″ block.

For the pillow body:

• (1) 22-24″ square piece of muslin or other fabric (for quilting the top)
• (1) 22-24″ square piece of batting (for quilting the top)
• (2) 13½” × 18½” pieces of backing fabric (for the pillow envelope)
• (1) 18″-20″ pillow form (my favorite one to use is the FJÄDRAR from IKEA!). I always use a pillow form that is one size larger than my pillow case to make sure it’s extra full.

Cutting Directions

From BACKGROUND FABRIC A, cut:

(1) 3¼” × WOF strips, subcut:

• (9) 3¼” squares [A3]

(1) 2¼” × WOF strips, subcut:

• (18) 2¼” × 1¼” [A1]

(1) 2″ × WOF strips, subcut:

• (18) 2″ squares [A2]

From ACCENT FABRICS B-K, cut:

• (1) 2¼” × 4¼” [B4-K4]
• (1) 2¼” × 2½” [B3-K3]
• (1) 2″ × 5″ [B2-K2]
• (1) 2″ × 3½” [B1-K1]

Piecing Directions

1. Lay out (1) A1 and (1) B3 as shown below. Sew together and press the seam.

2. Repeat STEP 1 for FABRICS C-J.

3. Lay out (1) A1 and (1) B4 as shown below. Sew together and press the seam.

4. Repeat STEP 3 for FABRICS C-J.

5. Lay out (1) A2 and (1) E1 as shown below. Sew together and press the seam.

6. Repeat STEP 5 for FABRICS B-D, F-J.

7. Lay out (1) A2 and (1) E2 as shown below. Sew together and press the seam.

8. Repeat STEP 7 for FABRICS B-D, F-J.

9. Lay out (1) A2, (1) FABRIC B unit from STEP 1, and (1) FABRIC B unit from STEP 3 as shown below. Sew all three pieces together as shown and press the seam after each step.

10. Repeat STEP 6 for FABRICS C-J.

11. Lay out (1) A2, (1) FABRIC E unit from STEP 5, and (1) FABRIC E unit from STEP 7 as shown below. Sew all three pieces together as shown and press the seam after each step.

12. Repeat STEP 11 in the combinations as shown below.

13. Lay out all (9) units from STEPS 11-12 into THREE ROWS as shown below. Sew all (3) units in each ROW together and press the seams.

14. Sew all THREE ROWS together and press the seams.

15. Your pillow top is now complete!

16. Layer the completed block on top of the 22-24″ batting and muslin squares and quilt the pillow top as desired. When you are done, trim the block to 18½”.

Note – if you add dense quilting, your top may shrink a bit in size. Just trim it to the largest square that you can. You can trim the width of envelope backing fabric a bit in the next step if needed in order to match your actual top size.

17. Create a finished edge on the long side of each of the (2) 13½″ × 18½” pieces of envelope backing by folding 1/2″ of fabric over the wrong side TWICE. Stitch a seam near the edge to secure it.

18. With the square top facing up, layer the envelope pieces RST on top of it as shown below and sew a 3/8″ seam around the edge of the pillow top.

19. Trim the edges of the corners a bit to reduce bulk. Turn the pillow case inside out and insert your pillow form. Your pillow is now done! Enjoy your fun modern make!

I can’t wait to see all the beautiful pillows everyone makes! They can be very addicting! Be sure to share them on social media! #makeitmodernpillows #iloverileyblake #sewbrainydesigns.

If you check out my blog, I have some more color mockups and some freebie coloring pages you can download. Plus a sneak peek of a companion quilt pattern for this block that’s coming soon!

I’ll see you in SEPTEMBER with more quarter square triangles! Don’t forget to join us in the Facebook Group!

Until later, happy quilting!

Jamie