Hi everyone!

Happy Tuesday! We hope everyone is having a fantastic day so far. It isn’t the greatest of weather here today, but gosh is it hot and humid!! It’s days like these where all we want to do is stay indoors with the good ol’ AC :)

To liven things up a little bit here, we have our How To’s Day for you! With Summer officially here, that definitely means enduring in more outdoor activities…especially all things water-related! So excited for Summer days of swimming at the lake, catching up on a good book at the beach, and maybe even having a jet-ski adventure (…depending on how brave we’re feeling that day haha!). We always love a little nautical for the Summer, especially in fashion and décor. Who wouldn’t want to wear a navy and white striped dress and big floppy hat while cruising on the lake in a boat? Um, where do we sign up? :) But if you aren’t planning an adventure of the sorts this Summer either, have no fear…today’s How To’s Day is bringing the water to you!

Today we are sharing our tutorial on our Anchor Pillow, featuring our In The Navy by Jackie McFee Collection. And these two couldn’t be more fitting; our In The Navy collection features anchors, stripes, and dots in a fun navy, pink, and metallic gold color combination! We love the idea of a nautical-inspired guest bedroom or family room – add some decorative shells, some wood paneling, and a couple of our Anchor pillows on a striped couch…and you are all ready to set sail (…or at least it will feel that way haha!). Finish off the look for a nautical-inspired quilt, or two.

Check out the full tutorial for our Anchor Pillow HERE! :)

ANCHOR PILLOW TUTORIAL

TOOLS & SUPPLIES
-1/2 yard of In the Navy quilting cotton (44” wide) from Camelot Fabrics in 4140504 #1 for the Main fabric
– 1/3 yard of In the Navy quilting cotton (44” wide) from Camelot Fabrics in 4140405 #4 for the Edging fabric
– Fiber stuffing
– Paper printer
– Basic sewing supplies: sewing machine, needle & coordinating thread, iron & pressing surface, measuring tape, scissors & fabric shears, straight pins, and fabric marker

NOTES:
– Please wash, dry & iron your fabric before beginning, and trim selvages.
– A 1/2” seam allowance is included in the template. Unless otherwise indicated, use this allowance for all seams.
– WOF = Width of Fabric.

CUTTING:
1. Print the Anchors Away Pillow template at 100% size and tape the pieces together by matching the numbered triangles.
2. Cut your Main fabric into (2) Fat Quarters; fold the FQs in half and press the crease.
3. Trace & cut (1) Anchor piece from each FQ, with the center line of the anchor against the fabric’s fold as indicated on the template.
4. Cut (3) 3-1/2” x WOF strips from your Edging fabric.

ASSEMBLY:
1. Join the Edging strips end-to-end, Right Sides facing, and press the seams open.
2. Sew one long side of your Edging to the perimeter of the anchor piece, beginning at the bottom curve of one anchor piece and leaving a generous “tail” of Edging.
Whenever you come to a corner on the anchor shape, put your machine’s needle into the work, lift the foot and rotate the work to begin the next line of stitches. Be careful not to bunch or overlap the Edging fabric as you go.
3. When you reach the bottom curve of the anchor again, stop your seam line a good 6” shy of your starting point. Cut off the excess length of Edging, but leave enough for the two “tails” to meet & overlap at the center of the anchor’s bottom curve.

4. Pin the second long side of the Edging to the perimeter of the second anchor piece, Right Sides together. Take care to line up the corners with those of the first anchor piece.
5. Sew the Edging to the second anchor piece, again leaving a gap along the anchor’s bottom curve. Clip your corners & curves.
6. Invert the pillow through the gap at the bottom, poke its corners into shape with your fingers and stuff it tightly.
7. Whip-stitch the tails of Edging to the bottom edges of their anchor pieces. At the center of the curve, tuck one end of the Edging underneath the other, and whip-stitch in place.

8. Hand-stitch the long side of your remaining Edging piece along the raw edge of the circle at the top of one anchor piece, Right Sides together, with a 1/4” seam allowance. Make sure to leave a 1/2” tail of Edging at the beginning of this seam.

9. Once you have sewn Edging around the circle’s entire circumference, sew the ends of the Edging together, Right Sides facing, and trim its excess length. You now have a tube of Edging, joined at one end to the hole in an anchor piece.
10. Fit your Edging tube through the hole in the anchor piece, pushing stuffing out of the way, and whip-stitch the remaining end of the tube to the circumference of the second anchor piece’s circle. The raw edges of Edging & circle should be tucked inside the pillow.

We hope you have enjoyed this week’s How To’s Day!! If you decide to give this tutorial a try, or any of our free DIYs, we’d love to see! You can send all your project pictures to info@camelotfabrics.com. Have a wonderful rest of the day! :)

Happy Sewing!