MidMod Throw Pillows: Ikea GULLKLOCKA and IDASOFIA Cushion Cover Hack

My readers know how much I love a good IKEA hack (check out these older posts). This one is all about cushions -

Twice a year, if I'm lucky enough to escape for a few days, the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild hosts a retreat weekend in Wisconsin on the lake. It's beautiful, relaxing, and for me - very productive.

The retreat center view!

This retreat was busy for me (as usual). I had several projects prepped and ready to complete, one project being some new pillow covers for the couch in the living room.

Below I've included links to the IKEA products I used and Amazon affiliate links for your pajammy-wearing, couch-shopping reference.

For this project I used a GULLKLOCKA in a bright yellow
and a white, faux rabbit-fur IDASOFIA pillow case
both from IKEA which I cut into 2 pieces each, separating the fronts and backs, and used them as backings for my quilted pillow fronts.

The fronts were fabrics I have been hoarding for a long time for just this purpose, some mid-century inspired funky prints that add some jazz to my couch. I made quilt sandwiches with the fabrics and quilted them with bright coordinating Aurifil 50wts in Aurifil #1231* (a lime green) on the white cushion front and Aurifil #2120* (a lemon yellow) on the green print.


The funky green print I quilted in a retro cross-hatch pattern in the lemon Aurifil 50wt -


My white cushions I used the print pattern to quilt them in a wonky straight line motif with the pretty lime Aurifil -


For these covers I used FJÄDRAR down inserts from IKEA in their 16"x 26" and 20"x 20" sizes. I made my quilt sandwiches about an inch bigger in both directions, quilted it, and then trimmed them to the pillow dimension before sewing the backing on with a 3/8" seam all around so that technically my pillow case is smaller than the pillow (I like my cushions to be fluffy and not to slide around in the case). 

In the lower seam I inserted 22" yellow nylon zippers in the larger pillows, and 18" cream-colored zippers in the smaller pillows (aff links to Amazon).

The kids are super happy (and so am I!) with the new cushions - they like anything that's soft and cozy to snuggle with.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and as always, if I've inspired you to make something, make sure to message me about it! Thanks for reading. 



*this post contains affiliate links to Amazon at no additional cost to you. For more information, please visit my Disclosure Statement and Advertising Policies page.