Arete Quilt - Scrappy Pillow Version

Arete

Aug 25

Written By Chelsea Le Bouton

The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to live with purpose.

— Michel de Montaigne

Design Inspiration

“Eudaimonia” is the Greek word for “human flourishing.” Eudaimonia Studio designs are inspired by the ancient question of what it means to live well. The Arete quilt is inspired by Aristotle’s concept of “excellence,” representing the continuous pursuit of one’s highest potential in all aspects of life—intellectual, moral, physical, and creative. To live with arete is to align every effort with a deeper why, transforming our multidimensional lives into an overarching life purpose and more meaningful existence.

Details & Techniques

The Arete quilt is an eye-catching pattern designed with the confident beginner in mind. It’s available in four versatile sizes (pillow, baby, throw, and king), making it perfect for anything from a bold home accent to a full bed statement!

This pattern features two foundational quilting techniques: half-square triangles (HSTs) and half-rectangle triangles (HRTs). If you’re new to these techniques, Arete is an excellent introduction. The clean lines and dynamic layout make it a rewarding and quick sew, while still offering just enough of a challenge to grow your skills. Arete is all about building skills and making something beautiful along the way!

Sometimes, a smaller project - like this pillow - offers a welcomed break from making large quilts. And, I always invite the opportunity for something I’m willing to quilt on my own domestic machine! (Any bigger than baby size, and some more colorful language may be involved!)

Fabrics

This pillow-size version of the Arete quilt brings the bold, modern geometry of the full design to a smaller scale. I used a mix of prints and solids to give a scrappy, yet cohesive look to the Arete pattern. I had been hoarding some fabric scraps that I just couldn’t bear to toss out, and was thrilled to see how these scraps came together in this design!

The pillow top:
- Color 1: AGF Denim
- Color 2: AGF Basket Weave Haze by Suzy Quilts
- Color 3: AGF Dots in Sweet Pea by Suzy Quilts
- Color 4: AGF Slub in Rainstorm by Suzy Quilts
- Color 5: AGF Slub in Golden Hour by Suzy Quilts
- Color 6: AGF Linen Blend in Soft Sand
- Color 7: AGF Moment of Zen
- Color 8: AGF Meadow Trinkets by Pat Bravo
- Color 9: AGF Creme de la Creme
The pillow backing is AGF Linen Blend in Soft Sand

Be sure to check out all the different versions of this pattern for more inspiration!

Want to color your own version? Create your own mockups of the Arete quilt on PreQuilt!

Quilting

This pillow was quilted by me on my Bernina 475QE, using a straight grid quilting design. I really wanted something simple and geometric to let the angular design shine. (Bonus: it was simple and easy to follow along the seams of the pieced pillow front!)