Bree123

Silk, can you put a zipper at the edge of the pillow, at one of the seams? At this point, that's what I'd do. Put the two pieces right sides together & sew around 3 sides of the pillow; then, add a zipper on the fourth side.
If it seems too plain, what about adding some piping? Or you could add some faux binding -- just cut your binding strips to be 1.5" (3.8cm), fold in half & attach to each of the quilted pieces before constructing the pillow. Then, sew the pieces together with a 1/2" (1.2cm) seam allowance & you'll still have a 1/4" (0.6cm) faux binding showing on either side of your pillow. I'd do an invisible zipper to all you see is clean edges.

Silk

Thank you very much, Bree123!

Yes, I like this idea, faux binding or piping; tomorrow I'll give it a try! Thanks again

Vat

I don't understand why quilting front and back changed being able to finish the pillow like you'd like to.
I would put the zipper in as usual and the put the two pieces (front and back) wrong sides together and
bind it. Sew to the top side and the whip it to the back.

Gerbie

Why not do the back in an envelope style and forget the zipper. You could still bind it if you want.

Prism99

Sorry, I didn't realize you want to keep the back as one piece. My thought was to cut it in half, sew a plain fabric to one side, then bind the other side. The plain fabric would be tucked underneath the bound side with perhaps a button or velcro to secure the binding to the edge of the other quilted side. If you do not want to cut the quilted backing, though, this will obviously not work.

carolynjo

You can split the back, even though it is quilted, insert a zipper, and it will not ruin the back. You may have to sew an unquilted strip on each side of the cut, but you should be able to get the zipper in okay.

tessagin

this is what I thought.

maviskw

I would do the split to look like it is very near the edge. But don't cut it. Sew a narrow strip of matching fabric to one edge of the zipper, then fold the quilted piece to cover the zipper. That way you would lose only about one half inch of your quilted panel. The narrow strip on the zipper tape would be caught in the binding seam.

Or forget about the narrow strip of fabric. Just fold a little of your panel to cover the zipper. Sew that down onto the zipper tape. Then use the other side of the zipper tape as your seam allowance as you sew the two panels together.

Let me know if you need more clarification.