Flower Tile Cushion

Last week we had a little taste of Spring up here in Scotland with some mild weather. But alas, it was short lived and this week we've been plunged back into winter.

However Spring can't be far away, and here's a lovely Spring-like project to get us in the mood!

And look, it's made the cover of Pretty Patches magazine! Yay!!

Inside there is a double page spread feature all about me! Plus some other rather tasty projects by Katie Clark-Blakesley, Thomas Knauer and Pam and Nicky Lintott.

The idea for this project started back in December when I was visiting an old church on a trip to La Gomera (one of the Canary Isles) with my sister. Looking up I spotted an area of the church ceiling that was decorated with painted flowers. They were set in a lattice work of carved wood and the flowers were picked out in blues and white.

I just loved the simplicity of the multiple flowers in a grid pattern and thought it could make a great applique design.

Each flower tile has a low volume background and uses different greens for the leaves and bright scraps for the flowers.

When they were all together they also reminded me of the flower crochet squares I love so much, like this (still unfinished) Popcorn Rose blanket I started 3 years ago.

So with that in mind, I sashed it with one of my 'go to' fabrics at the moment, this crosshatch in charcoal from Carolyn Friedlander's Architextures line.

The sun was out when the cushion front was finished and I got these great photos where it looks a bit like stained glass.

This is probably my favourite project so far this year and a definite keeper! It might even end up in the Tiny House, seeing as it looks so good leaning against the exterior!

Pretty Patches is available from here and in all good newsagents!

Hygge House Pillow

Have you heard about hygge? It is a Danish word that roughly translates as staying in, being cosy and relaxed, and hanging out with friends and family. It's been all over the media these last few months.

I first heard it referred to on Radio 4 back in July/August and wondered whether I could use it as a theme for a patchwork project for a magazine.

Of course, because of the extensive lead times with magazines it has taken till now for the project to be published! But this one also ties in nicely for Valentine's Day next week so that's handy.

You can find it in issue 19 of Today's Quilter magazine. Love that tulip cover quilt!

Here is the beautifully styled photo from the magazine.

And here are some lovely photos taken by my hubby in front of his Tiny House, which seemed very appropriate!

 But how do you go about designing a hygge inspired patchwork project?

Well first of all it had to have a Scandi feel and also it had to feel 'cosy' so I chose warm reds and natural linens, and then trimmed with pom-poms for some extra 'snuggliness'.

To represent the staying in and being cosy further, I chose to depict a typical Scandinavian 'folk' house (within the limitations of patchwork) in  traditional 'Swedish Red' (as is our Tiny House).

And to be even more Scandi I added some Scandinavian style embroidery, in red, on to a dotty linen. 

The backing (and house fabric) is a red patterned linen that I had left over from my Dala Horse. The three wooden buttons add a little more natural texture.

The patchwork roof makes the house a little more challenging (in a good way).

The last detail is the embroidered heart on the door (a typical detail from Scandinavian folk art and furniture) and a reminder of all the love inside your home, and in the world at large (if you only look for it!).

Summer Garland Applique

I've been a bit busy over the last week getting ready for a weekend of celebration for my 50th birthday (which is actually tomorrow). I had a fab time at my party on Saturday with lots of family and friends coming to visit and general merriment (and of course Karaoke!!)!

The weather was also amazing! I was very lucky, as Scotland in June can be very hit and miss.

We have been outside in the sunshine practically the whole time and I managed to get a few photos of my Summer Garland Applique cushion. This is the second in a series of four seasonal patterns for Today's Quilter.

The pattern is in the latest issue (12). Here it is alongside the Spring version, and photographed outside my husband's Tiny House which is nearly finished!

This was the star of the show at my birthday party, with Jonathan doing guided tours all night! You can read more about the Tiny House here, and I promise to share more photos when it is finished (just the bathroom to go now!), but for now here it is complete with deck...

...and here's a sneaky peek inside where the Spring cushion lives permanently.

I am currently enjoying a few days off (with my husband planning a surprise day out for us tomorrow) and embracing my next half century!

Next up on my to do list - the Autumn Garland applique!!

Spring Garland Applique

After my slightly moany post last time and less than enthusiastic quilt unveiling (thanks so much to everyone who told me they liked it!) here is another magazine commission that I TRULY LOVE!

I am doing a series of four seasonal applique cushions for Today's Quilter, starting with Spring which is in issue 7 (out now!).

I love needle-turn applique and I love flowers and leaves so this is my dream project!

For Spring I included, snowdrops, primroses and narcissus in lovely spring colours on an Essex Linen background (in an aqua blue). Soon I will be starting the Summer design - I can't wait!

I may even make each panel again as a Seasons Wall Hanging, complete with leafy border if I have the time and my hands are up to it. I love 'slow sewing' but my wrists don't!

Sophie Update and a Crochet Cushion

Back last Spring I started the Sophie's Universe CAL 2015 and wrote about it here.

I was getting on quite well but got distracted and stopped for about 4 months! 

The problem with this project is that you really need to give it your full concentration (rather than what my sister calls 'mindless' crochet, where you can just switch off and watch the telly while crocheting!). Each round is a different pattern which usually takes around half the round to master, and with the rounds now so big that takes a while.

So over the Christmas break I really gave it my attention and pushed on. I am up to part 11 and it has just squared back up to four sides (and the edges will stop curling soon, apparently, though I haven't been doing any of the recommended 'blocking' - naughty!).

But then during my recent Sewing Room clear-out I found this stack of African Flowers. Yes they are lovely, but I was a little annoyed having already made a huge blanket and two bags of African Flowers and didn't need any more crochet projects to work on!

They clearly were made for my blanket but got 'lost' at some point and missed being included in the finished piece (which I have never shown here as I have not threaded my ends in yet - a source of deep shame!).

Aaargh! What could I do? I had to use them up, and as quickly as possible! So I started crocheting them together with a nice cream border.

I thought there was just enough for a cushion, but it the end I was one short. So I made an extra one and finished the cushion front.

And then would you bloomin' Adam and Eve it? The very next day I found ANOTHER lone African Flower during the ongoing Sewing Room clear-out - aaargh!!!

I also found six daisy squares that were hanging round after bring used for class samples. I decided to put these to use for the cushion back and started using up yarn by 'log cabining' around them in an improv style.

I love combining craft techniques and this seemed like a great way to bring a little improv patchwork style to crochet! It was a very free and haphazard project, and also 'mindless'!

Here is the finished cushion front. It is 18 inches.

I added a pink scalloped edging to finish.

And here is the Improv Crochet back. I think it works really well and is certainly unique!

I'm very pleased I got on and used the African Flowers for this cushion, as how lovely does it look on my sewing room sofa?!
It turns out that I do still need MORE cushions!

Unfortunately the Sophie's Universe blanket has had to go back in to hibernation for now. 

But that's OK, I like a slow project :)

Trip Around The World Cushions Tutorial

Welcome to a second tutorial this month - I am spoiling you!

This tutorial supports the two 'Trip' cushion kits we have just launched in our Edinburgh shop and online. Of course you could use it to just make your own version with fabric you already have. Or you could buy our kits which include pre-cut fabric and wadding, and where all the decisions have already been made for you! They are also very reasonably priced at £12.99 and £16.99.

These 2 cushions are versions of the Scrappy Trip Around the World technique that everyone uses for their quilts. I have just made these versions especially for cushions. 

Those of you that know this technique will be able to just glance at the photos and move on I should think. But for those of you that are new to patchwork, or just bought my kit, this tutorial will hopefully be a big help!

We are going to start with Trip Around The Block. This makes a 16 inch cushion cover.

You will need 4 different strips of fabric - 2½ inches x WOB (width of bolt).

Sew these together along their long sides to form one stripey piece.

Press the seams to alternate sides (rather than pressing them open or all to one side), this will make matching your points a little easier later.

Fold your pieced strips in half on the long side, right sides together, and sew along this seam to form a long ‘tube’.

Using your rotary cutter, mat and ruler cut 2½” strips from one of the short ends of this tube. You will need 16 of them.

Place these into 4 separate piles (of 4).

Using a seam ripper carefully unpick one of the seams. Lay your strip out flat.

Unpick the next seam along and lay next to your first strip.

Keep unpicking a different seam each time until your 4 strips show the squares moving in a diagonal pattern.

Sew these 4 strips together in this order. Press. (I've turned this one around after I've sewn it).

Make your next block in the same way, and after you have unpicked a seam and flattened a strip you can lay it next to the block you have already made to check on your layout for the next one.

To create the diamond shape you need to make sure your next block is a mirror image.

You can just make the block, then turn it around and hope for the best, but I find it's quite helpful to build your blocks in this way.

Sew these 2 blocks together. You now have half a cushion cover.

Keep building your next 2 blocks, you can check them both out before you sew them together if you like.
I chose a directional print and decided I wasn't bothered about the trees being all the same way up.

I'm sure with a little more thought I could have had them all the same way up - why don't you try that!

Here we are with all 4 blocks sewn together. At this point you could just make this into a cushion cover without quilting. Or sew a few more of these and make a quilt!

To make this into a quilted cushion cover see the bottom of this post. Meanwhile let's have a look at the other version.

This one is called Trip Into The Distance. This makes an 18 inch cushion cover.

This time you will need 9 different strips of fabric - 2½ inches x WOB (width of bolt). This works best if you get a good contrast between the different fabrics.

As before sew your strips together...

Press the seams alternative direction

Fold your pieced strips in half on the long side, right sides together, and sew along this seam to form a long ‘tube’.

Cut 2½” strips from one of the short ends of this tube. This time you will need 9 of them.

As before unpick one seam and lay your strip out flat.

This time we are just making one big block, so keep going with all 9 strips.

At this point you can decide which strip you want going through the centre diagonal line by moving the strips around.

I decided to have a lighter fabric in the centre. Sew all the strips together. This one is so easy!
Now we are going to quilt our cushion cover.

Lay your finished block on top of the wadding piece and press from the fabric side. You can spray baste or use safety pins if you wish, although the wadding will naturally adhere to the fabric once you’ve pressed it so you shouldn’t need any other fixing.

I machine quilted a straight line a quarter inch either side of each seam line. This creates a nice lattice type pattern.

For the first cushion cover I quilted a diagonal grid.

Using a ruler and your Hera marker or removeable pen mark diagonal lines that cut through the centre of each square. Mark in both directions to form a diagonal grid.

Machine quilt along all marked lines using a slightly longer stitch than you use to piece with.

Let's finish our cushions now, this is the Trip into the distance (18inch) cushion.

Take your remaining piece of fabric for the back, cut 2 pieces measuring 13 x 18½” (for the 16 inch cushion cut 11 x 16½”). Turn over a half inch, and then another half inch on one of the 18½” sides (or 16½” for the other one), pin and then hem. Repeat on other piece.

Press and then place these 2 back pieces on top of your cushion front, with wrong sides together, overlapping the back pieces. Pin and sew all around the cushion with a ¼” seam.

Now check out my single fold binding tutorial to see how to finish these!

You can buy your kits here.

I do hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you use this tutorial please remember to credit me and link back to the blog on any social media (if appropriate).