Category Archives: Cushions

Cushions, easy, Fabulous fabrics, House, Patchwork, quick project, Sewing

Crafting Cushions: Linen and Patchwork Ideas

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Fabulous fabric

Spotted in Aberdashery in Aberystwyth.

I’ve said it before, but that really is a great name for a great shop.

My favourite and most visited shop for all my sewing notions.

It was back in the summer when I saw this lovely linen in the window at Aberdashery, the new cushion covers that I’ve been thinking about for a while came instantly to mind. The design, the colours and the texture fitted my vision so well and when I saw the plain bottle green linen the finished cushions were perfectly formed in my imagination.
It’s just terrific when that happens.
BUT

At the time I had a project underway; a project that had been interrupted a number of times and that I was determined to get finished by Christmas. But more about that in another post.

My idea for the cushions was patchwork in a

Piet Mondrian style

using the plain green to frame the patterned fabric.

I’ve used this idea before for these mono cushions in the sewing room. Clearly I do rather like them, the design is very adaptable and I think really effective.

So having planned to make four different cushion tops, made rough sketches of the proportions of the blocks and decided that they would be framed by half inch borders it was time to start measuring and cutting.
I planned for quarter inch seams throughout and the cushion tops came together really quickly.

I wanted the cushion tops to have a little more stability than the linen alone so each one was attached to a lightweight wadding and I stitched around the inner edges of the blocks to give definition.

Four finished tops

Time to make the backs.

I have a bit of a ‘thing’ for buttons and have a huge collection but I also like to use self covered buttons. My go-to style for cushions has become an envelope back with buttons to close. Like this:

It was useful to have made them like this before, I was able to use the measurements for the two halves and for the deep hems and for the placement of the buttons.

Then there are buttonholes of course

My next decision was just an impulse. It was that two of the cushion backs would be made completely with the patterned fabric but the other two would be made with half patterned and half with the plain green linen.

Did I mention that I also have a lot of thread! Again I inherited my Mum’s sewing notions and my MiL’s too; then there have been a couple of random mixed bags from Abakahn when I’ve visited their amazing store in Mostyn on the North Wales coast. This is my blue/green collection where I found a perfect match. Obviously!

Have you tried self covered buttons? Great for all sorts of projects and so very easy.

Self covered buttons

The uncovered button bases are easily available in a large range of sizes from haberdashers and they have full instructions on the packs and no special tools are needed. I have to say I find the larger sizes less fiddley and they are more suited to my projects.

The fabric

The fabric has to be pushed into the centre of the button so that it catches on to the little teeth, you just keep pushing around the circumference until the fabric fits snuggly – sorry I forgot to take photo of this stage but it’s really self-explanatory. Similar plastic bases are also available.
I have to say I think the matching buttons are rather classy.

I’m really pleased with the cushions, they were intended for the Spring when I started but I think I’ll leave them just where they are.

And now I think I’ll take a step backwards and write about the much interrupted ’Growing Together ‘ quilt project.

Cushions are such an effective and easy way to update a room or to give it a seasonal vibe. If you would like any support to get started on making new covers for your cushions drop me a message.

Cushions, Free MotionQuilting, Grandchildren, Quilting, Sewing, Story cushions

Finished in February II

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Story Cushions

The first Story Cushion I made was The Very Hungry Caterpillar cushion it’s in the blog for April 2014. You can see it here.

It had been in the making a lot, lot longer. It was actually the catalyst to my long path to free motion quilting and to my beginning patchwork. I had the idea for the cushion and realised it was something I would need to actually learn. I was lucky, I found a great teacher in Kate Higgins and the rest, as they say, is history.

Just before Olivia’s 2nd birthday she became obsessed with very same Very Hungry Caterpillar story so…… on to the net to order fabric and cushion number 2 was on the way.

The panel and the foods fabric were soon cut and the book pocket made.

The caterpillar and butterfly were outlined with this amazing multicoloured cotton thread. I love this and have it in several (rather expensive-but-worth-it) colour ways, this one is ‘primaries’, there must be around 50 colour ways.

Next it was on to the quilting and I have to sing the praises of another sewing thread here. I kept reading about this thread, it was everywhere; it was on just about every professional blog I read; it was in magazine articles; on pinterest; everywhere.  You really can’t miss it and I decided to stop ignoring it and invest in this Aurifil. I bought mine from Barnyarns, simply because I’d had some freebees from them and they really seem to know about thread.                               I am converted, it is ultra smooth and it doesn’t break and I really have to say it’s made a huge difference to the flow of my free motion work. I’m totally sold and don’t think I’ll go back to quilting with anything else. I only regret not trying it sooner!

So it was caterpillar quilting  for the caterpillar side

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And butterfly quilting for the butterfly side.

 

 

Now there was one more thing. I’d made two story cushions and I have three grandchildren and although Heidi had the cushion that matched her quilt it’s not a story cushion with a pocket for a book!

So cushion number three. It could’t be the same as Dougie’s,  I didn’t need a particularly good imagination for that bit of sibling interaction! So here is what my search led me to choose.

 

Once again I outlined the motives and then stippled in between on the outside of the pocket.  But this time the  top half was plain/plainish  so I decided to write on that.

After sketching out a couple of font ideas this was my choice. Think I might use it again, simple but effective I think.

I can’t believe how quickly these two cushions came together. The first one took me so long. The quilting was so much easier, having a new machine since I first began has helped a lot. The Pfaff is so much more controllable and the Aurifil is a great find. Mostly of course its all down to experience and I must say that is pretty satisfying really. I think these two are destined to take up residence in the girls’ teepees where they both enjoy having stories read to them and where hopefully, in the future they will curl up to enjoy a book themselves.