Tuesday, November 12, 2013

The Go To Gift

A few weeks ago, I started thinking stressing freaking out about what the make the kids teachers for Christmas gifts.  Once I remembered I still had SIX WEEKS (cue the hyperventilating), I relaxed and put some proper thought in to it.

Fast forward to today - and I had only a few "have to sew" things in the morning, and once I'd ticked them off, I got down to the task of the first teacher's gift.  My "go to gift" - a cushion.


Paper pieced Lonestar Cushion

Isn't she beautiful?  I pinned THIS paper piecing pattern last week, and knew it would be perfect to use for a cushion.  And although I love the original I saw, with the coloured fabric centre, I wanted more negative space for quilting, so kept mine white.  I dragged out my bag of Sarah Fielke scraps - leftovers from my Flying By The Seat Of My Pants quilt - and got the star and borders whipped together in a couple of hours.  This is a GREAT paper piecing pattern for relative beginners.

Paper pieced Lonestar Cushion

And then I got my Free Motion on!  These swirly patterns are probably my favourite in terms of free motion quilting.  They seem to be the design I do best - my stitch length is uniform throughout - something I have a bit of trouble with when doing some other designs.  I used a white Aurifil #2024  for all the negative space quilting.  I then took to pebbling the outside border.  I used my recently acquired hot pink Aurifil #1011 for this - and I LOVE this colour!  Now my pebbling is far from perfect, but I quite like it that way :)

Paper pieced Lonestar Cushion

I think the straight line shadowing on the inside of the star gives it a bit of a 3D effect?  I just love it!

Paper pieced Lonestar Cushion

And the back?  This is from a fat quarter of the same fabric range (if you're wondering what it is, it's called "On The Pond") and was easy to make in to a concealed zipper back.  So neat.

So that's another finish off that invisible list of things to do for Christmas.  I'm happy to say that when Cadyn walked through the door from school today, and I showed him this - his eyes lit up.  He was thrilled when he saw it was for his teacher.  He has a real soft spot for this lovely lady, as do I.  She has brought out the absolute best in him, and he's gone from being a kid that was struggling a bit and was anxious about learning - to a confident young man who is excelling in his work and in her words, is eager to learn.  So, me thinks she deserves this little piece of heaven.

NOW - if you are still planning your handmade Christmas list, I have something coming up very soon, that just may interest you!  Watch this space!

I'm linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday, Fabric Tuesday and I Quilt - You can too!


Fresh Poppy Design


Sew Cute Tuesday


21 comments:

  1. This is just so beautiful! The quilting, the colour choices...all of it! I'm so going to figure out where you live and come and pinch it! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. im in love with your cushion, and your fmq wish mine would be this great, im horrible at pebbles, feathers and swirls, best i can get is loops and e's lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your take on the star pattern with the white centre! I've seen that pattern before but have never tried paper piecing. The look of yours really makes me want to give it a try now!

    --Jo

    ReplyDelete
  4. Absolutely stunning. And the quilting just makes it. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love your swirls! And the fabric is lovely too.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Ms Midge, I am currently making a quilt using the same Sarah Fielke range! Your cushion looks fabulous! You have inspired me with you quilting too. I'm using the same for backing too. Check out my blog! I do love the fabric

    ReplyDelete
  7. This cushion is lovely, the pattern is so beautiful, but your choice of fabrics are really gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This cushion is amazing in every way!! I love the colors, the star pattern and the quilting is perfect!! The teacher will love this!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Such a beautiful pillow - I really want to try this pattern one day too!

    ReplyDelete
  10. love it! Sarah' fabrics are darling and you have showed then up beautifully! I've been thinking about end of year teacher gifts too. Good idea

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is such a great gift! I'm planning a couple of these this holiday season. Your different quilting designs really make such a great impact!

    Thank you so much for sharing at Needle and Thread Thursday!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

    ReplyDelete
  12. very nice, I am sure the teachers will love them

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful, I love your quilting especially the star centre!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow, those are beautiful! (Was there more than one since there are multiple teachers....?). What a wonderful go to gift! I love the quilting, and it does kinda look 3-D. I just posted about my Christmas inspiration, but I could always use more gift ideas!
    -Julie

    ReplyDelete
  15. Gorgeous fabric, gorgeous quilting, just gorgeous!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. It's beautiful Midge! And you know how much I love making cushions lol thanks for linking up xx

    ReplyDelete
  17. What a gorgeous pillow. Great FMQing too! This is definitely going on my 'to-do'' list, thanks for the inspiration.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to leave me a comment - I read each and every one of them! xx

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...