Thursday, April 3, 2014

A Cushion Confession

If you've been around here a while, you would know I am somewhat a fan of the quilted cushion.  It is my "go to" gift for anyone and everyone.  Birthday?  Have a cushion!  Christmas?  Have a cushion!  Wedding?  Have a cushion!  They are a bright little spark of instant gratification.  Today was one of those days.  We have so many celebrations coming up, and amongst them are a couple of first birthdays.  So I decided I would make both these littlies a personalised cushion.  I popped over to Quiet Play and purchased a couple of gorgeous patterns, and jumped in to the first one today......

Amarli's Cushion

I absolutely ADORE this bunting and birdy pattern!  SOOOOOOO easy to put together!  Once I had the paper piecing done, I made the cushion front the right size, basted it and got my free motion quilting on.  Whilst swirling myself silly, I realised just how much I love the freedom you get with FMQ.  And I came to a little old conclusion - the last few quilts I've made, I've found it very difficult to free motion quilt them.  And by that, I mean I just can't FMQ a complete quilt top.  I start, and then unpick because it's just not how I want it to look.  And then I chicken out and just straight line the main part of it, and FMQ around the borders.  It's rather frustrating!  BUT - I find my body thanks me for it.  Regardless, I really, really want to get my FMQ mojo back!  I remember how accomplished I felt when I finished my Flying by the seat of my pants quilt.  I was so utterly impressed with myself!  I want to feel like that again.  And I realise now that the reason I haven't finished my Star-Crossed quilt, is because I know I want to free motion it, but am yet to find that mojo.......  Send me some mojo people!

Amarli's Cushion

Back to this cushion........  I used beautiful baby pink Aurifil #2410 to free motion all the swirls around the pieced sections.  And a little bit of Coral Aurifil to embellish this little birdy with some feathers!

Amarli's Cushion

For the name and date, I used a variegated pink Aurifil #3660, and just lightly wrote the name with a pink marker first, before free motion quilting it.

Amarli's Cushion

And the backing has used up these two gorgeous prints that were originally bought and utilised for this same little girl's cot quilt I made for her when she was still in utero!  It feels like a lifetime ago, but I made this quilt only just over a year ago!

Kissing Fish
More photos of Kissing Fish Quilt HERE.

Soooooo........ That's another project to tick off my list.  Would you believe I have no power all day tomorrow?!?!?!!?  And it's not a work day.  Seriously bummed!  So it will be head down, sewing machine on this weekend.

I'm linking up - You can too!


Paper Piecing Party



7 comments:

  1. That's one sweet little cushion! I love the swirls, and that birdie is just too cute.

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  2. The cushion is so adorable! And it pairs perfectly with the quilt (I gather that the cushion is for the same girl the quilt was make for...). I really like how you decided to stitch the name. Doing it vertically adds a little something, draws the eyes in the other direction.

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  3. What a wonderful cushion! I adore the pattern, and the way you personalized makes it super special! Great job.

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  4. The swirls are a perfect companion for the bird and flags. Adorable! And I don't think I was here to comment on the quilt back when you made it.--love the triangles and pastels.

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  5. That is such a sweet cushion! It's so pretty! Matching it to the lovely quilt you made is perfect. I'm sure the little one who receives it will love it.

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  6. Your FMQ looks fantastic on that cushion! You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, good luck with the quilts though.
    The fish kiss quilt is lovely, I admire the work quilters do, I would love to be able to sew like that xx

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