This project has been designed by Lou Orth who loves fabric and sewing. She writes regularly for a number of sewing magazines and she blogs at Imstudiolou.wordpress.com
This bright cushion is a beautiful way to use up any Liberty scraps or a charm pack you don’t know what to do with.
A quick make that is great for quilting beginners, the cushion panel could also be repeated and turned into a quilt top.
You will need…
1/2 metre of Essex Linen in Steel Grey – ours was kindly supplied by Dragonfly Fabrics
Eight 5” squares of pink patterned Liberty fabrics (perfect for charm squares or Liberty scraps) – Abakhan have a selection of Liberty fabrics
Calico – 20” square for lining the cushion cover
Wadding – 20” square
Cutting Out
Essex Linen – Two 16 1/2” x 10” pieces for cushion back and eight 5” squares for cushion front
To Sew
Pair one Essex Linen and one Liberty square together, right sides facing. Draw a line diagonally from one corner, to the other.
Sew 1/4″ either side of this line, then cut along the line.
Press open and trim to 4 1/2” with the seam running diagonally through the block. Each pairing will give you two half square triangles (HSTs).
Repeat for all eight pairings. You will now have a total of sixteen blocks.
Using the image above as a guide, arrange your HSTs to form a chevron pattern. Sew together in horizontal rows and press.
Then attach rows together and press your whole front cushion panel.
Make up a quilt sandwich of cushion panel, wadding and then calico lining. Baste using your chosen method (pins, basting glue etc.) and quilt as desired. I have chosen straight line quilting in a light grey thread with one accent hot pink line. When you have finished quilting, trim excess wadding and the calico backing.
Take the two Essex Linen back pieces and hem each along the long side. Do this by folding in twice, by approximately 1/4”.
To make in to a cushion, place the front panel right side up with the two back panels on top, right sides together, with the hemmed edges overlapping in the middle and the corners together. Pin the in place and sew around the outside edge, using a 1/4” seam allowance. Trim seams, cut across the corner edges and turn out.
