Friday 8 June 2012

Holiday Sewing

Hello Lovelies ,  we have had a rather jolly Jubilee weekend, time spent with friends and family enjoying the celebrations.
The highlight for me was a local beacon lighting and spectacular firework display. It's great that my boys are old enough to stay up till late on occasion and enjoy such a memorable event. It's dawned on me that they are roughly the same age as I was for the Queen's Silver jubilee 35 years ago. I hope that they will have fond memories of it .........


Fortunately the weather was dry, not warm , but at least dry on Monday evening.

Conditions have rapidly gone downhill since then. At least all the rain has made the garden look very lush and I've had an excuse to carry on sewing this week.

I love watching the pair of blackbirds nesting in our garden gathering food for their young. Here Mr Blackbird looks like he is saying hello to our rabbit ,who is sensibly staying indoors.

When my niece came to visit we spent and enjoyable couple of hours having a go at hand sewn hexagons. Here is her little project.....I love the primary colours she chose and her stitching is so neat......


Yesterday I made a second caravan cushion. This time I decided to make a "log cabin" design. I think this can look complicated , but it's really not at all. My centre square was one of my thrifted cross stitch pictures.
Here I've attached a strip of fabric to the top edge and pressed the seam towards the edge.....



Here I'm about to add the second strip. My strips are 3 inches wide and I made 1/2 inch seams but you can go with what ever suits you.
Trim this strip level with the bottom of the centre square before sewing...




Here I've attached two more strips , first the flowery one was attached to the check and cross stitch . Then the plain blue was attached to three fabrics......

The next side that needs a strip is the top one in this picture. It's easy to get the correct side if you just remember it's always the side made up of three fabrics.

Here's my finished cushion......Ta-Dah ......



As you can see , I've used some different different fabrics this time. I wanted it to co-ordinate with my first cushion but not be too similar.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out .There is a little oops on the back , where I made the fabric an inch too small , so I had to add a strip of the same fabric , but I'm really not upset about it.This time I got some velcro to make the closure . Slightly quicker then hand sewing snap fasteners.

Just this morning as the wind and rain lashed the windows I've made another log cabin...I know , I've got a patchwork addiction!

This one is a teeny pincushion.........using 3 cm strips ........


It's to go in my little work box..........


Now it's time to pack away my sewing machine I thought I would carry on my patchwork addiction with some hexagons of my own  :0)

Jacquie x

36 comments:

  1. The pillow and pin cushion are so cute. Thanks for showing how to make them. Now I want to make a pin cushion like that.

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  2. cushion and pin cushion!!!!! L-O-V-E-L-Y!!!!!!
    xxxxx Alessandra

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  3. I love the owl! I love anything owls, but that one is so cute!

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  4. Jacquie, the caravan is going to look so cheery and welcoming.....love this cushion.
    The fabrics you chose look great with the cross stitch, cute little pin cushion too.....

    Hope the wind and rain ease up in time for the weekend.....

    Claire :

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  5. Am loving the pincushion. If you happen to have any spare sewing 'mojo' would you be so kind as to send it my way?! Mine is still lost without a trace. Thanks xx

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  6. Lovely cushion Jacquie, great way to use that pretty cross stitch!
    Victoria xx

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  7. What a sweet little pin cushion......I feel a 'make' coming on! If I was to grasp at a positive with the weather it is more sewing time, I've made lots of bunting this week to cheer me up! :)

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  8. I love that first shot of the fireworks! What a great idea to make a cushion using the cross-stitch embroidery as a centre-piece. It looks lovely! Great pin cushion and hexagon cut-outs!

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  9. I love that cross stitch piece. So very pretty. Your sewing is wonderful.

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  10. Jacqui - so love these cushions especially since some of your seams don't quite match - it gives me greast comfort - have been folloing your blog for a while but I am getting in a muddle with your crochet patterns - can you help me out please - you say they are us terms - what exactly does thst mean - if it says dc is tha a treble here? - so what is a htr and hdc? - thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    1. Hi, thanks for your comment . Yes you are correct a u.s. double is a u.k. treble. I re-learnt crochet via the internet a few years ago and the u.s. terms just seem easier to me these days. If you google "crochet term conversion" I'm sure you will find a chart to help you.
      Sometimes I feel bad not supporting the u.k. terminology but a lot of my readers think in u.s. terms anyway so I can't please everybody. Wish there was no difference :0)
      Jacquie x

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  11. love your latest cushion.... you are clever! funnily enough I found a cross stitch charity shop cloth in my stash box yesterday and thought about doing something similar... I tried hand patchwork before I taught myself to crochet in 2010 and the process was far too slow for me. Got to go... dinners ready... look forward to seeing what you do next x

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  12. I have a patchwork addiction too - I just wish I could sew and have a got at it instead of just dreaming! X

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  13. Very very pretty Jacquie, and the colors are so happy!!!

    Have a fantastic weekend.

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  14. Welcome to the club. You've done this before I can tell. Once you get started it is hard to stop. Looks gorgeous. Adore that little cross stitch center. Cute!

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  15. Hi Jacquie,love the cushion you made with the tapestry in. We had blackbirds nesting in our garden last year,I loved watching them everyday,feeding collecting twigs,etc. Unfortunatly a magpie had the nest and I awoke one morning to tiny black feathers over My lawn and the adult blackbird sqarking her heart out,I was so,so upset,We find magpies a real nuisance here,there are so many and they seem to intimidate the other birds~so naughty,thats nature I guess,but I still havent got over it. Sorry not a happy story but We still get lots of blackbirds visiting the garden,but no nests this year,thankGoodness.happy weekend,love juliexxx

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  16. I love that cushion. The cross stitch is so cute. where did you get it from???
    I REALLY need to get one with some cushions. The inners are taking up a LOT of space in the spare room. cant decide how to cover them yet tho. I'm thinking crocheted granny squares.

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  17. Ooh pretty cushion, love the colours! I saw a curtain made of hexies recently and have been obsessing over it, gotta learn how to make them! :)

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  18. thanks for your help Jacquie - have done that so am now sorted!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  19. Hi Jacquie, I really love your patchwork cushion and the way you incorporated the cross stitch - very unique and sweet! Have a lovely weekend, Sarah x

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  20. Hi Jacquie,
    I just joined your blog today. I love the cushion, especially the cross stitched center. Very pretty!
    Great shot of the fireworks! I'm glad to hear you had a lovely weekend.
    If you want to check out my blog, it's sssinthesun.blogspot.com.
    Blessings,
    Kate

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  21. Lovely patchwork, thank you for the clear log cabin instructions. I've almost finished a cushion cover with a cross stitch centre, bought the velcro today. I seem to be in the mood for sewing which is a good thing as I am going to a Dottie Angel workshop soon, giddy with excitement!
    Have a lovely weekend.
    Carol xx

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  22. Hi Jacquie - I love all your projects. They are such an anti dote to the cold, wind and rain. I have always liked cross stitch and tapestry projects but have never known what to do with the finished item - the cushion is a great idea. Have a lovely weekend. Lily. xxx

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  23. Lovely little pincushion. It works perfectly next to the little owl.....is it a needle case? So cute!

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  24. hi jacquie. love your cushions. im a hexie girl with too many wips to count. in process of sorting stash, also disgustingly large. many years of collecting. a garage sale coming up. blessings, trills.:-)

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  25. Just catching up here. I love the cushion in the last post, and I LOVE this one! How lucky to have the thrifted cross stitch, and your fabric choices complement it perfectly. It's years since I made anything log cabin ... looking at your projects I can feel my fingers itching to have a go, but I must resist, I have too much knitting on the go to start sewing as well!

    Have a lovely weekend Jacquie :D

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  26. Oooh loving all your sewing and the fabrics you have chosen are yummy! I L-O-V-E that little pin cushion, it's so cute. Thankfully I've just finished some patchwork myself and my sewing urges have been satisfied for a while otherwise I'd definitely have to get myself one of those pincushions!

    The owl is lovely too. Lots of yummy things to look at!

    Helen xx

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  27. Wow your projects are so lovely!!!

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  28. Super patchwork, your cushion is so vibrant and colourful.
    Love the little pincushion too, how cute is that!
    WEll done to your neice on her little hexi's.

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  29. Really like the little pin cushion

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  30. Hi, thanks for the kind words and yeah a link to my little post would be fine, thanks :0). X

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  31. Hey! Could you check out my latest post :) there is something for you to read!

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  32. Lovely patchwork, very colourful and pretty!

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  33. Thanks for the mini tutorial - I've always wondered how to do log cabins and they seem a lot easier than I initially thought. Will have to have a go very soon. Love the little pin cushion you made, so cute. x

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  34. Those are so pretty! I have many finished but unused cross stitch projects, so I'll think about doing this. I'm sure that mine won't be as perfect as yours, though. I'm very impressed with the edging!

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  35. I like your cushion very much, both really. The more I see this kind of work the I want to make by myself.
    Thanks

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