Completed Hawaiian Cushion

A few weeks ago I told you about my Hawaiian Quilt. Well, I got up this morning at the crack of dawn (thanks to my adoring pet cat wanting my company) and decided that as the sun was out at the front of the house I would enjoy the sun and sit in it and sew something. That something was the cushion using my Hawaiian Quilt block that I showed you.

This cushion was made according to the instructions given by my patchwork teacher, as she wants us to learn how to put in zips. If I hadn't been told to make it this way, I probably would have just made an envelope cushion cover (cos I've made those before).

I am well aware that this cushion is far from perfect, because essentially I ran out of energy and just wanted to get it done. However I am pretty proud of it none the less.

The cushion front is only 13" square and I had a 14" zip, so acting on advice received I sewed back and forth across the end of the zip and chopped off a couple of inches. It seems to have worked ok so I shall remember this technique!

I am pretty pleased that my zip seems to be square to the edges of the cushion and the zip is all neatly hidden away. I managed to sew up really close to the zip using my zipper foot.

I hope that this isn't too close, will the fabric catch in the teeth?. I think it is ok. Its not like I will be using the zipper very often. I like this technique for hiding the zip away. It looks so much neater than having it on display.

I wish I had been able to face doing piping for this cushion as I think it would have really made the finished cushion look professional, but I knew I wouldn't get the cushion finished any time soon, if I stopped to make piping. The piping would have finished me off!

I think maybe piping would have held the seams a bit more rigid and straight. I just used toy stuffing as I didn't have a cushion pad that would fit my tiny cushion, but it seems to have worked ok.

The finished cushion may not be great but it has taught me a lot of different skills, not the least of which is hand quilting and adding zips. These are pretty important skills, the rest will come with practice.

Hawaiian Quiltiness

I bet you have forgotten all about my Hawaiian Quilting haven't you? Its been ages since I last spoke about it, because frankly all that hand sewing was a little dull. Well dull to talk about, I quite enjoyed doing it. I have finally finished the hand quilting part of my cushion cover.

I particularly enjoyed squaring off the corners. It seems strange to me that something made of curves and dashes can have such a finished edge to it and look so square. I think my stitching is pretty even. I didn't use a gauge for my 1/4" gaps between stitching lines, which does mean the quilting isn't exact, but I think my eyeballing isn't bad considering.

The next step in this series of adventures is to make some piping (if I can be bothered) and sew a zip into the back of the cushion and then make it up into something gorgeous to go on the sofa. I'll keep you posted!