Big Ass Cushion no1
I’ll tell you a little story that I’m sure 83% of you can relate to. About a year ago Mr. Sparkles said to me, “I want some new cushions for the couch.” The implication there was obvious: I was to make them. On our next trip to the warehouse of requirement, IKEA, we bought three feather cushion inserts for said cushions. We brought them home and I packed them into the top of the cupboard until I could find a spare moment to whip up those cushions. Over the past year Mr. Sparkles has repeated his plea about thirty-six thousand times. I must have had the hair dryer on every time he asked because I surely couldn’t have heard his deafening cries. Well this past weekend finally came, and I managed to create the first of three Big Ass Cushions.
I call them that because when I unfurled them from the packaging, the inserts were 26″, not the 20″ version I was expecting. This is totally more than fine (actually preferred now), it just caught me and my fabric off guard. I’m the person that always buys half yards, so finding something in my stash that is a continuous length of 26″ … harder than a drag queen’s tuck! Lucky for me (and Mr. Sparkles) I had picked up this Libs Elliott True Love print called Wound Up from East Coast Fabrics on a recent trip to Brisbane. I haven’t even Sunday Stash-ed it yet! It was originally going to be a backing for my Gold Dust quilt, but it’s found its true purpose in life!
I made a quilt sandwich from the print, and did simple straight line quilting to hold it all together. Y’all really liked that process photo on Instagram of me spray basting it on my work bench. I wouldn’t be surprised if it winds up in my #topnineof2018. For the backing, I used a micro-suede that I have had stashed for ages and used on two previous occasions. It’s literally the perfect backing to sit your head, or your big ass on. I eschewed a zipper for hand stitching the casing closed. You can see my tiny little stitches above, which let me tell you, going through micro-suede and a quilt sandwich is not as fun as you may think! Ouch! Once this cushion gets too much love, it’ll be tossed so Mr. Sparkles can start asking me for new ones. Rinse and repeat.
I looked at the photo before I read the text. I thought “ jeez that’s some damn fine piecing , it’s perfect!! “ I kinda wish I didn’t know it’s printed ! Lol . Hint ……. I hate cushions with empty corners so always make the cover 1 inch smaller all around
and I get nice fat cushions just full of life ! Of course you might like empty corners !! Love every blog xxxxxx
Looks amazing! I love that print and have some in my stash – maybe a new cushion will appear here soon too!
So when are you going to make the other 2? We are extremely lacking in cushions and an Ikea store is opening in our city in May so inners are on my shopping list to fill all the cushion covers we have.
So jazzy. Love the look of these cushions.
Lovely! The micro-seude sounds like a great texture for the pillow.
I’ll have to try that hairdryer trick… although at least I have hair! I saw this on Instagram and couldn’t work out if it was pieced or not. Wouldn’t this print enlarged make a great quilt design… and then you could have a matching throw!! Do you want me to email Adam so that he can ask you eleventy million times??