scrappy triangle cushion

I made this cushion using my cotton + steel fabrics as part of my #100dayproject on Instagram. I grouped the fabrics into colour families and pieced half square triangles around a central economy block to create the design. The cushion finishes up at 18". If you would like to make your own, here's how to do it …

To create the patchwork, you will need to cut: 

1 blue square @ 4 3/4"

4 yellow triangles

8 navy triangles

20 cream triangles

20 pink triangles

12 peach triangles

4 teal triangles

 For the half square triangles, I use the easy angle ruler and cut to a 3 1/2". If you don't have this ruler, cut squares at 3 7/8th" and split on the 45 degree angle. 

For the economy block, position the first two triangles opposite each other, RST onto the central square. Align along the outer edges, pin and sew. Press open, then repeat for the remaining two sides as seen above. Trim the finished block to a square (this should be 6 1/2"). 

 To construct the half square triangle blocks, place two triangles RST, pin and sew along the long edge. Press open and trim to a square, removing the dog ears on the corners. Ensure all of the half square triangle blocks are the same size (this should be 3 1/2"). 

To put the cushion top together, I like to lay out all of my cut pieces to check I'm happy with the layout. I then stitch the centre block, followed by the surrounding half square triangles. I like to chain piece, so I prep all of the blocks and then stitch and press in stages. To join the blocks, I group into 4 patches around the centre, then piece together as shown above. 

I chose to hand quilt the top to highlight the diamonds created by the colours. I used aurifil 12WT and echo quilted, using a large quilting hoop to help with the tension as I stitched. Of course, you could machine quilt if your preferred. 

To finish the cushion, I created a concealed zip back (tutorial post here) and bound the edges with 2 1/4" binding (binding tutorial post here) for a neat finish to coordinate with my catty corner quilt (see here).

I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out and Millie approves too. I hope this blog helps you to create your own version. Of course, you can switch around the colour schemes for completely different looks to make use of your fabric scraps. 

Mx

Finish a long 2020 update

So Q1 of the finish a long did not go to plan, I only finished a few projects (not even my priority ones) and started a lot more.  

So I finished my birthday stitchers swap gifts, which included a patchwork tote bag, a sewing organiser and drawstring pouch (blog post about them here).A little fabric basket and drawstring bag using leftover fabric from my meadowland quilt. The biggest finish was my cotton and steel catty corner quilt and I even made a couple of cushions to match (blog post about my quilt here).

So on to Q2... this will be a different kind of 3 months. I am doing my #100daysusingcottonandsteel challenge and also hosting a sew along, so that will take a large portion of my sewing time. 
I have allowed exceptions though, since I have a few gifts to make, maybe even a couple of other sneaky projects. I am hopefully going to make a couple of my cotton and steel finish a long projects during my 100 days too. 
With all this in mind, my list for Q2 is:

A postage stamp style quilt using 4.5” squares, I have just started cutting and I’m not sure when it will get quilted but it’s going on my list.
A hst quilt, all planned and a little cutting.
A wonderland fabric quilt, again made a little start.
A half square triangle cushion, cut and ready to get sewing. 
My unicorn retreat pouch, been cut ready to sew for a couple of years.
A pin badge banner, tote bag and a scrappy pouch, hopefully another quilt too!

Non cotton and steel projects:
Millie’s cool mat cover because she will need it as the weather gets hotter.
A bag for my nanas birthday for her knitting, has to be done by may!
A pouch as a Father’s Day... this might turn to a birthday if I don’t get it made.
My #snappyzippouch for my phone, because it’s all ready to sew and even been floating on my desk for a month.
My liberty cord and cork pouch, part way through sewing and it’s a shame to leave it much longer.
A basket for my basket.
Plus anything in my box of wips that I need to finish, previously mentioned in a blog post here!

I also am hosting a sew along for my latest sewing pattern, which is a little bit different since it’s embroidery rather than a sewing pouch etc. I will be hopefully making a couple of projects during the 6 weeks.

This list is totally unrealistic, but as long as I make an effort with my 100 day project and make a good dent in my stash as well as taking part in my sew along, I will be very happy... any other finishes are just a bonus!
Mx

My #100dayproject!

For the last few years I have joined in with an Instagram based challenge called the 100 day project. You get to choose your own project or goals and for 100 days you work on them and post daily photos. I’m never very good at the daily posting but do love a nice challenge and setting myself goals. The best thing about this is you get to pick your own project to work on.

I’m sure I have mentioned before, I’m making an all cotton and steel, EPP ice cream soda quilt. It’s a fabulous pattern and a long term project, but because I wanted a nice scrappy feel and a total celebration of cotton and steel, I needed lots of prints. So I started collecting, mostly bought as fat quarters or scrap packs, but also swapped or kindly gifted fabrics too.

My stash is now pretty huge and I feel like I need to use some of it up...well a lot actually. With that in mind I have chosen my project for this year, #100daysusingcottonandsteel ! I have a plan including a lot of things I’d like to make. Hopefully I will get them all finished, however, I doubt it given the fact I’m including a couple of quilts. Not my ice-cream soda quilt, that would be just crazy! I do plan to sew some blocks though.

I got far too excited planning my project and have already spent quite some time selecting fabrics and lots of cutting preparation. Given the fact I got distracted doing this and forgot about a couple of gifts I needed to make, I am going to set aside a couple of days off during my 100 days to make those. 

So an outline of my project :

Try and use up as much of my cotton and steel stash. Make as many projects in the 100days as I can. Try to post daily, probably in my story and completed projects on my feed. Most importantly, use my stash and have fun!

Now onto the projects I want to make :

• A postage stamp/sampler style quilt. This will hopefully be a square of every cotton and steel fabric I currently own.  I’m hoping this will be a bed sized quilt so I will try to do the top and maybe the back, but will probably send it away to be long arm quilted and doubt it will be back in time to be fully complete. (I don’t know when this will be given the strange circumstances we are currently in).
• A wonderland quilt. I don’t have enough to have a bed sized quilt but I should manage a nice lap size. I will try to quilt and bind this one myself, hopefully finished in the 100days.
• A patchwork tote bag. I have made a couple of nice tote bags lately and really want one of my own.
• A scrappy triangle patchwork cushion.
• My unicorn retreat pouch and maybe a couple of other pouches.
• A pin badge banner, just because.
• I will also do some slow stitching and work on my ice cream soda quilt blossoms!
• I’m sure a few other bits will be made along the way too, maybe even another couple of quilts... let’s see how it goes...

So let’s see what I can do over the next 100 days using cotton and steel!

Mx