When I got my Nan for our family secret Santa, I knew exactly what to make. I have had these gorgeous water colour bird panels in for a while now and have been meaning to make one up to show how beautiful they are. The panel gets you four squares, so I have chosen to make a cushion with one of them. This will be an on going blog as I use the remaining three in other projects.
YOU WILL NEED
Half metre of backing fabric
Sewing machine (with zipper foot attachment)
Wadding
Sharp Scissors
Pins
Iron and ironing board
1. Decide which design you want to use for your cushion. My Nan has lilacs and purples in her room so I thought the bird with the floral circle around it was perfect. Cut around your square evenly, leaving yourself a 1/2" seam allowance.
Lay your backing fabric over your square so that it is roughly 3/4 of the height and the same width. You will need two pieces this size.
2. Cut a piece of wadding just a little larger than your patch and pin it to the back. The wadding isn't 100% necessary, especially if you are not going to free motion quilt your panel but it does give it a good shape and makes it feel more expensive.
3. I have decided to do a small amount of free motion quilting to help some of the details stand out. My free motion quilting isn't great at the best of times, and for this I had the help of my two year old, so it certainly isn't perfect, but it was lovely that he was so interested!
George and I picked out what parts we were going to "colour in", we decided on the feathers, the circular flowers and some of the paler flowers. I particularly loved how the feathers turned out.
4. I have decided to use this ombre pink and purple pom pom trim because it worked so well with the colours. You could use piping or skip this part altogether if you wanted.
Place your pom pom trim with the edge hanging off the fabric, trim the end pom pom off. Make sure your pom poms are facing into the fabric and pin it to the edge of the fabric. I would suggest pinning the first few inches and then sewing carefully, remembering to check you are leaving an even seam allowance all the way round. You will find this much easier with a zipper foot or your needle to the left, if your machine allows it, and a longer stitch to baste it in place. When you get to the end ensure your ends are pointing off the edge of the fabric.
5. Put your cushion front to one side while we do the back. Fold over the long edge of your fabric by half and inch, press and then fold over again. Sew a straight stitch all the way along.
6. With your main pom pommed fabric facing the right way up place your backing fabric, face down (right sides together). Place your second piece on top. Flip it over and pin. You will need to pin it well at this point to ensure all your pom poms stay on the inside.
7. You will need your zipper foot again to sew your front and back together. I had the front panel facing me (which is why I suggested you flipped before you pinned) so I could see the previous stitch line. You will need to ensure that you are just over your previous stitch line so it doesn't show when the cushion is the right way round. I have rounded off the edges as this was the easiest way to manipulate the pom poms. You may need a knitting needle or something pointy to poke the pom poms back in as you go.
8. I have learnt from experience that it is best to turn the cushion the right way round at this point to make sure you haven't missed any bits, got any holes or eaten any of the pom poms. If all is good, turn it inside out again, trim and finish off the edges. I used an over locker but a zig zag stitch on your machine will work just as well if you don't have one.
9. Turn the right way, push out your corners, insert your cushion filler and enjoy!
I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. For more free sewing tutorials and inspiration you can sign up to my mailing list. You will also receive notification when new fabrics arrive and I have any fabric SALES running.
EDIT 23/07/19
I have now use the other three squares from this panel on another cushion and a bag. You can see how I made them here.
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