Pirate patchwork cushion.

It's a  lovely summer again with lots of visits this year from family. I love to make a little keepsake gift for my adorable niece and nephew and this year decided to make them a patchwork cushion to take home.

 Now for me, making anything for a boy is quite a challenge-I just have never had the practice and can't say my interest runs to football and the like! However, there is one theme that I do enjoy and it is so linked to Cornwall...pirates! Luckily my little nephew likes to be a pirate on occasions especially when he is down here in Cornwall. 

Inspired by this cute little offcut I decided to make the ship the centre of the cushion and match some of Ollie's favourite colours around it in simple strips, keeping the central focus. 

Love the clean lines, symmetry and bright colours of this fabric.

Headed for my quilting stash unfortunately being faced with the fact I really should stop the sewing and have a good tidy out. I blame this on being creative.

Eek! or as we are on a pirate theme...aaaarrrrggghhhh!!

Basically I don't have a clue what I do have in the way of fabric any more. I can only get away with blaming creative for so long-I may have to have a sort out before I disappear under an avalanche of Michael Miller and Amy Butler....

After much rifling through (and a few surprises-when did I get that exactly/oh I've just ordered some of that-didn't know I already had some etc) I put some sea themed pieces together.

Great-Ollie's favourite colours being red, black and blue I could do something with that. Would love to work in that cheeky shark with the jaws. I also love 'worded' fabric-aren't these old pirate sayings fun?

Well shiver me timbers...better get started! One of my favourite parts of doing anything patchy is mixing and matching colours, then noting how the colours interact with each other for best effect. 

I started with a black check around the ship as the ship was outlined ,then tried this deep textured blue which had a kind of wave effect: this gave focus to the waves and background.

 However, then trying out the red/white polka dots (Cath Kidston old favourite!) really brought the sails to life!

 If we try both, there should be some great lift to the central colours:

Coming along nicely...would love to fit in that cheeky shark but in fact he did distract the eye from the ship. He probably wanted to be the central piece!

So to finish had to go for 'Shiver me timbers/sharkbait etc.' Sharkbait?? Sounds ghastly but I think Ollie will approve, as he was keen to relate the most gruesome facts of the Great Plague as a conversation starter at dinner last week. 

I then machine quilted the patchwork 'in the ditch' to a lightweight wadding and backed the cushion in the original black check 'frame' of the ship. I gave the cushion an envelope style opening, using the overlocker for speed.

 Finished! Quite pleased with the co-ordination but most pleased that I really enjoyed making it! 

The cushion measured just 12 inches as I have a stash of cushion inserts to fit that size!

All ready for a little pirate and now oh what joy-a girlie one for my lovely niece who loves unicorns...now where did I see those gorgeous designs by Michael Miller??

Then it will need to be a good summer quilt fabric tidy up...no more 'creative' excuses? Well maybe...

How's your creative space?  Sometimes it's good to find a surprise lurking amongst all that forgotten stash!

Hope you're having a fantastic and creative summer xx

Getting to the heart of wedding craft!

I really need to thank you all so very much for taking the time to leave such kind and thoughtful messages on my last post about the loss of our lovely dog Kate-  your kindness is truly appreciated-thank you. 

I have begun to crack on with the wedding crafts with a vengeance-less than three weeks to go now!

As part of the decorations and gifts my daughter wanted me to incorporate some of the little hearts I usually make using Cath Kidston fabrics. Generally I work to a simple idea using two fabrics and decorating with a ribbon message:

This time I wanted something a little more fitting for the vintage Paris theme. It was the perfect excuse to browse Pinterest and put together a board of ideas: 'Heirloom Wedding'. At last I could put to use some of that gorgeous vintage lace I have and seek out more Paris themed fabrics! 

I love fabrics which incorporate vintage photographs. 

I have some wonderful vintage laces, some left to me by my mother and wanted to include them as much as possible. I put them together with buttons, rosettes and a few fabric flower shapes made from scraps of Laura Ashley vintage fabrics.

I liked the idea of hand stamping motifs onto linen as well. I used  Versacraft ink as it seems to have much more depth when hand stamping on fabric. 

I tried out some ideas-the personalised label was made using a custom stamp: 

I used a little blue French toile linen for this one. The tiny rosette is a scrap of Laura Ashley vintage 'Wild Clematis'.

I planned to make these ones as special keepsakes for the main bridal party and thought it would be more special to make each one a little different. 

It was pure pleasure selecting vintage buttons and working with the gorgeous lace! 

A little touch of vintage Paris and lace from a vintage wedding gown went into this one,

I do hope the recipients will enjoy them and keep as a memento of the day.

Do you like vintage lace? How do you use it? It always makes me think of those beautiful weddings of the 1920s and 30s before wartime shortages set in! 

Ah... a vintage wedding in the city of light. Hopefully I will be able to create just a little flavour of this era for Laura and Adam on their special day! 

Have a lovely week

Best wishes

Alison xx