Valentine’s gift

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner so it’s really time to think about a gift for your loved one. How about making something different this time. Not a card, not a tag, but a cushion. A comfortable pillow, colorful and soft, big (65 x 65 cm / 26 x 26 inches) and with a broad floppy border, really easy and fast to sew.


Layer a piece of foundation fabric 28 x 28 inches (70 x 70 cm) with a thin piece of batting the same size. Put a piece of fabric 18 x 18 inches (45 x 45 cm) in your background color (here dark blue) in the middle of the batting. All measurements given include 1/4″ (0,75 cm) seam allowance

Sew border strips in 4 different colors around the background piece. The strips have a width of 1¾ inches (4,5 cm). Sew through all layers – sewing and quilting at the same time. Now sew border strips the color of the background around the piece. These strips are 3½ inches (9 cm) wide.

Make a template for the heart. Draw a square 6 x 6 inches (15 x 15 cm) and draw the heart into this square – so you get the right size for the heart if you want to put 4 onto the pillow. Cut out your template and draw it 4 times to the paper side of fusible web, reversing 2 of them. Cut them out roughly. Iron the fusible to the backside of your chosen fabric and cut out the hearts. Fuse them to the background piece and appliqué them by machine, appliquéing and quilting at the same time.

If you want to have more quilting now it’s the time. I was satisfied with quilting around the color-border and the hearts.

Iron. Cut the foundation fabric and the batting to the size of the top.

Cut 2 pieces of background fabric for the back of the cushion 26 x 18 inches (65 x 45 cm). On one 26 inches (65 cm) side turn the edge ½ inch (1,5 cm) to the left side of the fabric, iron and turn another ½ inch (1,5 cm) and iron again. Machinstitch this seam. Do this on both backside pieces.

Layer top with right side up and the 2 pieces of the the backside left side up on top of it. Align the edges of the top and the backside pieces. The backside pieces will overlap in the middle – that’s where the seams are. Sew all around the outside of the pillow, backstitching at the beginning and the end. Turn the cushion right sides out, iron and sew once again in the ditch between the colored and the uni borderstrips.

Put a pillow 20 x 20 inches (50 x 50 cm) in the cover. Done!

I hope you like this idea for a gift. And it’s not only for Valentine’s Day. Think about Mother’s Day, birthdays, a gift for your son/daughter at college, …….. So why not sew some more cushions while you are at it. Have fun!

I’m linking this to Off the Wall Friday and to Can I get a Whoop Whoop?

 

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