Tuesday, 24 June 2008

Summer cushions...

When I visited The Quilt Room a couple of months ago to buy the wadding for my Urban Garden Quilt, I also slipped into my basket a little fat eighth pack of Heather Bailey's Freshcut fabrics. The colours are so summery; they were too hard to resist not having a little piece of each!


I decided to give my garden furniture a revamp and came up with these quilted cushions. The plain and big spotty fabrics are from John Lewis and I got all 6 cushions out of a metre of each with some to spare. In fact, I've got enough of all the fabrics to make at least another 2 cushions. Enough to fit on each seat at the table.



I used some wadding off-cuts to give them a bit of body and hand-stitched along the seams with a running stitch. Then I bought some more of the Freshcut fabrics to make the binding.


In the past when I've made cushions, the faffing about with zips and other methods of closure has been my least favourite part of the process. So, at pains to avoid all the unnecessary swearing and stomping at unevenness in the zip department, I put my new found quilting skills to use by binding the layers together and just leaving a gap like a pillowcase in the back to slip in the pad. It works a treat and is stress-free.

So, along with a nice new pink tablecloth, the seating under my lovely pergola is rejuvenated and looking very inviting. It's strange, I've not really been in to pink before, but here I sit in my new pink crocs... I wonder if I bought them to coordinate with my cushions?

19 comments:

  1. They are just gorgeous - really lovely. You will have the best garden for miles what with your vines and pergola and hammock and cushions!

    Nice crocs too ... mine are just black *blush* x

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  2. wow, they really are fabulous..your garden will be even more worthy of a place in 'Homes and Gardens' now. Like the idea of the pillow case type thing and no zips as well. Really beautiful.x

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  3. Tracy, these are gorgeous! I drove past The Quilt Room the other day, in too much of a hurry to stop.(Dorking does have some great shops). Great idea to ditch the zips, too. Dx

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  4. I could practically eat those cushions - they are SO delicious. How clever you are to choose such irresistible colour combinations.

    I'm thinking that if you did a tutorial it could be on the all time Blogland Greatest Hits!

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  5. They are really lovely, everyone will want to come and sit there. I avoid the zips too

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  6. wonderful cushions - they look so professionally finished and the fabrics are perfect together.

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  7. And they are the perfect colour to use in your hammock too. Good job you!

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  8. You have a wonderful eye for colour - these could be in a magazine as someone else said - they are lovely!

    Has the weather improved enough yet to actually use them?

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  9. Gorgeous cushions..I'm not a huge pink lover but these are really refreshing with the lime green..The colours and patterns work really well together.. another inviting outdoor space to go with your beautiful hammock! :)

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  10. Lovely work! They are just beautiful.

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  11. Gosh, they look like they should be in an interiors magazine!

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  12. Goodness what fabulous cushions, I am hugely envious! Hope we get a bit more sunshine so you can relax outside on them in the garden.
    Stephx

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  13. Yes these are truly gorgeous cushions, no doubt about it, you clever thing you.

    If you ever ever have the spare time or the inclination to do a tutorial on how to bind and create a zip-less cushion cover, it would be so very very much appreciated as I would love to do similar and yours are so beautifully made.
    xx

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  14. Those cushions would look really good in my garden! I would love to be able to make some cushions as stylish as yours. I think the binding really adds a finishing touch.

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  15. I love the idea of using binding on the cushions - I still have quite a substantial zip fear. And great fabrics too - pink and green just belong together.

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  16. These are FANTASTIC, Tracy...love them all! You have such a great way of pairing fabrics and color...You'll be sitting pretty with these! ;o) Happy weekend ((HUGS))

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  17. simply fabulous and totally stylish!

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  18. I just love these pillows!!! They are so summery and bright-I need to make some similar ones to brighten up our sunroom.

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  19. they are just so lovely, I love your choice of fabric.

    Gill from Canada

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