A Cushion (or two!) for Christmas

:: Giveaway now closed::

 We’re all on the hunt for handmade goodies we can make for Christmas gifts at this time of year. Particularly ones that are fairly quick to make! So clever MsMidge has put together a blog hop featuring cute cushions that can be made in less than a day (you should see the amazing cushions Midge has made!). And today is my stop on the hop!

So seeing as I have two kidlets, I made two cushions. But guess what? I made them both in one day. Easy peasy. Ok so I cheated a little. I bought these some awesome screenprinted panels from the very talented Cat & Vee. I've been wanting to get some of these panels for awhile - this was the perfect excuse! I didn’t need to add too much to the cushions as I didn’t want to detract from these sweet puppies.



I let the kids choose which panels they wanted from Cat & Vee’s shop. Let me tell you – there was much deliberation going on before they both surprised me by wanting the same little panel – called Pipsqueak. Fortunately the panel was printed in different colours including my kids’ favourites – pink and red.



I added simple patchwork borders around the outside of the panel. Being that the panel is linen, I then reinforced the seams by zig zagging close to the straight stitched seam as well.

The pom pom trim was suggested by my friend Erin of Missy Mac Creations. She’s on a pom pom trim kick, and now so am I. This was my first time working with this kind of trim but it was really quite easy!



It makes for a lovely tactile edging to the cushion. Plus, cute. I followed this tutorial on how to add the pom pom trim and it worked perfectly. Oh except I left some of the trim base to peek through my cushion edging, rather than having it tucked all completely inside the cushion. That was just personal preference (plus the trim was a lot wider than I realised!).



I really wanted red pom pom trim for this cushion but unfortunately there was none to be found in any of the three shops I visited. I guess with Christmas approaching, there are a lot of people hoarding red pom pom trim to drape around their tree. Or something.



The blue works alright – and apparently it’s my son’s second favourite colour. So that makes it acceptable to him

I finished both cushions off with a zipper closure – was a tad tricky with the pom pom trim as well but I managed. Also I should mention, I like a nice plump stuffed cushion, so I made my cushion cover around 14.5” square, while the cushion insert was 16”. Makes for a lovely full cushion!
So within a day, I managed to get something made for both my kidlets for Christmas and tick one more thing off my list!



Now I have a little extra for my post! The lovely Catherine and Vanita (the clever girls behind Cat & Vee) popped in some extra little panels as goodies in my order. It came as a lovely surprise to find those in there, along with a note from Catherine saying I could do with them what I wished! So I’ve decided to share the generosity and offer these cute Awesomeville panels up for a giveaway!



Aren’t these the cutest?! These postcard sized panels can go into a 4” x 6” frame, or be turned into a mini cushion, or pincushion or whatever you can think of! Now I better be upfront. Awesomeville panels come in a pack of 5… but there are only 4 pictured here for the giveaway (the two outside are postcards). Sorry. Little Miss fell in love with the fox, and well, that was that.



Can’t really blame her, can you?! Though of course if you want the full pack, you can find it here.
So for a chance to win these little bits of cuteness… just leave a comment – maybe tell me what your favourite item is from Cat & Vee’s shop! Followers get a bonus entry (though you need to leave a second entry saying so). A winner will be drawn on the 9th December, Aussie time.

And after you’ve left a comment for the giveaway, pop by and check out the rest of the blog hop. There’s all sorts of fabulous inspiration to be found! Oh yeah and you get to be part of the fun too! There will be a linky party at MsMidge’s place on the 14th December to share your cushions and have a chance at some fab prizes! Check out all the details here.
 

Happy cushion-making, my quilty friends!