We have been busy in the studio making Liberty floor & scatter cushions. We’ve made four really pretty cushions from the two new Liberty fabric collections.
The Liberty floor & scatter cushions are all made using the log cabin design. This quilt design is really fun and easy to use which makes it popular with quilting beginners. It’s also popular with long time quilters too though as you can play around with different fabrics to change the overall look of your cushion or quilt. We have chosen random fabrics from the two new Liberty collections for this project as we wanted to use as many of the fabrics as we could.
You can buy the fabric from the Alpine Symphony Collection here and from the Pocket Full of Memories children’s collection here.
Liberty Floor & Scatter Cushions – How to:
*The large floor cushions were designed using the basic pattern from my book for the Rosie Floor Cushion*
- Simply start with a square size of your choice. This may vary depending on which size cushion pad you are using. We have used cushion pads of 16″, 18″ and 27″ for the large floor cushions. Your square will need to be 1/2 an inch larger than the finished size to allow for a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
- Cut strip of fabric to a width suitable for the cushion size. We have used 1.5″ for the 16″ pad, 2″ strips for the 18″ cushion pad and 2.5″ strips for the 27″ cushion pad.
- Allow 1/4 ” seams for the whole cushion front. Start by adding a strip of fabric onto one side of the square. Pin, trim to the required length and sew. Press away from the central seam. Put the strip to one side to re-use.
- Turn the square anticlockwise. Choose another fabric (we have chosen randomly using lots of different fabrics but you can create your own pattern and design) and sew along another edge of the square plus the first fabric.
- Repeat this process going around the square in an anticlockwise way. Keep adding to each side of the cushion cover. The finished cover should have an even number of strips on each side and should match the size of your pad.
- Sew a backing on to your cushion using the envelope method. This uses 2 pieces of fabric which match the height of your cushion pad. The pieces need to overlap by at least 5 inches and more for the larger cushions. Press 1/2″ along one short edge of each piece and again another 1/2″. Sew.
- Sew the back to the front all with right sides together and with the envelop backing overlapping.
- Pull through the envelope hole and press.
- Enjoy your cushion.
Once you have mastered the technique of the log cabin block then the quilting world will open up to you. There are endless possibilities of trying out different colours and fabrics to change the effect of the finished project.
As ever, happy sewing!
Love Alice x
