Just me and Flo

I'm home alone this weekend. Mr JK has been running in a 24 hour race - you run as many 10k circuits as you like over a 24 hour period. (Yes, I know, my husband is officially bonkers!) As it involved camping, I declined the opportunity to go with him, as I prefer a proper bed and a nice bathroom! The very thought of a portaloo makes me shudder! So Flo and I have kept each other company. She has definitely missed Mr JK, and has spent the past two nights snuggled up to me on the bed. 

Yesterday, I went to see my dear friend Snoopydog for a long-overdue day of sewing. Snoops had admired my Contact Print cushions ...

... so for her birthday, I gave her a kit to make her own cushion. We set a date towards the end of the school holidays but Snoops had the chance to visit Provence at the last minute, the lucky thing! So Saturday was set aside for sewing. Of course, the first thing we did was catch up with our news over a cuppa and cake!

The instructions for making the cushion cover are here on Crazy Mom Quilts blog. They are very clear and easy to follow. First Snoops arranged the mini charm squares in a pattern that was pleasing to the eye. Actually quite tricky to avoid pattern/colour repetition too close together! Anyway, this arrangement worked well...

The patterned squares are joined together in long strips, with plain blocks in between. Then each strip is separated from the next by a narrow strip of plain fabric, with wider strips at the top and bottom. 

The cushion front needs to be ironed before basting the wadding to it and trimming it nice and square. Rotary cutters are so handy for this.

After that, it's full steam ahead with the quilting. Snoops used a straight stitch. Next time I make one, I might try a wavy one and see how I like it. There are so many different stitches on my sewing machine, it would be good to try a few new ones out.

I had already picked a spotty backing fabric for the cushion, knowing just how particular Snoops is about details like that! The cushion has a simple envelope opening which is fairly quick to sew once all the lines of quilting have been stitched.

All that's left is to turn the cover round the right way, put the cushion inside and plump it up nicely! I think it's fair to say that Snoops was feeling pretty pleased with herself, and quite right too! I predict that this will be the first of many she will be making!

Today, once I got my planning out of the way, I worked on a couple of secret projects for Stylecraft. I'll be taking part in their Blogtour which starts at the end of next month, so you'll have to wait a little longer to see what I've been making! Here are just a couple of sneaky peeks!

Of course Flo had to be in on the action. I had pinned out my knitting and left it on the table in the garden to dry in the sun. Next time I looked out, Flo had plonked herself slap bang in the middle of it! And she did not want to move, no indeed! I was worried about her hurting herself on a pin, so eventually managed to turf her off! I promise to share some of the photos later! By the way, I am considering hiring Flo out for blocking knitwear. Very reasonable rates. Let me know if you're interested! Now I will love you and leave you for today and get back to my knitting. xxx