Patchwork!

My Granny's Bernina Sewing
Machine, brought in 1971!

Although I think it is physically impossible to try out every single craft tecnique, at the moment I am really enjoying having a go! So last weekend I went to my Granny's house to attempt patchwork.



Grandmother's Garden

My Granny is literally a sewing legend and has been making her own clothes since the 1940's! She is a bit like me in the sense that she enjoys a bit of everything, though over the last 10 years, patchwork has been her thing. I have benefitted greatly from this and so far, have had a single quilt, a lap quilt for when I was ill and now she is making me a beautiful double quilt in a traditional grandmothers garden pattern (and she has been making these quilts for her other 6 grandchildren!! Amazing lady!).

We decided to start with a basic patchwork technique that would build up quickly, so that I could come away with something at the end of the day. Therefore the log cabin pattern seemed to fit the bill nicely!

Cutting: We started by cutting, using a rotary cutter and board, a perfect 4" square for the centre. We then cut, 2.5" wide strips to surround this square, increasing in length as the patchwork got larger, using different fabrics to create the 'patchwork effect'!

 Sewing: When all the strips of contrasting fabric had been cut perfectly straight (not in my nature- I'm usually quite 'relaxed') we pinned the strips, two at a time, to the centre square. sewing them together on a 1/4" seam and pressing inwards with a searing hot iron (again usually quite 'relaxed' at doing this too! Oops!) to keep the design flat. Then we just kept adding strips until we had built a square large enough to fit the front of our cushion.

Constructing Your Cushion: The cushion was 16" squared, so when the patchwork reached this size, we started to make the backing. We did this by constructing an envelope, placing a smaller rectangle over a larger one, hemming it and the sewing the patchwork square and the backing, right sides together, we turned the envelope the right way and... finito! A beautiful Patchwork cushion constructed in 3 hours! Fab!!

Im now going back next weekend to trying something a little more advanced...squares perhaps? I will let you know...

Sitting pride of place on my sofa!