Log cabin cushions…

A finish!

Quite why these have taken so long to make, I don't know, but they seem to have been a work in progress, for most of this year. As for the results, well they're a vast improvement on having both cushions stuffed into a single, hastily put together velvet tube–which, quite frankly resembled a limp sausage.

When a project is finished, I like to go over what I learnt from it, if there are techniques that I'll use again, and what I most enjoyed/disliked about it.

Here's what I learnt this time…

• Make my tacking (basting) stitches larger so I can distinguish them from the kantha.*
• Use a contrasting thread for tacking, so I can distinguish it from the kantha!*
• Cord binding may look good, but it's a complete pain in the neck to do. I won't be doing it again–life's too short!
• When drawing shapes on fabric, try using an erasable pen, not a lurid felt tip*
• I love EPP and kantha!
• I wish I'd put the zips in by hand, as then these cushions would have been made completely without the aid of a sewing machine (somehow the combination of hand and machine doesn't feel quite right).

* Actually, these are things I've known for a very long time, but it seems they are tough habits to break. At the start of a new project, I'm filled with the confidence that I'll be able to remove my tacking with ease, and that pen marks won't show. I never can, they always do, why don't I learn from past experience? Guess, I'm obstinate like a mule.

So, now I can get back to my white quilt, and all those stars!

Elizabeth,

x.