How My Brain Works

A couple of weeks ago I told you I had joined another swap and I showed you my idea for the cushion cover I was thinking of making.

So last week I sat down with paper and pencil and drew up the template that I needed for my little curved appliqué pieces.

I pulled some low volume fabrics and quickly knocked up sixteen quarter square triangle blocks that would eventually finish at 4" for the background. And then I had a happy little browse through my stash picking fabrics for my half orange peel shapes and started appliquéing.

As per normal with me I chose the fabrics a couple at a time and did the appliquéing, then I would place them together before I decided on which colours of fabrics to add next. Eventually I had sixteen circles.

I pieced it all into a 20" cushion top and then I did a teeny tiny little stipple in all the low volume areas. This gave it a really cool texture (well, I thought it did).

I was really happy with the way this looked, only it didn't look finished to me. So my brain - as per the usual - turned to the perle cotton.

I thought the stem stitch worked better with this project than hand quilting a running stitch. I wanted to emphasise those circles.

And that is a little project, from inception to completion (other than the cushion back and a zipper). When I have my ideas I seldom actually know what the finish will look like. It just evolves in its own happy way. Each and every one is just a wee little adventure in sewing for me. Which is one of the reasons I love this quilting lark so much.

Susan