Velvet Scrap Cushion

I make cushions for the sofa in The Old Art Room every month.

This one is made from lots of scraps of velvets and

 plush upholstery fabrics.

See more of what is going on in the studio and students work

HERE

Reserved Cushion

Cushions For A Daughter

Cushions

I just love all the different style cushions we are able to make.
See a previous post on how to do Canadian Smocking for the round cushion.
HERE

See more by clicking on the written labels below.

Canadian Smocked Cushions

Caroline taught the Thursday Textile Class how to make

the circular Canadian Smocked Cushions the other week,

see post and how to make them HERE

and here are some of the finished cushions.

They have been so popular. 

The only thing we have all found is the time 

it takes you to mark the grid out!

Well done Caroline for such a successful class.

They are wonderful and every fabric makes a completely 

different effect. We can also spot whose is whose by the colour.

Liz loves Poppies!

Cushions and Blocks

The last Textile Tuesday and Thursday of the month

I teach a block pattern. How to cut, put together and

the variations it can be used in.

The 'Block of The Month' is Star Blocks.

As you can see above they have been used by Muriel

to make a selection of cushions and these have been 

given as gifts.

The Star Blocks below were made by Carol and Sandra.

To see more cushions click the written labels below.

Gathered and Pleated Cushion

Caroline is my PA and she started with me in January and 

has got hooked on creating textiles!

She brought in this gathered , pleated cushion she had made

and everyone wanted to know how it was made.

So I said,"How about teaching it to the class?"

"Ok" she said and on Textile Thursday she did.

She did fantastic and you can see it was a very busy morning.
 She said she preferred doing her job though not mine!
I have asked her if she would teach it again in December
when I am away in India as everyone enjoyed it so much.

The main task is marking everything out before you

gather stitch it all up.

The gathering stitch is called Canadian Smocking.
See a great You Tube video how to do the smocked cushion
HERE

Matishall Football Team Cushion

Anne has made this cushion for her Grand Son and it looks like 

she will have to make a few more for the team.

Each of the footballs are made of appliqued hexagons and

hand embroidered.

See more cushions by clicking the written label below.

Textile Tuesday

Textile Tuesday always have wonderful 'Show and Tell'.

We do this as a start to the session so that people can share 

what they have made and also so I can add the tips and extended ideas.

Carol and Pat had both made cushions out of 

upholstery fabric and charm packs.

Beryl made yet another lovely bag and also the flower

looked wonderful as an embellishment.

See more by clicking the tags below.

Garden Cushion

This is a cushion that Val has made using a photo transfer technique.

Its beautiful and I love to see the various techniques combined.

Suffolk Puffs, in the corner we did those the week before

and I wrote an article about them 

HERE 

Suffolk Puff Cushion

Here, is the completed Suffolk Puff Cushion. Lots of embroidery, beading and sparkles. 

Its in the blues and greens I just love.

The back is quilted with random curves.

I think I will make several little cushions to explore techniques.

See how to make The Suffolk Puff and an article I have written 

about them on a previous post. 

Remember to visit my tech site for videos HERE

and my art portfolio site for inspiration HERE

Princess Cushion

Thursday Patchwork and Quilting Class always has a lot of show and tell. The classes are very popular as students can make their own projects and as you can see Ann has made a start on a floor cushion for her granddaughter making her the feature! Beautiful! This is another successful item combining patchwork and photo transfer.
 The stripped patchwork and quilted runner was made by Ann's Mum, so you can see it is often a three generation class. The cushion has been finished and the Little Princess loves it.
See more of what goes on at Knitwits by clicking the written labels below.

Knit Wits Afternoon Session

After the morning full on with the children machining it was lovely to see the different projects that had been brought along to finish. Ann was adding the border to her grand daughters floor cushion. The lovely detail about the cushion is, Ann had photo transferred a picture of her grand daughter dressed up as a Princess and had appliqued it in front of the appliqued pink castle. The surrounding blocks contained fabrics with shoes, handbags, jewelry and butterflies.
Mandy was putting the finishing touches to one of the sun dresses she was making for her grand daughter. What a lovely dress.
Knit Wits is now selling dressmaking patterns.
See more by clicking on the written labels below.

Finished Feb Projects

Last months inspiration at classes I was inspiring

projects with lace and textiles which come with a memory.

Textile items that you want to use but don't know

how to use them within a new make or object.

Pat had wanted to make crazy patchwork and

put together a crazy work picture using many of

her treasures and learnt stitches.

Christine use up lace and materials that had memories

of female relatives and favourite lace curtains, also

a brooch and button.

See more by clicking the labels below.

Memory Cushion

Nikki has finished her Memory Cushion of her Mum

as a gift for her Dad.

Using photo transfer she has incorporated the

photos with patchwork.

It looks great and such a special gift.

It has been a way of sharing to with the group.

Patchwork Floor Cushion

Mandy finished the patchwork floor cushion

she has been making for her son.

The fabric is mainly upholstery type for sturdiness.

Each square has then been shadow quilted

and looks really effective.

Mandy also made a liner for the small polystyrene

beads to go inside and as we know, they go everywhere!

It took three people to stuff it so they didn't escape.

we had discussions on where to put the zip,

whether on the bottom side or on the bottom in

the middle. If you put it on the side it

has less chance of opening and doesn't scratch a

wooden floor!

Mandy's son is very lucky.

Well done Mandy!

Photo Keepsakes

On Monday 20th of February I got into my studio

and finished making the Photo Transfer Lace Keepsakes

that I wanted to make the girls of Coven Quilters.

The idea being I would

present them at our Yearly Dinner.

Paddy took our yearly photo on Kate's sofa in January and

I knew I wanted to make something from it to remember

as I have been teaching photo transfer for the last month.

The lace background is all bits of lace, curtains, silks,

satins, ribbon and wool free machined down around the

photo and then made into a cushion filled with lavender

and stuffing.

I was really pleased and signed them all on the back.

The idea being all the girls could sign each one as

it went round the table while we were waiting for our meal.

Making a very special Keepsake.

It was lovely all week knowing we would be meeting for lunch.

We normally meet in the evening!

I'll post photos later.

See more of my vintage lace and artwork by

clicking HERE

Using the Lace

With Lace and Embellishments being some of the inspiration

this month these items use the it in different ways.

The cushion uses the lace that Jane had painted the previous

week. It looks really chic.

Sara had been trying to decorate the lace folded purse

in class the previous week and it took some

working out.

It is based on a Japanese Purse which I translated and

made my version of decorating.

See a video from an Australian lady

on my tech site making her version.

www.art2inspiretech.blogspot.com

Cushions

As you can see there is a variety of cushions being

made by students.

Ever one takes a different combination of techniques.

This is what makes the sessions so interesting for everyone.

Seeing the inspiration and makes from myself

and other students.

See more by clicking on the labels below.

Thursday 2nd February Class at Knit Wits

I have a very busy couple of weeks, yes! busier than

usual and blogging is two weeks behind!

Well, as you can see above, these are

quilt blocks made by my students.

Different ways of making them.

I like combining machine and hand work.

The top are all made by hand and are becoming part

of a sampler quilt.

The Lily Block and Star Block are part made by

machine and then the raised triangles are then

hand turned. The nine blocks will make a

wallhanging designed by Jennie Rayment.

Visit her website

www.jennierayment.com