Patchwork

I have previously shared here my square patchwork quilt, which I have yet to finish! It is bigger than a double duvet so it is a bit of an ongoing mission. I have to admit I'm a bit of an instant gratification kinda girl and I like to sit down of an afternoon and by the evening be able to hold something up and say "I made that, and its finished". That is not what you get with a full size patchwork quilt! So I do get the quilt out about once a week and work on it, and it is coming along nicely, but to keep me interested (and sane) I do other little projects in-between. Yesterday I sat down to try my hand at patchwork patterns. This is the first time I have attempted any kind of patchwork that doesn't involve just sewing squares together... and I really enjoyed it! Because it was my first attempt I wasn't too concerned with matching the fabrics or colours, I just used some spare fabric I had lying around, so excuse the mix-match! 

I have learnt two valuable new things: 1. I really, really need a rotary cutter and board... I said this repeatedly when making my patchwork as cutting out perfect squares is difficult with scissors and has a huge impact on the final piece... if it's out by even a few millimeters you can tell (why did I not buy one sooner!) And 2. Do NOT use stretchy material!! The stripy fabric is a little bit stretchy which makes it a nightmare to sew! It also melts when you iron it, which makes it very difficult to work with and resulted in me scraping bits of melted fabric from the bottom of my poor iron!

You can see where the stripy fabric patches are a little lopsided... the result of stretchy material and inaccurate cutting! I'm a bad workman, I'm going to blame my tools (need that rotary cutter) but I think my impatience may also be a little to blame! must work on that! 

I like that with patchwork if you turn a few little squares around you can start with the same piece but a end up with a completely different pattern! so many possibilities... 

Now, I know I said this was a little tester piece... and it was, but I'd hate to see it go to waste. So I had to turn it into something useful, and a girl can never have too many cushions...Right??

The cushion has a new home in the peaceful, sunny little corner of my room. 

Iv just realised its a kind of strawberries and cream colour scheme... I'm not so opposed to it now, the little cushion is growing on me. xxx