{harry potter cushion}

I haven't sewn in forever! i had completely lost my sew-jo but one day while scrolling through instagram this picture by @makershaven popped up and i was stopped in my tracks! i completely fell in love and was inspired to pull fabric right away! here is my fabric pull, as you can see it is very similar to the original *tehe* 

i absolutely love that owl fabric from nightfall by maureen cracknell. i decided to go with QAYG (quilt as you go) as i really enjoyed it last time i did it (here) and i still love the technique and the finished look! but my, it does use a lot of thread! 

you might be wondering why it is a harry potter pillow? well the fabrics are all 'magical' :) and the layout i did was light and dark, because of this quote by albus dumbledore "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the light" this is one of my favourite quotes and always makes me feel happy, so now i have a pillow to remind myself of it :)

I used some of my favourite fabrics, like the animal print by art gallery fabrics and the last few pieces of my precious liberty fabric, it's always sad when a fabric runs out, but its better to be used than sitting on the shelf!

i finished it off with a simple envelope back and added a little tag of lace trim, just because :) it finished at about 18 inches. i absolutely loved this whole project, i didn't measure anything, just cut and sewed it together. it was brilliant just having a mindless project to focus on and i have definetly got my sew-jo back, i haven't stopped sewing since i've finished my pillow :)

i think i might also make another one, would anybody fancy a little tutorial to make your own harry potter inspired cushion? :)

rachael x

linking up with finish it up friday

a bear doing a hand-stand

i'm still loving pink, yellow and aqua and while i'm still working on my night sky blocks i just got a *little*  bit distracted! have you heard about love quilting and patchwork magazine? you more than likely have unless you close your eyes and cover your ears a lot! i get it *nearly* every month but have never, ever made something from it (hands up who else gets magazines and never makes what's in them?) until i was looking through last months and was stopped in my tracks!

isn't it just amazing!! i just had to make it (and may have to make another one!) it is made using quilt as you go (or QAYG as the 'cool' kids say) and i've never done this technique before so i was excited to try it. (the pattern is by megan from quilt story)

and it was soo fun! i never really understood the whole concept of quilting as you go, but it's literally what it says on the tin, you sew a piece down and then quilt it, having done it now seems super obvious, but i could just not understand how to do it before!

i really like the look of the straight line quilting, cause i am usually a free motion girl, so it was fun doing straight-ish lines. and wow does it use a lot of thread, i used 2 bobbins! my cushion came together really quick and it is a really well written pattern. 

the pattern said to use piping, but i just decided to use binding, i used navy for that little extra pop! i think it sets of the sweetness of the colours perfectly

now that i've tried QAYG i want to make all the things, next up i think i'll have to make a QAYG quilt, maybe this one!

have you ever tried QAYG? did you like it and find it super fun? what have you made using QAYG?

rachael x

linking up with fabric tuesday