The delights of summer are here! For many of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the weather’s been teasing us for a month with sunshine and humidity. Now that school is almost out, I’ll be spending more time relaxing outside and enjoying some reading for pleasure. I created this stitched cushion cover to add to a cozy nook of flowers and dappled sunlight using the PFAFF performance icon.
This cushion cover is perfect for a cozy nook.
materials
fabric
- 36 – 2½” print squares
- background fabric in a solid color
- 1 – 22” long by 12” wide piece
- 1 – 7” square
- backing fabric for the front panel
- 1 – 17½” square
- backing panels
- 1 – 17½”x 15½” top panel
- 1 – 17½” x 7” bottom panel
- batting – 17½” square
threads
- 6 different colors to match prints and contrast with the solid fabric
- Piecing thread
- Inspira Fast & Easy Tear-A-Way Light Stabilizer
TIP For the background fabric, I picked a solid color that works well with each of my print squares. A neutral color would also work with any variety of prints. While mine is a floral-themed cushion, you could do a patriotic, Halloween, or even a Christmas one!
Green solid background fabric with pieced charms
The amazing features of the PFAFF performance icon made it enjoyable to stitch this project together. From the adjustable LED lighting to the large tablet-size Multi-Touch Screen, the performance icon is made to let you be creative in every moment you have. This week’s project wouldn’t have come to life without it!
Make 9 patches
Today, we start our project with some quick piecing to make the nine patch units. Arrange your 2½” squares into 4 nine patches. I didn’t try to make any kind of pattern with the light and dark fabrics and in fact, tried to scatter the reds and greens evenly among the four groups. In my case, the fabrics came from two different lines, so I just did my best to make sure matching prints didn’t touch.
Arrange 2½” squares into 4 nine patches
To sew the squares into rows, I used the ¼ inch Right Guide Foot for IDT System. With the guide, I can be sure of an accurate seam allowance every time.
¼ inch Right Guide Foot for IDT System
I alternated the direction I pressed the seams, in each row, so the seams nest and the blocks lay flat.
Completed nine patch blocks
PFAFF performance icon
This was a great start for this week’s project using the PFAFF performance icon. Check out what’s next tomorrow.
This is part 1 of 5 in this series
Go to part 2: Creating custom stitched fabric is FUN with the PFAFF performance icon
