Using leftover Spectrum QAL fabric to make a sensational cushion! Part 5

I’m so excited to finally show you my completed Spectrum Quilt-Along 2020 mini project. If you’ve been following along all week, you’ve seen all the instructions to make the 12 blocks in a 6″ finished size, as well as the instructions to set seven of the blocks to make a beautiful decorative cushion using Little Girl In A Blue Armchair from Anthology Fabrics. Refer to yesterday’s post for how I finished the design once I had selected and pieced Blocks 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.

This cushion is now the master pillow on my bed and is just waiting to complement my bed runner! Let me show you how to quilt this beauty in just five simple steps.

Step 1 Introducing the PFAFF Clear Stitch-in-Ditch Foot for IDT System

 I’d heard about this foot and was looking for the right project to try it out. Until now, I’d been using either my regular quarter inch foot or my applique foot when quilting on my PFAFF creative icon. I was quickly convinced it was a good addition to my quilting accessories! The clear foot enabled me to have excellent visibility and, with a little practice, helped me achieve perfect stitch in the ditch quilting on my quilt. Positioning the guide along the seam really made the difference, and the red lines on the foot also helped me place the needle exactly where I needed it. Here’s a quick video demonstrating the Clear Stitch-in-Ditch Foot:

Using the Clear Stitch-in-Ditch Foot, I set the blocks by quilting in the seams around the perimeter of each block. Doing so ensured they wouldn’t move or create a distortion when I embroidered the blocks. The project was a decorative cushion, so I wanted to use some of the embroideries that were available in the basic programs of my PFAFF creative icon.

Step 2 Embroidering the center block

I wanted the center block to capture all the attention! So I used a 40wt variegated quilting thread that complemented the Little Girl In A Blue Armchair fabric, and I pulled out the embroidery equipment for my PFAFF creative icon, including my creative Grand Metal Hoop. Here’s a video showing you how I prepared for the quilting on the center block:

Step 3 Embroidering the inner triangles

I also wanted to quilt the edge triangles using the same variegated thread, so I moved the quilt to embroider the inner triangles. I sandwiched the quilt with a 5″ excess of batting and backing all around, which enabled me to position the inner triangles in the middle of the hoop and still have enough fabric around the hoop to secure it using the magnets. I was able to use a square design, but embroidered only half of it.

Here’s a video demonstrating how to use the Precise Positioning feature on the PFAFF creative icon to position the design, ensuring the embroidery is exactly where you want it:

Step 4 Embroidering the corner triangles

There were a few challenges when it came to embroidering the corner triangles on the decorative cushion.

The first challenge was the area that needed to be embroidered. It turns out the area and the design were too big for the Grand Metal Hoop, so I switched to the traditional 360 x 260 hoop that’s included in the embroidery kit of the PFAFF creative icon.

The second challenge positioning the quilt inside the hoop without distorting it, so I could ensure the triangle would remain squared off.

And finally, the design I wanted to embroider in the triangle wasn’t the correct size to match the area I wanted to cover. Although it was a triangle, I needed to alter the height and length. Here’s a video to show you how I edited the design to make it fit:

Step 5 Embroidering the remaining blocks

A few years ago, I wrote a post – How the PFAFF creative icon helped me finish a UFO quilt. I quilted butterflies on that quilt, and recalled a butterfly block design I loved, but it didn’t fit the quilt I was finishing at the time. I realized it was now a perfect match for this decorative cushion project. For this to work elegantly, I changed my thread to a solid light blue quilting thread. The butterfly design is beautiful and low key… and it’s exactly what I needed since the other designs were bold enough to even out the pieced blocks.

I went back to the creative Grand Metal Hoop and was able to position the quilt easily, and quickly embroidered the remaining blocks.

Once the machine embroidery was finished, I cut away the excess batting and backing and added fabric to turn the quilt into a cushion cover. I had some Fairfield Poly-Fil Premium Fiber Fill left over from my project, How to make a custom filler for the oversized Diamond Hexagon cushion, and was able to finish the cushion in no time.

Now this beautiful decorative cushion sits on my bed, and I can’t wait to show you how it complements my bed runner. Stay tuned for a big reveal post right here on Qs.

This is part 5 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 4: Using leftover Spectrum QAL fabric to make a sensational cushion! Part 4