
How to Make a Flying Geese Cushion

I thought this time we could make some patchwork cushions – I’m starting off with small projects so that you can become confident with using the dies with fabric, and then maybe later this year we can make a quilt over the course of a couple of months. These cushions would also make a lovely present for a friend or a member of your family and they are easy to make. But for now we’re going to use some half-square triangles and squares, which aren’t scary – especially as we are cutting precisely with the Big Shot™ and Bigz™ dies. So let’s start with a really simple cushion first – we are going to make Flying Geese and I love the colours for these cushions – so bright to cheer the dark evenings, but of course you can vary the colours to suit your taste.
Time to make : 60 minutes
Suitable for : Intermediates
Cushion 1
- Scissors
- Ruler or tape measure
- Iron
All seam allowances are 6 mm (quarter inch) this is standard for patchwork, but I will remind you each time.
Let’s get cutting
- Navy fabric – cut one x 42 cm square.
- Fold the fabric to cover the blades of the die – and roll it through the Big Shot, sandwiched between the cutting plates. (You can try cutting four layers at a time if you like.) You need to cut 16 triangles.
- Now cut four triangles from each of the other coloured fabrics.
Now to stitch
- Stitch a navy and a turquoise triangle together
- Repeat with the other three turquoise triangles and then press the seams – two should be pressed towards the navy triangle and two towards the turquoise – so that when we join the squares together the seams will nest against each other.
- Stitch two of the ‘new’ squares together, this makes one flying goose, and press the centre seam open. (Photo four shows how the pressed seams should look.)
- Pin and stitch two flying geese together, matching the centre seams.
- Repeat steps one to four with the lime green, red and orange fabrics.
- Using the photo of the finished cushion as a guide pin and stitch the flying geese together in pairs, and then join together to complete the cushion front.
Completing the cushion cover
- Lay the cushion front right side down on the cushion back.
- Pin the two pieces together and stitch, leaving three quarters of one side open.
- Insert the cushion pad and then slip-stitch the opening closed.
If you’ve enjoyed making this cushion, how about making another slightly different one?
Cushion 2
- Sizzix Big Shot Machine
- Sizzix Bigz Dies – Half-square triangles two inch
- Sizzix Bigz Dies – Square four inch
- 60 cm of plain navy cotton fabric
- 30 x 15 cm each, of lime green, turquoise, red and orange cotton fabrics
- Navy thread
- 40 cm cushion pad
- Sewing machine
- Scissors
- Ruler or tape measure
- Iron
Let’s start the cutting
- Navy fabric – Cut one x 42 cm square for the back. Using the Square die fold the fabric and cut six squares.Using the Half –Square triangle die – fold the fabric so that the blades are covered and cut 32 triangles.
- Fold the lime and green fabrics in half to create a 15 cm square – lay it over the blades of the Half-Square triangle die and cut eight triangles.
- Repeat with the red, turquoise and orange fabrics ( it is possible to cut up to eight layers of fabric at a time so you could easily double up and cut two colours at the same time).
Now let’s stitch
- Stitch all the triangles together and press in the same way as for the first cushion – you just have more to make this time.
- Using photo of cushion two as a guide stitch four matching flying geese together – so you will have four strips.
- Stitch four squares together to make a large square for the middle section
- Pin and stitch a strip of flying geese to opposite sides of the navy centre, and press the seam towards the navy centre.
- Stitch a square to each end of the remaining strips of flying geese, and press the seams towards the squares.
- Now pin and stitch the remaining strips of flying geese to the other two sides of the centre, to complete your cushion front, and press.
- To complete the cover repeat the steps from cushion one.
Now sit back with a drink of your choice and enjoy!
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