Tutorial for Tuesday - 4 Houses Cushion

Do you have some layer cakes squares left over or some fat eight's or even scraps that you want to use up? This 24"pillow/cushion project might just be of interest. I had great fun making this so thought I'd write it up as my first project based tutorial.

I used 12 layer cake squares and some background fabric to make this and have enough left over for another set of roofs to make a matching pair of cushions. If you go with matching roofs it's possible to do this with even less fabric squares.



I have downloadable piecing instructions here including how to make the half rectangle triangles for the roof. Otherwise step by step instructions are below with lots of photos!

I stacked the four layer cake squares together that I wanted for the houses and cut 3 rows 2.5" wide and the remaining 1.5" wide.

1. The first row is for the windows and doors. Sub cut two 2.5" squares and one 2.5" x 3.5 rectangle.
2. Sub-cut row 2 into one 2.5" square and four 2.5" x 1.5" rectangles for the window sashing.
3. Cut row 3 into two rectangles 2.5" x 4.5" long
4. Lastly take row 4 and cut 2 rectangles 1.5" x 4.5" long

Lay out as follows and mix and match windows and doors for a nice contrast

I chain pieced the sashing on either side of the windows first, then the top and bottom. There will be 2 of these House units per house.

 Sew the mantel to the door and sew a House unit on either side of the door unit.

For the roofs you will need 2 rectangles 5.5" x 6.5" in background fabric and 2 in patterned fabric matching or in the same colour way .

Place BGF and one of the patterned squares right sides together. Mark a quarter inch from top and bottom and draw a diagonal line from mark to mark.

Repeat for the second matching rectangles but the slope going in the opposite direction. This is important to get a left hand half rectangle triangle and a right hand one to make the roof.

Cut along this line through both rectangles. You only need one of each for each house.

Take a BGF triangle and a patterned triangle and lay them right sides together like this. Yes it looks wonky but this is correct!

Put the remaining aside for a second house or cushion if you don’t want matching roofs. Sew with a 1/4" seam along the long edge.

I chain pieced them to speed up the process.

Do the same for the opposite sloping triangles. You should have 4 of each kind. Press the seams and open.

Match up right to left hand triangles to make the roof.

These rectangles are oversized and will need to be trimmed down. I squared up the short edge where I am sewing them together and trimmed the whole roof down afterwards. It is easier to do this to keep the point at the roof top.

Trim to 10.5" x 4.5" keeping 1/4" at the top. Don't worry if this doesn't work out. I clipped points and the roof still looks great when its all put together.

Attach the roof to the House body. Don't do what I did and attach the roof to the bottom of the house! Dope that I am I did this and didn't notice until I had the whole thing quilted. It's my cushion and I can live with a wonky version! 

Attach 2 houses together to form a row - yes this is the house I sewed the roof to the wrong side! So now you know not to do it like me!

Cut 4 strips from the background fabric 9.5" x 2.5" and sew to either side of the 2 row of houses.
Cut 3 strips 25" x 2.5" for sashing between rows and top and bottom of the rows.

And you should have a finished cushion top measuring 24.5" square.

I layered with wadding/batting & utility fabric and quilted using this stencil pattern:

I made a simple envelope cushion with 2 pieces of fabric measuring 24.5" x 18" (instructions in the piecing pattern). You can trim to 24" if you want a plumper fit.  And here's my wonky version! Hope you like this project!

Quilt Math

I have a Tutorial's page!  I'm still working on my 4 houses cushion that I will post as my first pattern tutorial but in the mean time I've been taking the Writers Bureau course and before I get to the fiction section there is quite a bit of non-fiction.  The first two assignments are 1500 and 2000 word articles for a particular magazine or market so I chose the quilting world (of course!) and chose Quilter's mathematics as my subject.  I've posted both assignments on my Tutorial page if anyone is interested.

Part 1 covers popular quilt sizes from mug rugs to King size, Half Square Triangles and the 7/8" rule, Quarter Square Triangles and setting square blocks on point.

Part 2 covers deconstructing a block in order to change the block size.  I cover double 9 patch, simplified LeMoyne Star, Ohio Star and applique blocks.

There will be a part 3 but its a WIP at the moment.  Any feedback much appreciated.  Hope they are of use!

Things I've learned

I've added a new page to my blog Things I've Learned where I've started collecting my favourite tutorials and patterns from the wonderful craft community.  This is a reference for me on where to find great tutorials, favourite blogs and patterns and I hope will be of use to you too.  Happy Friday!

What works for me!

I have a favourite ruler.  It happens to be the first one that I bought.  I made my first quilt from charms squares and didn't cut anything.  It was perfect.  I learned how to sew a straight line and nest my seams.  My seam ripper came with my machine and I "borrowed" (as in no intention of giving it back!) a pin cushion from my mum.

For my second quilt I bought a Schnibbles pattern Little Houses and around the same time signed up for Deborah Moebe's quilting e-course which involved making blocks and cutting from fat quarters.  So I bought a beginners set from the Sewing Shed in Kerry that included an 11 x 17" cutting mat,  a 45mm rotary cutter and a 4" x 14" ruler.  Luckily for me they were out of stock of the 11x17 and I changed to a 12x18 mat - I won't say no to an extra inch of cutting board!

Possibly this ruler is my favourite because I'm so used to it but I think the reason I reach for it so often is because, really, it doesn't slip.  This thing sticks in place with a little pressure.  It's perfect for cutting binding strips and sashing, has well marked lines on the 0.5" and the 45 degree line for diamonds is really easy to use.  It has also been really handy for the paper piecing blocks I've been working on lately.

For the craftsy block of the month I bought a 12.5" square Omnigrid ruler andI did eventually add more inches in a 6.5"x24" quilters ruler and a 16"x24" mat which seems ginormous in comparison to what I started with.  The new 6.5"x24" ruler is a good size for cutting from yardage but it has a life of its own sometimes. 

I bought a roll of Invisigrip by Omnigrip from Quilters Haven which is a plastic sheet that sticks to the back of the ruler and grips the fabric through static cling.  It did help and I do walk my hand up the ruler only cutting a short distance at a time but I'm wondering about adding a hand grip and must look into those.

The invisgrip roll has lots of mileage on it and I added it to an EZ Dresden ruler and a 60 degree triangle ruler I have yet to use.  Great purchase that!  You never know maybe there's a triangle quilt in my future it could be good for.

Finally a small plastic tupperware style container is my latest addition as a thread catcher.  It was left over from a lunchbox set  I bought last summer.  It works great for catching snipped off threads and I just tip it over the bin and voila empty - nothing sticks to it.  Though it hasn't quite cured me of the habit I have of wiping the little thread remnants after cutting fabric onto the laminate wooden floor below and sweeping up later much to my mum's dismay!  Well that's what works for me.  What works for you?