A FREEBIE for you!

Need a super quick gift for your quilting buddies?

How about a Cathedral Windows Pincushion??

This is a quick little project you can whip up in a few hours…makes a fantastic gift for any quilting friends, or anyone that sews. You only need a few scraps of fabric and some stuffing and away you go.

What you need:

First of all - chose some fabric, you only need a little bit so no need to go out shopping, I am sure you can find something at home if you really try?

I suggest you chose a feature fabric first, a print or floral or even a small panel, then just chose two colours that go with it, one for the background and one for the frame.

In this pic the Frog is the feature Fabric, Red is the Frame, Green is the Background and there is a bigger square of the frog fabric on the back.

When choosing the frame fabric, keep in mind only a small amount shows so don't use a big print - homespun or a tone-on-tone works well here . I am using the green for the frame, the paisley is the feature and the back and the red is the background. The white piece shown is pellon - lightweight and iron on! You only need a 3" square of it...and if you don't have iron-on just use non-iron on or thin wadding, whatever you have on hand. 

 The cutting:

·         1 @ 3" square of feature fabric

·         1 @ 3" square of iron on pellon - thin is best  (you can use thin wadding or non-iron on if you don't have any of the iron on pellon)

·         4 @ 3" squares of frame fabric

·         4 @ 3 1/2" squares for the background

·         1 @ 6 1/2" square for the back of the pincushion

My pieces all cut:

Construction:

1.  Iron your frame squares in half diagonally right sides out.

2.  Place a frame square (which is now a triangle) over one corner of a background square lining up the raw edges and tack in place - I do this by hand, it is a nice relaxing job if you have a whole pile of them prepared. You can just sit and stitch over a cup of coffee.

NOTE: Make sure your taking line is NO MORE then 1/4" from the

edges of the fabric, otherwise it will show on your pincushion. 

3.  Repeat for the other 3 frame and background squares and then iron them to ensure they are sitting nice and flat.

4.  Place your squares together to make a bigger square, with the frame fabrics forming a 'square on point' in the middle.

5.  Using your sewing machine and a 1/4" seam, join them together into a square by joining in pairs first and then into one big square. Iron the seams open.

  

6.  Iron the pellon onto the reverse of your feature fabric square. Do this by placing your pellon onto the ironing board, glue side up (the glue side has the dots), and then placing the feature fabric square onto the pellon, right side up. Iron from the fabric side - otherwise the glue will seep through the pellon and onto your iron...YUKKY!

7.  Place this square over the middle of the big square you prepared earlier, carefully fold the edges of the frame fabric triangle over the feature square and pin in place. I find this best to do with your thumbs holding the feature square in place so it stays centred.

NOTE: Be quite forceful when folding over the edge…the edge of the feature fabric square should also fold a little.

  

8.  Blind hem stitch the frame fabric into place on the feature square. I use hand quilting thread in a colour that matches your frame fabric. Hand quilting thread is stronger than ordinary thread and you can therefore pull it tighter making it more invisible.

The corners should just overlap with one over the top of the other.

9.  Iron the piece, ensuring it is sitting nice and flat.

10.           Place this square right sides together with the 6 1/2" square for the back of your pincushion. Stitch around the outside edges using a 3/8” seam leaving a small gap or turning - about 1 1/2" is usually enough. I like to use a wider seam for this – as it means it is less likely the seams of your pincushion will burst when stuffing or with use.

11.           Turn your pincushion right side out, push out the corners nicely with a point turner tool or similar.

12.           Stuff your pincushion. When stuffing - take your time, use small pieces starting with a really small piece poked into each corner first to make sure they are nicely filled. I stuff with pieces of stuffing about the size of a large marble at a time. It is worth taking the time to stuff it properly so the pincushion is not lumpy.

Did you know if you use Lamb's wool stuffing it keeps your pins from

rusting because of the Lanolin in it?

13.           Hand stitch the opening closed using a blind hem or ladder stitch.

Ta Da....you now have a finished pincushion...... Well done!

I would also like to show you some other projects I have designed using Cathedral Windows (the easy way!) – cushions, table runners and wall hangings. You can also make quilts, and I have plans to make one with Liberty Prints and white frames and background, however they are not as durable as ‘normal piecing’ or appliqué quilts and they are very heavy because of the layers of fabric.

First up – Christmas Tablerunner. One of my favourite patterns ever!

 Cathedral Wallhangings:

Cushions:

Click here for the PDF version of these instructions

There will be lots more freebies, tutorials, hints and tips coming....why not subsbribe so you don't miss anything? Go to the right hand side of this page and 'subscribe by email'!

I Hope you enjoyed this tutorial - if you try it out, I would love to see pics!

Bye for Now

Kylie  xoxo