Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party - A Christmas Cushion

As regular readers will know, at the beginning of 2014 Paula and I decided that we were going to be organised for Christmas for a change, so we started our monthly Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party. Well, we so enjoyed that feeling of being organised in December that we have decided to enjoy it again this year. So welcome to the first monthly Link Party for 2015, and because it is a New Year we have a new Button!

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Needless to say we couldn't keep all the fun to ourselves so we invited our fellow bloggers to join and guest host the Link Parties throughout the year.

January	Celtic Thistle Stitches	Fiona	http://celticthistlestitches.blogspot.com
February	Threading My Way	Pam	http://www.threadingmyway.com/
March	Wonky Patchwork	Sally	http://wonkypatchwork.blogspot.co.uk/
April	SLIK stitches	Benta	http://slikstitches.com/
May	Practically Pippy	Karen	http://practicallypippy.blogspot.co.uk/
June	Charly & Ben's Crafty Corner	Ruth	http://benandcharlyscorner.blogspot.co.uk/
July	Weekend Doings	Martha	www.weekenddoings.blogspot.com
	Patch the Giraffe	Chelsea	http://patchthegiraffe.blogspot.com/
August	Sunshine Through the Rain	Deborah	http://sunshinethroughtherain-deborah.blogspot.co.uk/
September	Practically Pippy	Karen	http://practicallypippy.blogspot.co.uk/
	Party of Eight: Our Story	Gina	http://partyofeightourstory.blogspot.co.uk/
October	Ella and Nesta's Little Room	Nesta	http://ellaandnesta.blogspot.co.uk/
	Sandra Sews :)	Sandra	http://suddenlysandra.blogspot.co.uk/
November	Rose & Dahlia	Joanne	http://rosedahlia.blogspot.co.uk/
December	Mud, Pies and Pins	Paula	http://www.mudpiesandpins.com/

 As you can see we have gathered together a great bunch of bloggers!

Each guest host will provide a tutorial for a Christmas or Holiday-themed gift or Home Decoration item, so not only will you be given a gentle nudge every month to tick off something on that Christmas to-do list, but also inspiration for some great Christmas makes, should you be struggling to come up with the perfect project!

What more could you ask for??

Well, how about a few giveaways throughout the year??

The winners of December's Link Party Giveaways were

Quilting Book - Katie at Good Golly Ginger

Gift Voucher   -  Carla at Grace and Favour

Thanks to our lovely sponsors we also have random giveaways for some lucky linkers throughout this year too. I know we are spoiling you, but let's face it we all deserve a treat now and then :)

http://www.patchworkelephant.com/

This month's giveaway prize is this lovely Christmas Felt Bundle

courtesy of the lovely Sarah at

 

If you haven't already come across Sarah's store you are in for a treat, she has the most delightful vintage notions and trims and I have completely fallen in love with these Red Robin Buttons. I think they may just feature in some of my Christmas crafting this year :)

So, if you want to be the lucky winner of the Christmas Felt Bundle all you need to do is link up your Christmas / Holiday makes for this month here. The winner of the bundle will be randomly drawn when the Link-up closes at 24.00GMT on January 31st.

An InLinkz Link-up

To kick start your Christmas crafting, how about a Christmas Cushion to make now and tuck away for December?

During their recent house move my mother came across some fabric that had been hidden away in her craft cupboard for years (it's in the genes obviously!) and passed it on to me.

Needless to say I did nothing with it before Christmas, but then I got to thinking how I could use the fabric other than for the Advent Calendar for which it was intended I think. I decided that a Christmas cushion was the way to go! I fondly imagine being able to change all of my cushion covers to appropriately themed covers for the Season, but there is a long way to go so it was definitely time to make a start :)

If you share a similar ambition, here is what you will need for your own Christmas Cushion.

1 F8th Christmas Label fabric - you will need enough fabric to have 6 complete motifs
1 FQ Solid White Fabric    - Fabric A
1 FQ Backing Fabric          - Fabric B
1 FQ Contrast Fabric for binding
16"/41cm nylon zip
Fusible Fleece or wadding - 12.5" x 19" ( I used fusible fleece because it was the whitest wadding that I had)
Cushion/Pillow Insert - 12" x 18"

N.B. Seam allowances throughout are 0.25"

Cutting Requirements

Christmas Label fabric - 6 Fussy Cut 3.5" squares

Fabric A

3 squares 3.5"
6 rectangles 5" x 3.5"
3 rectangles 6.5" x 3.5"

Fabric B

2 rectangles 2" x 3"
2 rectangles 19" x 6.5"

Binding Fabric

4 strips 2.5" x WOF

Step 1

Join the fabric pieces in the following order

Rows 1, 3 and 5

1. Fabric A 5" x 3.5" rectangle
2. Fussy Cut 3.5" square
3. Fabric A 5" x 3.5" rectangle 

Rows 2, 4 and 6

1. Fabric A 3.5" square
2. Fussy Cut 3.5" square
3. Fabric A 6.5" x 3.5" rectangle

Step 2

Join the pieced strips together, alternating the strips so that the fussy cut squares are offset.

Step 3

Fuse the fleece to the reverse of the pieced cushion front. Quilt as desired. I quilted parallel horizontal lines on the solid white fabric only.

Trim the quilted block. Set aside

Step 4

Fold over 0.25" at the short ends of each of the 2" x 3" Fabric B rectangles and press. Fold the pressed zip tabs in half lengthways and press again.

Sandwich the zip ends between the folded tabs, stitch across the folded edges to secure.

Make sure that the zip and tabs measure 19" in length in total

Step 5

Matching the top raw edge of one Fabric B rectangle 19" x 6.5" with the top raw edge of the zip, and with each Right Sides Together, attach the zip to the cushion back piece.

Repeat with the other Fabric B rectangle 19" x 6.5" on the opposite zip edge.

With the zip Right Side Up fold both cushion back pieces back so that they are also Right Side Up and press. Topstitch on each side of the zip to secure.

Step 6

Place the cushion back and front Wrong Sides Together and baste around the raw edges.

Join the 2.5" binding strips to make one continuous binding strip, fold in half lengthways and press. Matching the raw edges, stitch the binding to the cushion front, fold over and hand or machine stitch to the cushion back.

Give your cushion cover one final press. Insert the cushion form and pat yourself on the back for completing a Christmas project in January :)

Now, it's your turn to Link Up your Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew projects and maybe win that lovely Christmas Felt Bundle to kickstart this year's Holiday makes :)