HAPPY MAIL

Foundation Paper Piece two quirky cushions with appliquéd elements and pretty postal details

FPP two quirky cushions with appliqué and postal details

NOTES

■ Seam allowances are ¼in throughout, unless otherwise noted.

■ Press seams to the side, unless otherwise noted.

■ Templates include seam allowance around the outer edge only.

■ For templates, see p86.

■ FPP = Foundation Paper Piecing.

■ To paper piece the pillow front, shorten your stitch length to around 1.5.

■ Background and backing fabric supplied by Fat Quarter Shop (fatquartershop.com)

FABRICS USED

■ Pillow front background is Kona Cotton in Snow by Robert Kaufman.

■ Assorted scraps from various designers (including Cotton+Steel and Heather Ross).

CUTTING OUT

1

Using the template as a guide, cut the fabric pieces for each section of the FPP template, making sure the pieces will be at least ¼in larger than the section they will cover, all the way around.

2

From the batting cut:

■ One (1) 18in x 14in piece.

■ One (1) 13¾in x 11½in piece.

■ One (1) 13¾in x 9½in piece.

3

From the backing fabric cut:

■ One (1) 13¾in x 12½in piece.

■ One (1) 13¾in x 10½in piece.

PIECING THE CUSHION FRONT

4

Foundation Paper Piece Section A as follows. Place the fabric piece for Section 1A right side up on the unprinted side of the template against the section. Ensure that the fabric covers the whole section, plus at least ¼in all round. Pin in place.

OPT FOR CLASSIC RED, WHITE AND BLUE AIR MAIL COLOURS FOR YOUR STRIPED BORDER

5

Place the Section 2A fabric piece right side down on top of the Section 1A piece, matching up raw edges on the side where Sections 1 and 2 will be joined and making sure that when folded back along the seam line, Section 2 will be covered by the fabric plus at least in all round. Pin in place.

6

Turn the template over to the printed side and stitch along the marked line between Sections 1 and 2, backstitching at the beginning and end of the seam. Fold the template away from the seam and trim to

in. Fold the template back, turn the work to the fabric side, flip Section 2 open and then press.

7

Continue working in this way to piece the remaining sections on the FPP template, in numerical order. Trim along the dotted seam allowance line.

8

Repeat steps 4–7 to piece each of the Airmail Envelope FPP template Sections B–G (Fig A).

9

Pin together completed sections A and B, carefully matching points at the edges and the bird wing and body.

10

Return your stitch length to its normal length for piecing. Sew the pinned Sections A and B together, remove the paper from the seam only and press the seam open.

11

Repeat steps 9–10, adding Section C to the left side of Section AB. Then sew Sections D and E to each side. Finally add sections F and G to the top and bottom, being careful to orient the diagonal edges correctly (Fig B).

12

Remove the paper templates from the back, tearing along the seam lines.

13

Fuse the completed block to the 18in x 14in piece of batting, following the manufacturer’s instructions.

ADDING FABRIC STAMPS

14

Fussy cut a scrap of fabric. Layer on top of a larger fabric scrap, and neatly zig-zag stitch along the edges of the smaller piece.

15

Layer these scraps on top of the pieced block, and zig-zag stitch along the outer edge to appliqué in place (Fig C).

16

Repeat the last two steps as many times as you like, layering up your stamps, using the photos for inspiration (Fig D).

ADDING THE OWL STAMP

17

Trace the owl body, owl jumper, owl beak and two owl eye templates onto the paper side of fusible web. Roughly cut out.

18

Fuse the pieces to the back of your felt scraps, using brown for the owl body, dark brown for the owl beak, blue for the owl jumper and white for the owl eyes. Cut out each piece on the drawn line.

19

Fuse the owl body onto the green felt square, and topstitch in place (Fig E). Repeat to add the jumper, eyes and beak. Embroider two small ‘V’ shapes in the centre of the eyes (Fig F).

20

Centre the felt square on the cream felt and topstitch in place. Use pinking shears to trim the edges (Fig G).

21

Arrange the stamp on the cushion front and topstitch in place.

OPTIONAL EMBELLISHMENTS

22

Use your stash of selvedges and fussy cut scraps to add embellishments across your cushion front, using the photos for inspiration. Add embroidery details to make some look like packages, or use the embroidery detail templates.

PREPARING THE ENVELOPE CLOSURE

23

Take the larger piece of backing fabric and fuse the larger piece of batting to the wrong side, leaving a 1in gap of fabric at one long edge (Fig H). 24

Press under in of fabric on the unbacked edge of fabric. Then press this folded edge over to the batting and fuse, then topstitch in place (Fig I).

25

Repeat steps 23–24 with the remaining backing and batting.

FINISHING THE CUSHION

26

Lay your pieced cushion front right side up. Layer the larger backing piece on top, right side down, aligning raw edges at one side, with the hem across the centre. Layer the smaller backing piece on top, right side down, aligning raw edges at the other side of the cushion front. Pin in place.

27

Sew around the outer edges. Backstitch a few times over the spots where the two backing pieces overlap. Turn right side out and push out the corners to finish.

CUTTING OUT

1

Using the template as a guide, cut the fabric pieces for each section of the FPP template, making sure the pieces will be at least ¼in larger than the section they will cover, all the way around.

2

From the batting cut two (2) 15in x

11in pieces.

PIECING THE FRONT

3

Follow steps 4–8 of the Airmail Cushion instructions to piece all of the Postcard FPP template Sections A–G. 4

Follow steps 9–12 of the Airmail Cushion instructions to join the segments together, joining Section D to the bottom and E to the top of Section ABC. Then join Section F to the left and Section G to the right.

5

Add your chosen embellishments to the front, following steps 14–22 of the Airmail Cushion instructions, as desired.

FINISHING THE CUSHION

6

Fuse a piece of batting to the wrong side of the completed cushion front. Also fuse batting to the wrong side of the backing fabric.

7

Arrange the cushion back and front right sides together. Sew around the outer edge, leaving a 3in turning gap at one side, and backstitching at each end.

8

Clip the corners and turn right side out. Fill with stuffing and ladder stitch the turning gap closed to finish.