Monday 1 August 2011

Put another Bird on it Maureen cushions

Last year I spent a lovely holiday making slipcovers for the Allerum using some cheap and cheerful Ikea leaf fabric. For the curtains I bought a roll of beautiful silvery blue linen fabric from curtainfabricsonline - it has an antiquey french feel and when it arrived on a long tube I was so excited I think I trembled.

The sofa came with giant cushions which were looking a bit grubby, so I covered one side with the curtain fabric leftovers. On the other side my first attempt was a pastel Mondrian effect intended to complement my other cushions. The end result was unpleasant so I scrapped them and started again with the tried and trusted method of putting birds on them (see last post).
 
My Great Aunt Maureen was a great hoarder and I inherited her fabric stash (as well as knitting pins and vintage patterns) when she died a couple of yrs ago. I used some of this fabric as the background for the bird cushions and scraps from previous projects (including the curtains) to make the trees and birds. This was my first attempt at machine embroidery and I really enjoyed the feeling of producing casual lines- like sketching on fabric. I prefer the Nuthatch to the Chaffinch because it is a bit less busy.

Every time I look at the cushions I think of Maureen.

Nuthatch on Silver Birch
Nuhatch applique and machine embroidery
Chaffinch and Willow
Chaffinch detail

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