A small quilt or a large cushion? (and more)

At what stage does a cushion become too big to be a cushion and really should be made into a small quilt? That's what I was thinking as I was putting the finishing stitches into this......
It was an(other) 11th hour finish for me....my goal for May was to finish this cushion I'd started several years ago...at the start of the month it was in several pieces, waiting for attention,

My 3-D cushion needing some love.
More about it *here*.

There were some small blocks to go around the above centre block —

And that was about it. A concentrated sewing effort has seen it become this —

Wall hanging?

Or cushion?

The original design didn't have the outer border but I decided I wanted one, it means as the cushion curves, the outer blocks don't disappear off the edge! But it also meant that the cushion grew a little - it finishes at 24" square :-) That's where my dilemma as to whether it was cushion or quilt came from! (However they do make cushion inners this size so I guess I'm legal!).

You can see why it's called a 3-D cushion —

And to finish the 3-D effect, I did some trapunto in the blank areas. This is easily done by putting a bit of batting behind the area, sewing the outline of your design in washaway thread and trimming the excess batting before doing the normal quilt sandwich/layering process. Naturally, you re-sew over the washaway thread with standard thread. (Note to self, next time remember that you have used washaway thread and don't try to spray your outline lines away too early!)

This is all quilted in Aurifil #50 weight - it's becoming a firm favourite quilting thread of mine.

I'm linking up to Patty D of Elm Street quilts for One Monthly Goal and Joy from Days filled with Joy for Finishing Stitches. Thank you ladies for the little push I needed to complete this UFO.

Over the weekend I made a few more scrappy sprouts blocks...I'd made some green ones for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge earlier in the month but they were all quite dark and I wanted some lighter ones too.

Deciding that was enough green scrappy sprouts, I put the sprout box away.... but then after working on another project (which I cant share much of just now), I had these delicious, perfectly sized triangles left over....

So one more sprout appeared! Scrap sewing is very addictive!!!! [Linking up to soscrappy, thank you Angela :-)]

In my last post, I was just getting ready to hop over to Australia to visit my son and his family... I had a fabulous time...the wee girls are nearly two now; they've grown and developed so much since I last saw them.

The Buzzy Bee toys got a good work out while I was there; they make a great noise being pulled around behind the bikes. (All good kiwi kids need a Buzzy Bee, even if they live in Australia!) (They have a traditional red one too, it doesn't show in the photos).

Ahh, precious times ♥

Whoops the best 'family photo' we got!

Before I got to my son's though I braved the train system and visited my gorgeous friend Michelle of Rag-Tag Stitching....... I spent a lovely time chatting with her, and it was also lovely to see her quilts and artwork up close, after admiring so many of them on her blog. Thank you for your hospitality Michelle :-)

I've had a little time away from blogland, with one thing and another...I'm hoping for a quieter weekend now and some lovely catch up reading ♥

'til next time,

happy stitches,

Whew, done - just!

I'm happy this morning that there are different time zones around the world - it means that I have finished my One Monthly Goal in time to link up - even though it is the beginning of the month here in New Zealand, it's still the end of the month elsewhere!
My goal for February was to complete the Applecore runner I'd started a few years ago. It was all sewn together but I wasn't happy with one of the fabrics I'd used.

One Monthly Goal - to finish this!

When I wrote about how the fabric was troubling me, several kind people suggested I tea-dye or dye those cores with a paintbrush. What a great idea, I thought! However when then a fabric literally fell at my feet one day (great storage system huh?!), I decided I'd found the perfect substitute and I didn't needed to dye after all.
Out with the offending fabric -

- and in with the new :-)

Quilted and bound - and, at the last minute, February's goal ticked off the list!

Couldn't get a good apple tree photo but thought the pumpkin patch one was ok!
The colours have washed out a bit in the strong sunlight.

Thank you to Patty of elm street quilts for hosting OMG - it gave me the push I needed to get this long forgotten UFO finished. 

I'm also linking up to Joy's Finishing Stitches Challenge. This linky shows progress we're making on our UFOs...this is my third ufo finish for the year - a good start I reckon :-)

Maybe one of the reasons I was scrambling to get to the finish line was that I had a bit of a DREAMi moment over the weekend. Sandra (of Musings of a Menopausal Melon) is running a fun monthly linkup where we're allowed to admit to those things where we have DRop Everything And Make It moments! This is mine!
It started when I was doing a bit of sorting and tidying after fiishing my Farm Girl Vintage quilt. While putting my scraps away I came across this box of fabric...carefully sorted and safely stored......"oh dear, what was this for I wondered?"

 When I saw the label on the side I gave a little giggle - oh yes - I was going to make that last year - I'd planned to start it after my big holiday - well that never happened oh well.

 Next minute I was sewing away, all thoughts of tidying (and Applecores) forgotten - just to see how the fabrics played together.....
I had came across this block on Sarah's sewjoy blog recently. She has a great tutorial *here*.

I like it - the start of a new project perhaps... another DREAMi moment?

Going through my photos for this post, I've just come across some more. The trouble with doing a secret project is that sometimes you forget to write about it!
I made this Feathered Star cushion as a class sample at my favourite quilt shop.

It's oversized and I love it!!
Fiona of BubzRugz did a blogpost recently on her scrappy quilt backings - well this cushion back is head to toe in scraps as well - there're 7 fabrics pieced together for this (one is hidden under the flap).

Oh what fun!

A new month - and Autumn around the corner - wonder what will happen in The Palace now - I'm excited to see what I will pull out of a box next!

Thank you for reading along,

and happy stitches,