October 19, 2018

Reading Cushions

For Christmas last year, one of the moms I babysit for gave me two fat quarter bundles of adorable flannel fabrics. One was helicopter and airplane themed, the other dinosaurs and cats. There were a  couple of coordinating prints as well.
Flannel fabrics | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
I don't often use flannel, so I stuck them on a shelf until a couple of weeks ago, when I finally came up with the perfect way to use them - cushions for when the littles and I are sitting on the floor reading 😊
reading cushions | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
reading cushions | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
I cut out 16" squares and paired the fabrics together, then stitched around, leaving an opening for stuffing. I considered just making cushion covers, but I didn't have inserts and making separate inserts felt like too much work, lol. I'm thinking I'll just throw the cushions in the washer as needed and hope for the best.

I had some old scraps of fluffy polyester batting that I used for the stuffing, after pulling the pieces apart so the cushions wouldn't be too lumpy.
batting | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
Silas was my helper for stuffing the first one. He loved pulling the pieces apart to make them extra fluffy 😊
All the pictures of the kids I babysit are shared here with permission from their mothers.
We didn't stuff them all the way full because I didn't want them too high when the littles are trying to sit on them. And as a side note, it sure does take a lot of stuffing to stuff something! It always seems to take so much more than I think it will.

I had to break my self-imposed hand stitching ban to ladder stitch the cushions closed, but sometimes you just want to get something finished. I love how ladder stitch is like magic - it's stitched, but you can't see it at all.
ladder stitching cushions | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
And the cushions are a big hit!
Gregory, here, kept laying down on the cushions, which was adorable, but every single time I crouched down with my phone to take his picture he sat straight up again. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was pretty cute 😊

It feels good to make something I've been wanting for a while and to use pretty fabric that isn't what I usually use. It's a win-win!

7 comments:

  1. What a perfect way to use up the gifted fabric. I agree; a ladder stitch is definitely magical and I bet these pillows will be used and loved for years!

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  2. Hi Leanne! Oh, these kiddos are just so darn cute. What a good helper Silas was. I can see he took his job very seriously. ~smile~ These are a great idea! And Gregory - he looks so cute reading his book. Just the perfect thing for all those flannels. Happy Friday! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  3. What a great way to use up the flannel fabric with perfect little cushions for reading time. What fun. They are obviously a hit with the kids.

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  4. Great use of gifted flannel. Cute pillows and little ones.

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  5. Those cushions look very comfortable Leanne, I am not surprised that they were such a hit!

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  6. Great idea and bonus destashing project.

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  7. I think forgoing the inserts was the right decision. I've got one little guy who can't resist but open any pillow with a zipper and pull out the insert! Yay for you for putting those FQs to good use!

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