Postage Stamp Cushion

When I was designing the butterfly quilt for Christine @ Once Upon A Quilt's scrap bag challenge I was inspired by this project.

It is designed by Kati who blogs over at from the blue chair. I proceeded to cut all the squares needed for my butterfly quilt and then went in search of the Pellon product that Kati used. Unfortunately it was not yet available in Australia (and not easy to find anywhere else either!), so I went ahead and made the quilt without it (because I'd already cut out all those 1 3/4" squares. What was I to do?).

I had been in correspondence with Kati and shared my woe at not being able to use the Pellon Stick-N-Washaway for all those little squares. As we were soon to flit off to the US for a holiday I mentioned that I would look for some Pellon while there. Kati very kindly offered to send me some of the Pellon that she had spare. Sure enough, when we arrived in the US a very lovely package from Kati was waiting for me. Kati included an extra surprise - some lovely scraps!

Kati's scraps. Soon to feature in another project or two!

I have been itching to try the Pellon Stick-N-Washaway, so when I had lots of pretty 2.5" squares left over from my Scrappy Trip Along quilt (that is on my Finish Along list!) I seized the opportunity. Kati's pixel pillow uses 1.5" squares, but I found that her tutorial also worked well with 2.5" squares.

First of all I laid out my squares on the sticky side of the Pellon. It helped to peg the Pellon to my cutting mat. I used pegs, as my Clover clips are the small size and not quite large enough for this task.

Then I began sewing by carefully folding over each row.

This is such an effective way of achieving perfectly matched seams.

When all the vertical rows were sewn I used a seam ripper to open up all the seams before sewing each horizontal seam.

Using the Pellon Stick-N-Washaway made this cushion cover come together extremely quickly. I do have one tip: wipe your needle after every few rows of stitching. I found that the needle got a bit sticky about half way through constructing the cushion cover. And snapped!

The most exciting part was yet to come - washing away the Pellon! I filled my hand basin with a little water and let the cushion top sit for a few minutes.

This product is amazing (can you tell I've never used a stabilizer that dissolves before?!!). Right before my very eyes the Pellon began to disappear. Amazing.

Disappearing Pellon

After a few rinses (and a bit of agitation where the seams met) the Pellon was all gone. Out on the clothesline for a few minutes to dry (it's summer here!) and then inside again for an iron.

And then some quilting! Soft loops for such pretty fabrics (from the 'Papillon' range by Moda).

A simple envelope back and it's finished.

I am really pleased with my new cushion!

 Linking up to Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.