Made It: Pineapple Seat Cushion

I've been in need of a seat cushion for my sewing chair for a while now. It's just a fold up chair, so long sessions of sewing aren't the most comfortable. ;) When I saw this AWESOME pillow that Splendorfalls made for the pillow blog party I knew I wanted to try the pattern.

I haven't ever done paper piecing before, so I googled how to do it and found some patterns that I could print out to use for the pattern. (She also includes the pattern she used if you want one a little smaller.) Here's a few How-to links if you are new to paper piecing too:

I think this one is the simplest to follow: http://www.quilterscache.com/StartQuiltingPages/startquiltingthree.html

This one has some real pictures that help if you're more visual (like me):
http://www.stitchersneedle.com/article1009.html


And here is the link where I found the pineapple pattern that I used:
http://quilting.about.com/od/blockofthemonth/ss/pineapple_quilt.htm

{The first page has the template, and also a link to basic foundation piecing. The third page has the how-to piece it.}

I changed up my colors a little, so I wasn't totally copying Splendorfalls but I still wanted to do a rainbow scheme to match my new pincushion. I bound it using the same fabric as in my new scrap basket. I feel like my sewing area really is becoming so coordinated. ;)

Since I found the binding tutorial at Crazy Mom Quilts, I've used it ever since. But there is one change that I found that I am now always going to do as well. I really LOVE how Anita from Bloomin' Workshop does the beginning and end of the binding... it's so smooth, and at least for me, is a LOT easier to get the two ends to match up length wise.

For the back I used some of the leftover scraps to make a little strip for an accent so the back wasn't too plane. This was also the first time I've ever pieced scraps like this before too. I quilted four layers of batting to the back, and added two more when I bound the entire quilt. It's still a little thin, but works well and is comfy. ;)

{don't pay attention to the binding that is coming unstitched in the top left corner. I didn't reinforce the straps on the outside at first, so when I tied them too tight to the chair it kind of pulled the binding off. I just need to restitch that. Oops. ;)} 

Pretty much everything about this project was new to me, but boy did I enjoy it!!! The paper piecing took a while, but it was so much fun! I am definitely going to do more of this, and maybe learn how to do my own designs. Wouldn't that be fun?! I definitely recommend trying it out if you haven't yet! :)