Saturday 8 March 2014

Book Review - Playful Petals

The lovely people at CT Publishing let me loose on their review copies of some upcoming books.  I was so excited that this book was in the bundle.  Read on if you want to know what I thought of Playful Petals: Learn Simple, Fusible Applique (affiliate link - if you do click over and buy something, I'll get a few pence towards an Amazon voucher).

I love Corey Yoder's work so was happy to get a chance to see inside this book.  I was not disappointed.  The book revolves around her petal template (included in the book, it's not a separate buy) and I couldn't believe all the different ways she has of using it.  I can't share photos of the book with you, but you can search inside the book on Amazon.

I wanted to try one of the projects in the book, but don't have time to take on another quilt project, so I started with a cushion.



There are 9 project sets in the book - each consisting of a quilt and a cushion.  I chose this lovely design - Rainbow Petals.  I cut out the petals from some fat 1/8s of Flea Market Fancy and originally  had a piece of Kona White as the background.  I decided it was too boring and swapped it for this Crosshatch from Architextures.





The book starts with an introduction to machine applique and shows you a few different ways of tackling it.  All the projects use fusible web, which is my preferred method.  I used Bondaweb.  There are also tips and instructions for making blocks and finishing quilts.  



This particular cushion was done in two blocks, one with each set of leaves.  I decided to just use one piece of fabric.  It makes a rectangular cushion of approx 12" x 16" and despite cutting my background to that size, I didn't realise it would be rectangular until I'd finished the applique.  Duh!  I didn't want to have trouble finding a cushion form, so added a thin red border to the right and left and a larger blue border top and bottom.




Unfortunately I didn't have a cushion form big enough - I need to buy one - so stuffed this with another cushion.  It looks a bit baggy, but it's lush when you see it in person... if I do say so myself!



I didn't think about quilting it until after I'd pieced the top - then I realised I'd lose some of the size all round, so I left it unquilted.  I did add some piping though.



As I used fat 1/8s, they weren't big enough for the back, so I pieced the grey and blue fabrics together and added a band of piping which you can't quite make out on this photo.  I dropped my camera during this photo shoot and I think I may have fatally damaged it.  I was always rubbish at photos, but these are particularly bad.  


Anyway, I really enjoyed making this and it came together quite quickly, for me.  I'm chuffed with my new addition to the living room and I will make some more of the projects in this book... I'll add them to my massive list!

If you like Corey's style, I'd definitely recommend this book.


Disclaimer:

I was given a review copy of the book by C&T Publishing however this review and all opinions are 100% my own, I was not told what to say.




16 comments:

Sarah said...

Oooohhh this looks good! *adds to wishlist*

Michele said...

A nice piece to add to your living room. Clever and cute. A good book review too. Well done.

JoJo said...

I love how the pillow came out!

Sarah in Stitches said...

It looks great! It all came together really nicely. I bet it looks lovely in your living room! :D

CeLynn said...

Sounds like a wonderful book to add to the quilting library! Thanks for a lovely review Wendy. Those are some very pretty petals made from Flea Market Fancy!

SuperMomNoCape said...

I love the fabrics you chose to make the cushion. It turned out great!

margaret said...

another book you are tempting us with! The cushion has worked a treat and wow piping too, have not learnt that technique yet

Jane said...

What a great cushion. I end up making the cushion inserts, can get to just the right size :)

Unknown said...

I love the petals! The cushion looks lovely, I love all the little added touches that make it your own. I'm going to take a look at that book on amazon! Chrissie x

Jo Ferguson said...

The pillow is beautiful. I love that you added piping. Your colour and fabric choices were perfect. Thanks for letting us know about the book.

pennydog said...

I think I'd like this book more if it had different appliqué techniques in it to choose from, I'm not a fan of raw edge unless it can't be avoided (like on my maple leaf cutouts), also I don't think I could live with myself for buying a book called "playful petals" it's a bit sickly sweet for me, not to put a downer on Corey's work as I think she's great!

Lorna McMahon said...

This cushion cover turned out just dandy! Your choice of Architextures for the background does make those colour pop! Love the addition of the piping. I have always admired Corey's work. What a great book it must be!

Shari said...

Love your pillow. Corey's patterns are awesome. I'll need to look into getting a copy of her book.

Debra said...

Great fabrics!!! Love the pattern and it looks like a great book.

Lorette said...

Beautiful pillow!

Mara said...

Very pretty, I will have to see what other projects are inside the book.