MEMBERS ONLY: To gain full access to the Half Yard Club projects please login or sign up

Starburst Cushion by Guest Designer Suzie Duncan

Quick Links: What you'll need Project steps

Add a burst of colour to a room or outdoor space by creating this stunning cushion using the foundation paper piecing technique.

This striking patchwork cushion comes from guest designer Suzie Duncan. Crafting has always been part of Suzie’s life: papercraft, mixed media, jewellery-making and sewing. Her first sewing project was a nightshirt and hat for her Snoopy toy, complete with homemade pompom. She progressed to a boned ball dress and tailored wedding outfits whilst studying at university and then working as an Animal Physiologist and Biochemist. The effort was worth it: ‘The nerve-wracking moment I cut into a gorgeous length of fabric is soon lost in the pride and delight I have in its transformation into a project I can wear or use.’

Suzie has been teaching craft workshops for more than 20 years and loves sharing techniques and ideas with people.

Suzie says…

‘I love to share my passion for transforming fabric designs into a story-telling project and inspiring other crafters to explore their creativity and continue their crafting journey. Inspiring and helping someone to make a project that makes them happy, gives me great joy and satisfaction. I love the mathematical calculations behind the projects and working out minimal fabric use so I still have some of the beautiful fabrics to curate and admire!’

Suzie appears regularly on Sewing Street, both presenting her own designs (bags, quilts and accessories) and representing brands, including Elna and Liberty. She also gives talks and teaches groups, sharing her love for the colour, design and transformation of fabric.

‘My projects are inspired by design-backed stories, fabric colours and details, as well as the beautiful world we live in. My designs often evolve whilst walking with our dog, Hendricks.’

This project from Suzie is a foundation-paper-pieced cushion cover. You’ll be making four identical pieced blocks and sewing them together for the cushion front, then adding a double border. The cushion front is quilted and lined, and French seams on the back panels help create a neat and durable finish on the inside. The cushion cover has a simple envelope back, but to make it more fun, I’ve used the same four fabrics as for the front to create a simple striped design.

The patchwork design can be easily repeated to make a quilt to match.

If you’d like more help with foundation paper piecing, see the Pointed Star Cushion Cover for a video that takes you through the technique.

Finished size: 16in (40.5cm) square.

Note: use a ¼in (5mm) seam allowance and press seams open throughout unless otherwise stated.

MEMBERS ONLY: To gain full access to the Half Yard Club projects please login or sign up

You will need:

Equipment

• Sewing machine (walking foot optional for quilting layers)
• Scissors or rotary cutter
• Quilter’s cutting ruler
• FPP paper or lightweight copier paper
• Fabric glue pen 
• Coordinating thread
• Pins or clips 
• Iron and ironing mat 
• Temporary spray fabric adhesive such as 505 or Quilt Basting Spray
• Optional: spray starch such as June Tailor Starch Savvy, Flatter or Best Press
• Optional: Add-a-Quarter ruler

Materials

• Fat quarter in each of three decorative fabrics (1, 2 and 3), with fabric 1 darker than fabric 2 but the same colour; fabric 3 should contrast. I used two shades of yellow, with navy for the contrast
• 19½in (50cm) of co-ordinating plain fabric (fabric 4): I used off-white
• Approximately 16 x 16in (40.5 x 40.5cm) of wadding 
• Square cushion pad to fit your cover

Cut:

• One 16½ x 8in (42 x 20.5cm) strip in fabric 1 (dark yellow) for the cushion back
• One 4in (10.25cm) x width of fabric strip in fabric 1 (dark yellow), sub-cut into four 4in (10.25cm) squares for B1
• Two 1½in (3.75cm) x width of fabric strips in fabric 1 (dark yellow), each trimmed to 12½ x1½in (31.75 x 3.75cm) for the inner side borders
• One 16½ x 5in (42 x 12.75cm) strip in fabric 2 (light yellow) for the cushion back
• One 3in (7.5cm) x width of fabric strip in fabric 2 (light yellow), sub-cut into four 4 x 3in (10.25 x 7.5cm) rectangles for A2
• One 4in (10.25cm) x width of fabric strip in fabric 2 (light yellow), sub-cut into four 3 x 4in (7.5 x 10.25cm) rectangles for B4
• Two 1½in (3.75cm) x width of fabric strips in fabric 2 (light yellow), each trimmed to 14½ x 1½in (37 x 3.75cm) for the inner top and bottom borders
• One 16½ x 5in (42 x 12.75cm) strip in fabric 3 (navy) for the cushion back
• One 4½in (11.5cm) x width of fabric strip in fabric 3 (navy), sub-cut into four 3 x 4½in (7.5 x 11.5cm) rectangles for A4
• One 3in (7.5cm) x width of fabric strip in fabric 3 (navy), sub-cut into four 4 x 3in (10.25 x 7.5cm) rectangles for B2
• Two 1½in (3.75cm) x width of fabric strips in fabric 3 (navy), each trimmed to 14½ x 1½in (37 x 3.75cm) for the outer side borders
• Two 1½in (3.75cm) x width of fabric strips in fabric 3 (navy), each trimmed to 16½ x 1½in (42 x 3.75cm) for the outer top and bottom borders
• One 16½ x 16½in (42 x 42cm) square for the cushion-front lining – I used fabric 4 (off-white)
• One 16½ x 8in (42 x 20.5cm) rectangle in fabric 4 (off-white) for the cushion back
• One 3½in (9cm) x width of fabric strip in fabric 4 (off-white), sub-cut into four 4 x 3½in (10.25 x 9cm) rectangles for A1 AND four 5 x 3½in (12.75 x 9cm) rectangles for A3 
• One 3in (7.5cm) x width of fabric strip in fabric 4 (off-white), sub-cut into four 5 x 3in (12.75 x 3cm) rectangles for B3

MEMBERS ONLY: To gain full access to the Half Yard Club projects please login or sign up