Loggy Jet

We've all seen lovely Lisa's stunning log cabin cushions and this Japanese craft book is great inspiration too. I'd been wanting to try one of these for a while and since it was Al M's birthday coming up thought it would be a great gift for her. She's notoriously difficult to buy for :)

I'd also wanted to try inkjetting onto fabric a picture of her dog, Jet. A big, black, goofy Labrador who is one of Al's major loves in her life. I'd read here at Sewing Stars how she had printed onto fabric using Freezer Paper and then at Tall Poppy I'd seen their printing onto fabric supplies.

Briefly....I bought some Bubble JetSet, then I soaked my chosen fabric, calico, let the fabric dry. Then ironed the fabric onto an A4 adhesive label. I'd already scanned my image and had it ready. One tip, this is where I made an error, don't forget to leave a seam allowance around your image or to have enough of your image "bleeding" past where you want to sew. I had just enough fabric to create a seam without losing image. So then....hold your breath and put the fabric in the printer tray ready to print and off you go....watch with eagle eyes that the fabric comes out safely! It did!!! Then let it sit for 30minutes and then rinse gently with mild detergent. Leave to dry and iron. Very satisfying indeed.

Creating the log cabin was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I'm not a very patient crafter and quilting can stretch my patience! However this block is great. I love it. It's great fun selecting the colours and patterns and seeing if they work together. I love that one of the fabrics has food references, since being a Labrador, food it Jet's favourite thing in the whole world, well second to his mummy. Even though I did baste I did have some puckering and imperfections in my machine quilting, but I decided that I could live with it and it added to the charm of the finished item.

Only nearly a month after her birthday I gave the cushion to Al, she loved it! So satisfying to give a handmade gift to a buddy that appreciates it and really likes it. More pics at flickr.