FTLOS Redux

My husband often complains that I am too nice. I like to make people happy, even complete strangers when I can, so when I heard the call go out for Angels in the FTLOS Swap I answered, despite my insane schedule. Megan paired me up with Charlotte since her partner went AWOL somewhere along the way. And for a moment I thought the pressure of turning around a spectacular and desired swap package in a short amount of time might prove too much for me. But I approached her as I would any other partner in any other swap - except this time I didn't post teaser pictures.

Charlotte had a couple things on her wish list, but the one that stood out to me the most was a floor cushion. I have never made anything like this before but it seemed like the thing she wanted the most so I decided to try it.

Her favorite solid is Kona Orange so I ran over to my favorite LQS, Sew Modern, and picked up some Kona Orange along with some coordinating shades of orange and neutral solids and threw in some Robin Egg Blue for a pop of color.

I decided that paper piecing was the way to go with this one and I started by drafting two circle patterns in the size I wanted. Then I traced out the pie slices so that all the points met in the middle and cut the circles into four pieces. I did make one stupid mistake, though... In my haste (but if I'm being honest it's actually due to my aversion to math) I forgot to account for the 1/4" seam in each of my quadrants so my points didn't end up as perfect as I imagined.

I added a zipper along the side for easy stuffing. And since I was custom making this round floor pillow without a form, and I was shipping her overseas, I couldn't send her stuffed but I thought the zipper would be the perfect way for Charlotte to be able to stuff it herself. I used crumpled pages from a magazine to simulate the stuffing for my photos, so it really won't be that lumpy in reality.

I also tried making my own fabric covered buttons for the very first time and, let me tell you, I am in love! They were so incredibly easy. I see many more of these in my future.

Since I wanted to treat Charlotte as I would any other swap partner, I added some extras to the package including some fabric and sewing tools I hope she could use. Thankfully my package made it safely across the pond to Charlotte. And I discovered later that this was her first swap experience, so I hope that it doesn't sour her thoughts on online swapping. I really had a blasy making this for her. It got me out of my comfort zone and I learned a lot. If you envision it, you can create it. Enjoy Charlotte!