Colour Block cushion - turquoise

My inspiration for the first colour block cushion came with a visit to Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire this summer. Built of stone in the 15th century with stone stairs, stone walls and floors the house could have been gloomy and dark but instead the rooms of this family home were bright and cosy.

I love colour and colour combinations wherever you see them in nature, in clothing, gardens or interior designs. Creamy curtains with a large print of bright colours in one room of the castle made me see how the combination of turquoise, taupe and white would make a bright fresh looking cushion. Once home I searched for a double knit wool in the right colours and hit on Sirdar Snuggly.

Choosing teal, taupe, white and orange when the wool arrived the combination of teal and white looked better without the taupe or orange and would keep the cushion looking fresh and modern.
I designed a very pretty round motif earlier this year which I’ve used in many different ways. In this cushion I’ve used it to make a square motif. I experimented with the two colours trying a white centre and a turquoise surround and then a turquoise centre with a white surround which was my choice. Either combination looks good and creates a very different look for the cushion.

I experimented with the panels. The small motifs looked too much on their own so I made a long thin strip of them and made a couple of textured panels to go alongside. From there the obvious solutions was another bank of the motifs and the design was complete. For the panels I chose a very simple textured stitch. I’ve become a bit addicted to textured crochet recently. It creates a lovely Arran style knitted finish and it’s very therapeutic to make.

As so often I finish a design before I think too much about how to finish it, if a fastening is needed and whether to add an edging. For this cushion design I had a mind to use the centre of the motif for buttons and a simple crochet loop to create a fastening. When this was done I was very happy with the finished look and decided an edging would spoil the simple fresh modern look.