Ta-Dah! A spring-time cushion cover

I love spring. The landscape changes from muddy brown to fast growing green, in a blink of an eye.

Blue sky. Washing drying on the line. Birds courting on the roof tops. Lambs gambolling in a neighbour’s field. Bees buzzing around, visiting the flowers that seem to appear by stealth. All wonderful and most welcome to see.

Is it just me or have you ever noticed how the flowers seem to get more colourful as the months roll on? They certainly seem to in our neck of the woods. White snowdrops are replaced with daffodils and lesser celandines in the hedgerows. Then flowers such as pulmonaria and crocuses start to hold the space. Soft pastel colours, that will be replaced before long by more vibrant coloured flowers. And so the year rolls on. Slowly getting more colourful.

A few weeks ago, in a crazy moment, I decided I wanted to capture those early spring colours. Soft and hazy. Perfect for an Easter themed cushion cover. A change from my usual choice of bright colours.

So I made a daisy cushion cover. It’s the same daisy stitch that I used last year for my blanket. I do love making these daisies. I have perfected the initial yellow circle (it’s all down to the knot) and improved the way of adding a twist to the first petal. This time the squares are smaller, using only two rounds of double crochet clusters, instead of three, to add colour around the daisies. I joined the 16 squares up with white yarn. Using a stitch with a ridge, to give a frame to each individual daisy.

I have to admit, I ummed and ahhed about how to make the rest of the cushion. The crochet front was the easy part. Should I crochet the back too? Do I need to put fabric between the crochet and the cushion pad? How exactly am I meant to join the crochet panel to the rest of the cushion cover, if I do use fabric?

In the end, I decided to dilute the crocheting with a fabric back. I just wasn’t quite ready for a crochet-only cover. I made a fabric cushion cover from a bit of Cath Kidson strawberry fabric, that I had in my stash, and an old brushed-cotton crib sheet. Opting for an envelope style cover. I then blanket stitched the crochet panel to the crib sheet.

Add a cushion pad and it’s done.

I love the cushion. It is pretty and soft. Of course, it goes with absolutely nothing else in the house…except the original daisy blanket, which lives on my old blue, rocking chair in our bedroom. I’m not sure I really want to add more crocheting there. Leaves me in a bit of a quandary about where to put my new cushion. I’ve tried it in several rooms but it really doesn’t work on our dark chairs. It looks best in a light, white room, so it will probably end up in my sewing room.

No matter how much I love crocheting, filling our house with crochet pieces is never going to end well. They look out of place, which makes me a little sad. Crochet can look good. In the right setting. Even en masse. You only have to spend a happy hour or…ahem… so in Pinterest to see that. Maybe I should try a different stitch or colour when I next crochet. Or maybe I should stick with knitting and patchwork. Anyone else have a similar problem with crochet?

At least book bunny can enjoy it out in the sun. For now. Ravelry details here.

Joining in with the Crafting On Linky