I’m extra happy to check this project off My Crafty List of Things to Do. I’ve been wanting to make a box cushion dog bed for Maisy for well over a year. I had gotten as far as ordering a 10lb bag of organic buckwheat hulls from Northern Quinoa last November and then the project fell to the wayside.

When Erin approached me about doing some introductory upholstery classes, I knew the box cushion would make a great class and help kick start this personal project of mine!

I had originally wanted to make the cushion out of Denyse Schmidt’s Cheater Print fabric from her County Fair Home Dec line, but changed my mind last minute to this dark Tulip Medallion print from the same collection. This sweet little print has grown on me in the last couple months.

I really enjoy testing out new classes and being one of the students. It’s amazing how many ways there are to insert a zipper in your sewing. I love the version we did here and Erin showed us how to make a little pocket for the zipper pull to slide into. I now wish that I had chosen to do contrast piping. Lauren did and it really added another level of detail. I will definitely do that on my next one.

Each of us also made a muslin casing to cover the inside (foam, rice, buckwheat, etc) and make it super easy to care for and wash our cushion covers. This clever feature alone, makes me want to recover every box cushion I own.

At first Maisy was completely wary of her new bed and would hide when I called her over to it. Perhaps because I was so insistent that she get in it for a photo. I ended up laying out pieces of cheese all over it to get her to realize how great it really was.

As with Erin’s other class, the Upholstered Cube, I learned a lot of really great tricks that are going to come in handy for my future upholstery goals. When you look around, box cushions are everywhere! I have very lofty ambitions of doing a patchwork couch and I’m feeling like it just might be possible now. (kinda.)

Hi, how are you???! I know things have been really quiet here, but generally that means that things are bustling with everything else in my life. The biggest thing keeping me busy has been preparing for the upcoming Holiday Trunk Show at the workroom. It’s Sunday December 7th, noon – 5pm, which happens to only be 10 days away!!! From now until the show, I’ll be posting about all the wonderful vendors you can expect to see at the show. It’s a really great mix of people and I’m so excited to have them all together.

In other crafty news, I finally finished my upholstered cube. What a super fun class that was. I had the hardest time deciding on fabric. I put it off until the very last second and finally decided to go with the Porch Ribbon fabric from Denyse Schmidt’s County Fair line. I love it. I just need to head over to Lee Valley to pick up some legs. I really love the idea of making and upholstering your own furniture. How I would love to re-upholster my couch. This may be way too ambitious for my own good though.

Nora and Kathryn made little presents for everyone in the class congratulating them on their finished cubes. I tried to hold off eating the sweet treat inside until I had actually finished my cube, but alas, my willpower is not that strong.

I always feel a bit sad when classes like that end. In a way you wish they could just go on forever. But then there’s always something new to learn…like UNDERWEAR, in January.

I just wanted to gush a little over the darling little coin purse I made in a class taught by Reva on Sunday. Figuring out how to make these purses with the metal frames was on ‘my crafty list of things to do’, so I was delighted when Reva proposed this as a class at the workroom.

I used fabric from Denyse Schmidt’s new line ‘County Fair’, it’s a heavier canvas weight perfect for home decor and accessories. The lining is a print of antique coupons by Anna Griffin.

These little purses use very little fabric, so you can make a few from just a fat quarter or make good use of your scrap stash. With all the different sizes of frames in the shop, I see a matching token purse, sunglass case and clutch bag in my near future.