Go Orange! Patchwork Cushion raffle for MyelomaUK

*** RAFFLE IS NOW CLOSED***

Nearly six years ago now, my Mum was diagnosed with Stage 3 Multiple Myeloma. It's a blood cancer - one I'd never heard of before - accounting for only 2% of all cancers and is treatable but not currently curable. If you would like to read more about it, please check out the Myeloma UK site here.
Go Orange! Denyse Schmidt patchwork cushion raffle for MyelomaUK


Mum continues to receive amazing treatment from the NHS, including Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy, and a Stem-cell transplant.  She recently started a further round of chemotherapy and I've been thinking about what could I do to help in some very small way?

When I was little, I spent ages crafting and Mum used to pretty much let me have free rein: at the beginning of the summer holidays she'd set her sewing machine up for me on the dining table, leave out her threads and just let me play. I wonder, now that I have children of my own, quite how my folks felt about us not being able to eat at the dinner table for six weeks, but nothing was ever said  (to me, at least!) and I was happy.

Which brings us to this cushion! It's Myeloma Awareness week from 21st - 27th June and I thought I could share a little quilty love whilst also helping to raise awareness and funds for Myeloma research and support.....

Go Orange! Denyse Schmidt patchwork cushion

I found some jelly roll strips in just the right colours - the Myeloma UK logo colours - and decided that a courthouse step block would be a great way of using the fabrics and making a statement cushion. I do admit to fussy cutting the plaid strip - they're not all exactly the same but I did and make sure that the 'V' of the plaid stripe was central.
Sewing a court house steps quilt block using jelly roll strips

I love sewing together these blocks, they're so quick - especially if you have jelly roll strips to hand! I started with a 2.5" square and then for the following rounds;

Round 2: two (2) 2.5" squares and two (2) 6.5" x 2.4" rectangle
Round 3: two (2) 6.5" x 2.5" rectangle and two (2) 10.5" x 2.5" rectangle
Round 4: two (2) 10.5" x 2.5" rectangle and two (2) 14.5" x 2.5" rectangle
Round 5: two (2) 14.5" x 2.5" rectangle and two (2) 18.5" x 2.5" rectangle

I stopped once I reached 18.5" as I think that's a good cushion size, but you could easily keep going: for each additional round, cut two (2) of the longest sized strips from the previous round eg. 18.5" x 2.5" and two (2)  longest size + (2 x the finished height of the strips) eg. 18.5" + 4"  = 22.5" x 2.5"

I've used fabrics by my favourite designer, Denyse Schmidt (for anyone that's not a quilter, that basically means I've used fabrics that are kept for either special occasions or just to be looked at!!!). The cushion cover finishes at 18" square, has a zip closure, is fully washable and can be used with an 18"-20" cushion pad.

Go Orange! Patchwork cushion for MyelomaUK raffle


If you would like a chance to win this cushion, please enter the raffle by popping over to my Just Giving page where you can get a ticket for just £2. The raffle will close at midnight on 27th June and I'm hoping to raise £250 in all.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any contributions that you may make.

S x

PS - I seem to be having problems with email notifications of comments not coming through so if I don't reply/you'd like to speak to me about something please do drop me an email and don't think that I'm ignoring you!

Today's sky::: a little bit cloudy, but sunny none the less! 

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