Square Union Jack Patchwork Cushion - a quick tutorial

The Olympics made me do it. The Olympics and Blandina.

You see, Blandina gave me a beauty of a charm square pack she'd had in her stash for many years (she bought it when she was three ;).

Laura Ashley, no less.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to make with it until I saw those Union Jacks all over London.

The colours were perfect:

I had a 40 cm/16 inch cushion form that needed a new cover.

I started with 6.5 inch square paper templates like this for the diagonals:

I had to join my fabric squares together to make them large enough for the job:

Then I paper pieced to make the diagonals. (For a detailed tute on paper piecing diagonals, see this one. Just remember our diagonals are NOT random - you need to follow the lines on your template.)

Make 4 of these

Then I added 1.5 inch white strips along a side of each block:

And then another 1.5 inch white strip to complete the blocks:

Then it was time for the St. George cross. This is where you might like to alter my design.

As you might have noticed from my top photo, I like my cushions well-stuffed, and I don't care who knows it. If you like your cushion covers a little looser, or you plan on quilting the cover, you might like a little more ease in there.

If you like it toight like a toiger, use 2.5 inch red strips. If you'd like more ease, go for 3.5 inch strips.

Join two blocks first:

And then use a final strip to complete the design:

Yay for Jack. You can easily turn it into a cushion now using this tutorial.

I spent a little time considering the back of my cushion. Being Australian I like to see the Southern Cross wherever I see a Union Jack but to be honest, I couldn't bring myself to make all those itty bitty stars. So I took the easy route and made the French flag instead.

Can Jack and Marianne live together? 

There you have it, a little bit of the 2012 London Olympics for your couch.

Happy viewing!