This is the second of four cushions I am making using the beekeeper quilt concept of knitted hexagon pods filled with archival quality wadding. The cushions are each designed to fit a specific (hard)chair in the church of St Margaret of Scotland Woodville. I am using up the 8ply wool left from previous projects - a not unlimited, but nevertheless considerable, supply. I am trying to link each one to an event or theme of the saint’s life.
For this one I chose the theme of the sea and St Margaret’s journeys over water, in particular her arrival in the Firth of Forth around the age of 20, reportedly shipwrecked by a storm on the way to Hungary, the country of her birth, with her family. It is possible that they left Wessex, intending to seek asylum in Scotland, and Hungary was a misdirection to avoid pursuit. A shipwreck is equally possible. As great-niece and nephew of King Edward the Confessor, she and her brother were in both danger and demand in the succession battles raging in England, particularly after the defeat of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. Whatever the story, dangerous sea journeys were part of Margaret’s inheritance.
This seat is a pair with the one for which I made the first cushion - long and relatively shallow. I began by making a row of eight pods, to get the length and a colour combination reminiscent of the sea. I then built out either side, trying out different colour placements to get a sense of both harmony and churn.Some pods use variegated wool. Some use odd bits joined together. One of the advantages of the pods is the capacity to use even tiny bits of wool in this way.
