Hi - Jenny here.

Have recently taken delivery of a new sofa - lovely chocolate and coffee shades, with a 'chaise end' - heaven! Anyway, once I'd dragged myself away from it, I wanted to make a couple more cushions to add colour accent. My sitting room was very red before, so to ring the changes I thought I'd try bright blue.

Choosing the shade isn't easy, but buying packs of charm squares is an addiction I'm sure isn't just mine. Many designers offer 5" x 5" (or even 2.5" x 2.5") packs of swatches of their collections - they're a quick and cheap way to have their whole range in the palm of your hand without committing to yards of fabric (also, the packs are totally adorable!). My current fave UK site for fabric is Cotton Patch - they specialise in patchwork and quilting supplies, but their biggest dept is fabric where they offer yummy little charm packs. Not just great for checking colour and pattern, they're also fab for small sewing projects, applique motifs, experimenting with pattern and colour, and building a physical wishlist of fabrics you want (just write on the back of the swatch the designer and fabric name for future reference).

There are even Charm Pack Clubs (check out this Moda one from the US The Fat Quarter Shop) that mean having dinky charm packs regularly dropping through your letter box!

Hopefully I'll find the perfect cushion fabric soon, but in the meantime I'm just enjoying browsing through my stash of charm packs dreaming of owning the fabric by the yard . . .