Behind the blog giveaway

Hello there!

I hope you are having a lovely June... It's hard to believe we are nearly half way through the month already. I've missed blogging the past couple of weeks, but things have been pretty hectic over here with lots of family comings & goings, a quick hop, skip & a jump across the pond to Kansas, school exams for the kids, running sewing workshops & (drum roll please!!!) OPENING MY ETSY SHOP.... Yes, I've finally plucked up the courage, taken the plunge & BirdsongStitches is now finally trading!!

I'll be stocking things in the shop that I love to make, like this bunting

Or this cushion cover

To celebrate, I thought we could have a giveaway... So, here is what you could win...

A lovely stash of 10 fat eighths of Denyse Schmidt fabrics which I bought on my last wee visit to America. I don't think they are available over here & they really are very pretty. They are from her new Piccadilly, and Bakersfield and Union Station collections

To enter the giveaway I would love for you to have a wee look at the shop by clicking here & telling me what you like, or what you think I should stock, or any tips or advice you have for selling on etsy. If you are a follower of the blog, or you follow me on Pinterest or Instagram, do please let me know for another chance to win. The giveaway will close on Friday 13th June at midnight & I'll announce the winner on Saturday 14th..

So good luck & I hope you all have a lovely, creative weekend
Karen x

Pillow Talk with Svetlana

Hello there!

I hope you had a lovely weekend & managed to get a wee bit of stitching done. I'm back from wild, windswept & beautiful Orkney & have lots so show you later on this week (including a special celebration post tomorrow!). But for to-day I'm so thrilled to introduce you to Svetlana.... she is one of the first bloggers I officially "followed" last year when I started blogging & she makes the most amazing cushions....

 quilts...

 pouches...

 and loads more!! Over to you Svetlana...

Hello, I'm Svetlana from s.o.t.a.k handmade. I was so excited when Karen asked me to write a guest post for her blog. I decided to do "a sort of” pillow tutorial. I'd like to show you how a simple quilt block, or two, could be turned into a beautiful pillow cover.

This is the pillow I made using 2 cupcake blocks by Malka Dubrawsky. I found this mini quilt in Pretty in Patchwork Doll Quilts book and I totally fell in love with the whole design and pretty colors.

And while I adore this block, I just don't have patience or time to work on the whole quilt right now. So I decided to make just two of these yummy blocks and turn them into a pillow.

Once my blocks were done, I cut out sashing to join and frame the blocks. This part can be customized to any dimensions you need. It all depends on the size of the blocks and the pillow form you have. My blocks measured 11.5" x 12.5" each. 

I needed to bring the size of the whole pillow top to  15.5" x 29.5" - the size of the pillow form I wanted to use - so I decided to add one more, contrasting border. I love how this print fabric frames all my cupcakes so nicely.

I like to iron fusible fleece to the wrong side of the pillow top which means no basting and being ready for quilting in no time at all. It works wonderfully every time. 

I decided to hand quilt the pillow top, outlining all my cupcakes using 3 strand whitish embroidery thread. I really, really love the extra special touch that hand quilting adds to this pillow.

Once the pillow top was quilted, it was time to make a backing. I usually don't quilt my pillow backs (no rules here, just my preference). I used two coordinating Denyse Schmidt fabrics and joined them with the zipper.

I placed the pillow top and back on top of each other, wrong sides together, pinned them in place, and basted all the way around. Then all that was left to do was attach the binding - the same way as I would have for the quilt.

So, there you have it. A pretty pillow using just 2 quilt blocks. How fun is that?

I hope you give it a try and turn some fun quilt blocks into lovely pillow covers.

Happy blogiversary, Karen! You rock, my friend!

Svetlana

Thanks so much Svetlana! If you get a moment, do drop by her blog - her stuff is fantastic & amazingly she has only been stitching for about 18months!!!

Lots of fab things to post tomorrow, so hopefully I'll see you then. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy your day wherever you are & whatever you do :)
Karen