Floral Finds

Hello there!
I hope you have had a great week....over here on the Causeway Coast the sun has finally come out & the flowers have been enjoying a sunny respite from the rain

I've been trying to get a better grasp of instagram & its amazing filters, but unfortunately I think (yet again) my children are better at it than me... This is Hannah's photo from a sunset walk....

Anyway, if you are on instagram do let me know, or if you have any tips I'd love to hear them... I'm birdsongstitches - I think...

As you can probably tell, I've been spending a lot of time in the garden enjoying the flowers & scents (in between weeding & grass cutting) & dreaming up lots of stitchy possibilities,  so I thought I would share some flowery loveliness with you ...

Crochet Flower Card

Pattern available here: little birdie secrets

Flower Hair Clips

Tutorial available here: oh for sweetness sake 

Aneela's Summer Flowers Embroidery

Pattern available here: comfort stitching

Krista's Liberty Lemonade Table Cloth

Tutorial available here: poppyprint

I hope this gives you a little bit of floral inspiration... if you're looking for some other interesting stitchy stuff, click here which will take you to some more pinterest finds.....

Hope you have a lovely rest of the week & wherever you are, that the sun shines - at least a wee bit!

Take care

Karen

A Momentous June

Hello there

I hope your week has been going well..... Thanks so much to all of you who sent me such lovely blogiversary wishes - I really enjoyed hearing from each one, so many thanks again... If you haven't already entered for the June giveaway, please do by clicking here ....

As I sit here in front of the fire (YES, THE FIRE IS LIT....its the end of June & its so cold we have a lovely fire crackling in the hearth....) But anyway, I was thinking how momentous this June has been for our country with the Queen's Jubilee. But for me, it was also a momentous month for family & friendships.... 

Here are some of the highlights:

The FAT QUARTERLY RETREAT in London was wonderful - a fantastic weekend to meet & laugh with bloggy friends ...& maybe get a wee bit of stitching done too!

I managed (just at the very last minute) get this backpack finished with some wonderful Summersville fabrics

The Olympic Torch arrived in town & my two lovely boys (& the rowing coach) were there to help receive it!!

My wonderful daughter finished her school years....

It seems that only a wee while ago she had her first day in a tiny school house in Scotland

How the years have flown by!!

Fathers Day included some more stitching

McGinty became a model (at the request of a local photographer I might add!!)

And in between all this & the exam (GCSE & A level) trials & tribulations & trying to avoid the rain, I made this sunshine tote for someone in our do. Good Stitches Circle

So a few stitchy things done & some still to do... Here's (some of) my plans for July

You might notice a lot of hand sewing over the next couple of weeks!! I'm wondering what you all will be up to.... Well, no matter what your plans are for July I wish you all a great month, filled with lots of stitchy creativity & birdsong!

Take care

Karen

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

Sunshine (and showers) Tote

Hello there!

How has your week been so far? Have you had sunshine? Or showers? Or both?? I'm writing this post from a wee island off the North Coast of Scotland called Orkney (which is where my great grandparents came from) & as I write this the rain is pouring down & there are wee streams of rainwater trickling over the cobbled stones... But at least the plants in the gardens look happy!!

This week in between exam runs & the rain, I've been busy finishing off a surprise for someone in our do. Good Stitches bee

I designed the bag expecially for this person & I really enjoyed making it.. It has a lovely curvey bottom....

I used some of the printed text I made a couple of weeks ago & lots of my favourite fabrics which I quilted individually

The front has a large padded pocket with a snap closure (which might be good for the recipients camera!!)

There's another zipped pocket inside & a wee key fob too

I used fusible fleece to make it nice & squishy & am really hoping that the person who I've sent it to will like it...

Here's Hannah modelling it to give you an idea of the size

I was thinking of maybe making a pattern for this - I'd love to know what you think....

If all these photos have given you a taste for totes, check out Sara's Purse Palooza at Sew Sweetness. There are lots of fantastic purse reviews, tips & tricks & prizes too...Here's the list from to-day onwards

June 21 - Katy @ The Littlest Thistle (Noodlehead 2-4-1 Tote)
               Terri @ Sew-Fantastic (In Color Order Lined Drawstring Bag)
June 22 - Elizabeth @ Don't Call Me Betsy (Amy Butler Weekender Bag)
               Sarah @ Fairy Face Designs (bag from the Bag Making Bible)
June 25 - Amy @ Sukie Don't You Know Who I Am? (Amy Butler Sophia Bag)
                Laurie @ On the QT - Quilting Tangents (Betz White Hexie Hipster)
June 26 - Julianna @ Jednoiglec (Charlie's Aunt Kitchen Garden Bag)
               Jeni @ In Color Order (Bari J. State Street Tote)
June 27 - Kerry @ Very Kerry Berry (bag from Suzuko Koseki)
               Michelle @ I Like Orange Too (Left Bank Granny Bag)
June 28 - Kay Whitt @ Sew Serendipity Studio (tutorial: adjustable strap with metal slider)
               Amy Barickman @ Indygo Junction (tutorial: installing grommets/magnetic snaps)
June 29 - Melissa @ Bittersweet Designs (Bella Nonna Boutique Shoulder Bag)
                Kelly @ Kelby Sews (Pat Bravo Paris Bag)
                Bianca @ Sweet Diesel Designs (Lisa Lam For Pleat's Sake)

There are some great prizes for completed bags too, including....

1st Prize
* $50 gift certificate from Fat Quarter Shop         

* 3-pack of books from Martingale Publishing
* $50 gift certificate to Zipit
* $70 Pellon gift pack
* fat quarter bundle and sewing pattern from Art Gallery Fabrics

 

2nd Prize

* fat quarter bundle and sewing pattern from Art Gallery Fabrics
* 3-pack of books from Martingale Publishing
* $50 gift certificate from Sew Fresh Fabrics
* $30 gift certificate to Spoonflower

3rd Prize

* fat quarter bundle from Art Gallery Fabrics
* 2-pack of books from Lark Crafts Publishing
* $80 prize pack from Olfa Cutting Tools

I'm off now to explore Stromness... I'll take some photos to show you, but in the meantime click here to see Katy's review of the 241 Tote

Hope you have a lovely day

Karen

Wednesday wonderings & a little progress

Hello there!
Just dropping in for a wee progress report on my "project a day" plans...

The day started well I got the front & back of a bag I am making in a secret swap for one of the ladies in our do. Good Stitches bee

I am really enjoying making this bag....its so bright & happy! I had thought of using the quilt-as-you  go method, but instead I used fusible fleece & quilted around each patch - laborious, but I like the finished look

While it was still sunny I also made some progress on my husbands fathers day gift. A few months ago Lynne (AKA Lily's Quilts) posted a Dead Simple Quiltalong & my husband asked me to make him a quilt for his surgery. His favourite colours are green & purple, so I duly bought some lovely Kona Solids in various shades of purple & green. Of course, like many of my bright ideas, I kind of lost interest before I even started & the fabrics were left abandoned in a corner of the cupboard  (sorry Lynne). But seeing as Fathers Day is fast approaching I thought I should look again at the fabrics... but this time no matter how I arranged them, I just didn't like them together... Does that ever happen to you - you are making something for someone & really want to be directed by their taste, not yours... but its so difficult... Well, unfortunately I just couldn't go with the green & purple combo & instead came up with this

My husband LOVES dogs... I mean seriously ADORES them (while I'm typing this, he's looking at photos of Old English Sheepdogs - I'll say no more!!) So hopefully he won't mind me substituting the purple fabrics for Annela's Sherbet Pips dogs.. I've made some more blocks but I was just wondering before I stitch them all together, what do you think of the colour/pattern combos? I was reading somewhere something about mixing high & low value prints & I have no idea what that means... but I am hoping someone out there might help me out (preferably by tomorrow!!!) So, please do tell me - how does this look to you? If you were a patient going to see your GP (family doctor) & you had to lie down on the treatment couch would you like this little lot over you??? 

I can't wait to hear what you think.... 

Take care

Karen

Last Minute Madness

Hello there!
I hope you have been having a great week! Here on the North Coast I've been trying to (frantically) get organised for the Fat Quarterly Retreat which takes place this weekend in London.

I'm really looking forward to meeting some folks who have become great bloggy friends, making some new friends & learning a thing or two about sewing at the same time! There's a wee linky party going on on the fat quarterly blog & so, for those of you who have just dropped in from the FQ link, you're very welcome! My name is Karen & probably one of the worst organised people you will meet this weekend!

I have nothing packed yet, about 4 loads of washing to iron, meals to organise for hungry teenagers while I'm away & a passport to find! But, at least I've got my priorities in the right place... I got these sample swap notebooks finished

Here's a wee peek inside the London bus ones...

I also managed to finish my name badge:

But that's about it as far as my preparation goes.....I told you I was disorganised! I'll probably be up most of the night doing things I probably should have done long before now (like finishing a backpack I've been working on with the wonderful Summersville fabrics!)

Sorry to keep this short & sweet, but I'll be back on Monday with more news & tales from London
Hope you have a great weekend (& FQR folks see you soon!)
Take care
Karen