GRANDPARENT SUBWAY SIGN PILLOW

A few days ago I received a custom order for a Subway Sign Pillow.  

Normally, these pillows bear the name of a favorite city.  Subway Signs used for home decor are pretty popular right now, especially when they're personalized to fit your town or favorite spot.

But this was a request for a pillow with a different twist - a Subway Sign Pillow with a phrase that proclaims a very happy occasion - the birth of a new grandchild! 

  I've made 5 pillows with the striped linen strip, so that fabric is no longer available, but this one has a lovely turquoise/brown upholstery strip and I love the way it turned out.  The color and texture is a great contrast to the nubby, natural open weave of burlap.

 This was so fun to figure out and make, especially knowing the joy that is coming to this family any day now!

Custom orders can be taken at my Etsy shop:  Gillyflower Cottage.

BURLAP SUBWAY SIGN PILLOW

Yesterday I promised to show you a housewarming gift I've been working on.  So here's a very short little tutorial on how to make a burlap subway sign pillow, perfect for welcoming someone to a new community - along with a link to Gillyflower Cottage just in case you don't want to make it yourself!

Start with fabric paint - especially if you want the pillow to be washable.  I mixed mine with a little white acrylic to tone down the black a bit.

 A small nickel size blob of each color was a just right for two pillows.

Mix it up until you get the color you want.

Meanwhile, it's a good idea to use some painters tape so your letters line up in a straight line.  Here I prepped for two pillows running the city name down the middle.

 I used a 2 1/2" letter stencil.

 A 4" linen strip was sewn to the top of the pillow creating a finished size of approximately 12" by 28".

Use a light hand while stenciling if you want the pillow and name to have a time-worn look.

 After sewing around the edges of the pillow (right sides together), it is reversed, stuffed with fiberfill, and then decoratively whip stitched with one ply twine.

I made two pillows - one as a gift and one to put in my shop.  If you're interested in a subway sign pillow with your city (or family) name, it is available for purchase at my Etsy shop, Gillyflower Cottage.

Now to wrap up this one and hand deliver it to our new Wauwatosa resident - on her BIRTHDAY!

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Faded Charm Cottage

300 FOLLOWERS AND A WINNER!

Hello!  I just got home after being gone all day, checked my blog, and

VOILA!

I have hit the 300 follower mark, and that means it's time to draw a name for my burlap pillow giveaway.  So, I went to random.org and put in my numbers.  The winner is . . .

Di from North Carolina!

Congratulations Di!  As soon as we communicate and I can get your mailing address, your pillow (along with your lavender sachet) will be on its way to you!  Enjoy!  Also, thank you, thank you, to everyone who started following during the giveaway!  I hope you will continue to visit.
Now, on to 400 followers! 
When I hit that milestone I'll be giving away one of my original paintings.

That will be a while, so more on that later!

BIRD PILLOW and MORE

I've been working on lots of pillows.  Some are finished and some are in the works.  Below is the bird pillow I spoke about in my previous post.  The bird is from the Graphics Fairy - printed, cut out, and ironed onto script background fabric that is described more below.  

Below is a  sampling of some other pillow tops that are sitting in my sewing room - waiting to be assembled.

 Another hare on burlap . . .

an "old" pumpkin label on burlap - perfect for Fall and Halloween . . .

 . . . a large crown on burlap . . .

 . . . a nest and bird on burlap . . .

 . . . and a small little hare on canvas.

All of the graphics are from - who else but the Graphics Fairy! 

The burlap bag with fabric roses is also in progress.  It was a frustrating sewing day, with broken needles and a lot of mistakes which led to a lot of seam ripping.  But, below are the fabrics that make up the bag.

 

 A Waverly fabric with French script.

 The fabric roses made of a green linen. . .

  . . . and the burlap in the background.

Will I ever run out of burlap? 

NEST PILLOW

Out of the three projects described yesterday, I decided to make a NEST PILLOW first.  The first step is to put the design onto a word document.  You'll want to fit as much as you can onto the document - so think ahead to future projects.  This transfer paper (TAP) runs about $2.50 a sheet so you want to make the best use of every inch.  I got enough on my sheet to make 2 Nest Pillows, 2 crowns for the collage idea on the bird pillow, and 2 labels for identifying the Brown Thrasher.  

REMEMBER TO REVERSE YOUR LETTERS 

or it will iron on in reverse and you will have wasted a whole sheet.  

I know.  I've done it.  

Here's what I sent to my printer:

I know it's small, but I wanted to show how you can fit everything onto one sheet.  So - you get the idea . . .

I used a font called "The King and Queen".  I downloaded it free from here.  It's a great font - big and swirly, and a little funky, with great capital letters that have all sorts of big curls.  After it's printed out, cut the pieces you want to use really close to the design - and remember - it's been printed in reverse so it'll iron on correctly.  The closer you can get to just the design area when you cut, the less chance for any of the plain, unused transfer paper to show on your fabric - since the plain areas can have a bit of shine, especially if you're using a darker cloth.

 

After it's ironed on, then you put it together like any pillow - right sides together, sew about 5/8" all around leaving about a 5" opening on the bottom seam for stuffing.  After it's stuffed, just hand sew the opening closed.  Since I am filling this with fiberfill, instead of a pillow form, there's no need for a closure of any kind. 

 The nest and bird are from the Graphics Fairy.  You could scroll through her graphics for hours - it's never-ending!

I worked on about four other pillows which aren't sewn together yet - so those will be for another day.

But, here is just a little peek at another hare pillow.  After talking to my mom this afternoon (who is a great fan of hares in every shape and form) I knew she needed a European Hare Pillow of her own. I thought the burlap might be a little too nubby and casual for her home - so hers is on a very pale blue handkerchief linen.  

(If you'd rather have burlap, mom, I could make that!)

But, for now, it's getting late . . . and I'm tired.

Tomorrow's another day!

(It's also going to be a day for a bag with burlap roses!)