Last November I reworked my tutorial for a Holly Wreath cushion to add a seasonal touch to your home and, as Spring is just around the corner, it's high time I made a new cushion to grace the window seat (and your favourite chair).
I've created a quilty tribute to the tiny Blue Tits who'll be busy building their nests very soon. We have lots in our garden as the field hedges around us are dotted with venerable old oak trees, which is their favoured hunting ground for insects.
Using the Spring colour story from my last post I adapted the Robin block from my Kitchen Garden quilt to be add another bird block to my growing flock!
To make a 14” square finished block you will need...
1 6½” x 21” strip of blue print (Tilda Creating Memories Stripe in blue)
1 2½” x 21” strip of yellow print (Tilda Creating Memories Gingham in yellow)
1 1¼” x 21” strip of navy print (Tilda Creating Memories Avery in blue)
1 2” x 2½” cream print piece (Tilda Sophie in dijon)
¼ yd of background fabric (Moda Bella Solid in frost)
¼” bias tape maker*
Spray starch (optional)
Navy embroidery floss
* or substitute ¼” wide cotton ribbon for bias tape pieces
Please read through the pattern before you begin, assuming a ¼” seam allowance and a fabric width (WOF) of 42”
CUTTING:
1. From the blue fabric cut 1 6½” square and 1 1¼” square.
2. From the yellow print cut 1 2½” x 4½” piece and 1 2½” square.
3. From the navy print cut 1 1” x 2½” piece, 1 1¼” square and 1 ½” x 10” strip.
4. From the background fabric cut 1 6½”, 2 3½” x 14½” pieces, 2 3½” x 8½” pieces, 1 2½” x 8½” piece and 1 1½” square.
MAKING THE BLOCKS:
5. To make the Blue Tit’s head & chest, join the 2” x 2½” cream print piece, the 1” x 2½” navy print piece and 2½” x 4½” yellow print piece, pressing towards the navy.
6. Snowball the top of the head with the 1¼” blue print square and the tummy with the 1½” background square, as shown above.
7. To make the Blue Tit’s body, snowball the lower left-hand corner of the 6½” blue print square with a 2½” yellow print square, then join to the head/chest, pressing towards the body.
8. To create the wing, snowball the top right hand corner of the unit with the 6½” background square.
9. To make the Blue Tit’s legs, first make some ¼” tape using the ½” x 10” navy print piece and the ¼” bias tape maker, following the manufacturer’s instructions (I like to spritz my fabric with spray starch and let it dry thoroughly before making my tape).
Cut the tape into 2 3” pieces and 2 1½” pieces, then arrange on the 2½” x 8½” background piece as shown, above. Pin or glue-baste before top-stitching in place by machine, or appliqué by hand. Trim away the excess and join to the Blue Tit, pressing away from the legs.
10. To make the Blue Tit’s beak, snowball the top right corner of a 3½” x 8½” background piece with a 1¼” navy print square before joining it to the head.
11. Finally, add a 3½” x 8½” background piece to the right and 3½” x 14½” pieces to the top and bottom pressing away from the Blue Tit.
Embroider the Blue Tit’s eye in back-stitch using the photo as guide.
Your block should measure 14½” square
You can turn your block into a cushion by following the Festival Cushion tutorial here and download a PDF version of this block tutorial below.
The background I chose for my block is a Moda Bella Solid in frost - which I've now added to my list of favourite blue-green-grey background fabrics - and I found a half yard off-cut from a beautiful Lella Boutique collection called Nest (please reprint this one Moda!) to finish my Festival cushion with. Acufactum have some deliciously pretty springtime prints that would look just as lovely.
I then hand-quilted my cushion front with a simple blossom design and you can find my quick tutorial here.
A simple envelope back makes the Festival Cushion very beginner friendly, plus there's a whizzy inner lining to the quilted cushion front that tidies away all of the raw edges. The photos, above, show how the opening needed to turn your cushion right-sides-out can be quickly closed with machine stitching.
My finished Blue Tit cushion now has pride of place on the window seat, which is just the spot to watch it's namesakes flitting around the garden.
with love from the studio,
Comments