It must be the season for blog tours! I'm back again, this time to share some sweet makes from the new sewing title 'Sew Illustrated', by the fabulous duo Minki Kim and Kristin Esser. I distinctly remember when I first discovered Minki's incredible sewing 'art' on Instagram (her IG name is @zeriano). It was a revelation! I am calling it art as that's exactly what it is, it's art made with small, vibrant pieces of fabric and dark thread. I didn't even know if the technique had a name at the time, I have since learned that Minki refers to it as 'sewing illustration', I have also heard it called 'drawing with thread'. If you have a spare afternoon grab a cuppa and spend it browsing through these ladies' blogs: Minki's Work Table and Kristin's They Grow Up Too Fast. Sew much inspiration! (projects and photos above by: Minki Kim) Remember these? Minki was kind enough to make some projects with my fabric collection Sweet Orchard for my spring quilt market booth - she had the teeniest amount of fabric to work with (as did I) but managed to create a gorgeous mini quilt and the sweetest tags! Therefore I knew her technique worked well with the sweet colours of my line, so I used Sweet Orchard to make a coaster set, and a dessert mat. I had originally intended to just make the coasters, but I was enjoying myself so much I couldn't stop. I had admired Minki's dessert mats on her Instagram so I had to make one of those also! I did a bit of mixing and matching with the patterns - the macarons and some of the coaster drawings came from other projects in the book. That's one of the great things about this book though, it's so versatile. If you've never done sewing illustration before don't be intimidated, as there is a big (and very clearly explained) section at the front of the book about the techniques, the materials to be used to achieve best results, and lots of tips and tricks. Talking trade secret level stuff. So good! There is a really sweet story behind the book as well, and about how this fabulous duo met. You can read it here. And there you go! Thank you so much for visiting today. Here's a list of all the other stops on the tour, pop over to see what everyone else is making! August 15: C&T Publications August 16: Amy at nanaCompany August 17: Wynn at zakkaArt August 18: Sedef at Down Grapevine Lane (me!) August 19: Lisa at A Spoonful of Sugar August 20: Amy at chick chick sewing August 21: Stacy at Stacy Olson August 22: Debbie happy little cottage August 23: Generation Q Magazine August 24: Faith at Sarana Ave August 25: Ayda at cafenohut August 26: Melissa at Oh, how sweet August 27: Jemima at Tied with a Ribbon August 28: Veronica at Vivid Felicity August 29: Sharon at Lilabelle Lane Creations August 30: Nadra at ellis & higgs August 31: Kristyne at pretty by hand September 1: Elnora on Instagram September 2: Jennie at Clover and Violet September 3: Auribuzz September 4: Minki at Minki’s Work Table and Kristin at They Grow Up Too Fast ****GIVEAWAY CLOSED **** Winner is Karen Caves - congratulations! C & T Publishing are generously giving away a copy of Sew Illustrated at every stop on the blog tour. If the winner is in the USA, they will receive a hard copy of the book. If the winner is International, they will win an eBook. To enter just leave a comment below :) Giveaway is open World Wide. The winner will be notified by email (if one is available) and announced here on this post. Good Luck!