Just checking in with a couple of small projects.  One is my Designer Mystery BOM from Fat Quarter Shop.  This is block #6 and I have #'s 7, 8, and 9 waiting in the wings.  I'm really behind in this series and even more behind in the other BOM series.  I WILL catch up..... I will catch up .....

 

 

 

 

 

This is a little pin cushion that started out as a candle that my neighbors gave me.  Once the candle had burned down, I scraped out the residue and made a felted "coffee" insert out of some roving.  I put a quarter in the shot so you could see that the coffee cup is quite tiny.  It was nice to re-purpose it into something that I'll continue to use.

 

 

I'm "anxiously" awaiting our next snow storm.  Another 6" is supposed to begin falling within the next hour, continuing through until tomorrow morning.  I may not be thrilled to have to shovel so much snow again, but I am thrilled to think that these snowfalls just have to be over soon.  The good thing is that tomorrow will be another snow day and I'll be working on more of those BOMs.  Hurry up spring!

Another giveaway....... another win!  I was actually doubly lucky on this one, as the person that won this pin cushion did not claim it and I won the second time it was offered.  I guess it was meant to be mine!

This is one pin cushion, showing the front and back side.  I won this from Carol, who makes the most wonderful, bright, quirky kinds of quilts and other items.  Check out her blog to see some of her creative works.

The pin cushion is machine and hand embellished to make it pop.  Lots of french knots surround the flower.  It also has a tiny, piped edge to finish it off so neatly.  Carol stuffed it with walnut shells, which makes it feel very substantial and is supposed to be good for your needles.  (However, I think I'm going to have a hard time sticking it with pins...... it's just so cute!)

Thank you, Carol, for this wonderful little work of art!  I love it and my pins will too!

In early September, I joined a Pincushion Round Robin exchange. It works like this......after groups are assigned, the hostess fills the box with pincushion(s) and/or pincushion making items. It is mailed off to the first participant on the list. She takes out anything from the box that she wants, then replaces these items with items of her choice. A diary was also enclosed to write about yourself, your selections, and anything else that you wanted to add. And on it goes. There were 12 ladies in my group and I was number 10 on the list. The box arrived yesterday and here it is! I think the best part of this whole Round Robin exchange was the anticipation of waiting on the box and wondering what would be inside. When the exchange is over, I'll find out how many miles the box traveled. (Update--the hostess tells me that the box will have traveled 13,354 miles and visit 12 states.......not bad for a box......will it get frequent mailer miles?)
Here's an overall shot of the contents. The box weighed over five pounds and had lots of goodies in it. You can't really see everything that was stuffed into this box, but you get the idea. After searching through everything, I only kept three fat quarters, some plastic feet that had the potential of becoming PC's, and some ground walnut shells, which can be used to stuff pincushions.

I added this bottle cap pincushion that I made to the box, plus a ceramic turkey that was supposed to be a tea light holder. It was just screaming (gobbling?) that it wanted to be a PC. The box was then repacked and off it went to the next lady.

If you are ever invited to join a round robin exchange, I would recommend it just for the fun of waiting for it to arrive!

Here's a vintage crocheted pincushion given to me by my cousin, Lisa. Thanks, Lisa! It's pretty large.....about 5 1/2" tall, and has padding in the seat and back. I'm even wondering if it was made specifically as a doll chair and not as a pincushion, since it is so big. It would be the perfect size for Barbie. In any case, it's a cute idea. Someday, I'd like to make similar version in a smaller size if I can find the pattern. I'll add it to my "to do" list!

This bright little dog was found on EBay. He was listed as a toothpick holder, but he has now earned the title of Pincushion. I thought the bone fabric would suit him well. What dog wouldn't love a hat full of bones? As I was working with him and stuffing the fabric into the hole, I heard a soft rattle coming from his head. I pulled the fabric out and spent the next 15 minutes trying to extract the "whatever" out of his head. Of course I had thoughts of money being tucked away for a rainy day.....maybe something of value since it had to have been specifically forced into the head cavity. Well...........

It was this! A wadded up list of baby items! It almost looks like a child's handwriting, as I don't think a mother-to-be would write "baby's" before all of these items. Maybe it was a list for Santa. In any case, it brought me a little excitement for 15 minutes!

Boo! Halloween is coming and here's a little bottle cap pincushion to welcome the little goblins!

This is another great pincushion swap that I participated in. This one was a wrist pincushion swap. The yellow and purple set is what I received from Tracey. I love her fabric choices. The other item with the pincushion is a thread bucket to corral your thread snippets. It's just so cute and really useful. I love it's small size and it can be folded flat to fit in my mini sewing box, which makes it really handy. I use it all of the time for my hand sewing! This is the wrist pincushion that I made for Tracey. It started with the idea of using a tape measure for the wrist area and grew from there. The pincushion is all done with recycled felt and I was really pleased with the way it turned out. The wrist strap is removable. I'm not much for using a pattern, so I'm never quite sure how things will develop from my mind to the actual item. This idea came close to what I had envisioned.

I belong to a pincushion group that occasionally has swaps. It's optional and it can be lots of fun. You never know what you're going to get! This first picture shows the items that I received from my swap partner, Mariah. She made a cute cross stitch pincushion/sewing kit, a lavender sachet, and a tissue holder that also has a mirror. On the side of the tissue holder that you don't see, there are two credit card size pockets. It's really cute. I love having my tissues and mirror in the same place instead of trying to dig my mirror out of the bottom of my purse.



This is a picture of the cross stitched tin, when open. I believe it's an Altoids tin, or at least that's the size. She also made the stickpin (the largest green one) and enclosed the other pins and tiny scissors. There is a magnetic surface attached to the underside of the lid.



This is the pincushion set that I made for my part of the swap. The pincushion and needle book are made from 2" quilt blocks, all using Civil War reproduction fabrics. I used foundation paper to make the tiny blocks. Once you catch on to using foundation papers, it's pretty quick and easy. There is no way I would attempt to make blocks this small and intricate without using these papers. Once you are done, you peel the paper off the back. The pincushion is fairly large and should do it's duty well. The needle book has felt pages on the inside for her needles.
The stickpin was made with my own lampwork beads. In addition to sewing, I love to work at the torch and melt glass. These were some left over beads that didn't make their way into a piece of jewelry and they seemed to go well with the Civil War colors.
Sorry about the way these pictures are lining up. I've played around with editing them long enough!

OK, here's another bottle cap pincushion. It's actually been quiet in my neighborhood today and I'm taking advantage of it by accomplishing a little needlework. Don't mean to bore you with these pincushions, but they truly are addicting and I love to make them!
(Patti.....this one is coming your way!)

I finally remembered to take a photo next to a coin so that you can see how tiny these bottle cap pincushions really are. They fit nicely in your sewing box. This one is in a duck candy wrapper.

Lastly, this photo is from the bottom, showing the little labels that I made to "sign" my work. It's just printed onto iron-on computer fabric and then cut out and ironed to the bottom. Simple and effective.

I finally finished one of the two bottle cap pincushions that I was working on. Seems like something always gets in the way when I'm trying to find quiet time. I forgot to put a coin next to the PC for scale, but it's about

1 1/2" tall.

(Kathy.....this one's for you!)

Today, I'm working on some bottle cap pincushions. I'll post pics when they are finished. If I remember, I'll put a coin next to them so that you can visualize the scale. These pincushions are really cute, easy, and simple to make. Great projects when you don't have much time and they make wonderful gifts. They are made with a 2-litre bottle cap as a base, which makes them very tiny. I usually enclose a velcro dot so that they can be attached directly to a sewing machine. Here are a few examples of ones that I've already made (and given away). I put them in a candy wrapper and enclose them in a truffle box. Too cute!