I purchased more walnut hulls (also known as pet bird litter) and filled the rest of the pincushions. Some fabric/quilt stores have small amounts of walnut hulls for sale in their stores. I just went to a pet store and purchased a 7 pound bag for $12.50. Not all the hulls were used so I'll keep the bag to be used the next time I need it.
Someone did suggest I add batting to the hulls when filling the pincushions. I was afraid they would be lumpy. Buying the hulls in bulk makes them not so expensive.
The Christmas embroideries come from Gail Pan's Christmas Patchwork Loves Embroidery book. Now these designs weren't designated for pincushions but I utilized them for that purpose.
The regular embroidery patterns are from Gail's book Patchwork Loves Embroidery.
There were a total of 14 pincushions made. It was so much fun to make something that sewed together so fast! A nice change from working on quilts that take much longer.
Linking to Finished Or Not Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF!, Show Off Saturday
Two weeks ago, after I finished sewing the backings and bindings for the tractor crib quilts, I cleaned, dusted and covered my sewing machine. I didn't touch it for a full week while I fall cleaned my house. Well, my home is clean enough and we've finally had the first freeze of the year. Autumn is definitely here and I'm ready to sew again.
Last winter I embroidered many little squares to be used for pincushions and needle books. This week I concentrated on the pincushions.
These embroidery designs are from Gail Pan's book Embroidery Loves Patchwork. They measure 4" by 6" and are filled with ground walnut hulls.
I've made 14 pincushions but only had enough hulls on hand to fill these 5. I'll pick up more filler and show you the rest of them in my next post.
Linking to Esther's Wednesday WOW!, Let's Bee Social, Needle & Thread Thursday
Last winter I bought a couple of patterns to make some small projects. I finally got around to them this week.
First I made the Sit & Stitch Pincushion. I've had my eye on this fabric at Pumpkinvine ever since they got it into the store.
The patterns calls for fat quarters, but I bought yardage. The pink binding was leftover from another project. I whipped up the yellow binding, it make a nice contrast.
You don't need to use bias binding for edging on the pockets. I had the blue left over from another project.
You are supposed to sew in the center of both sides to make more pockets, but I only sewed on 1 side. I wanted some longer pockets. In the center is a long pincushion filled with walnut hulls.
Updated 6/12, 7 pm - I made some modifications in the pattern. The pattern calls for only 1 pocket on each side. I cut the first pocket 5 1/2" and added a 2nd pocket which I cut at 3 1/2". Also the patterns calls for fusible fleece. I stuck leftover cotton batting to the fabric with Elmer's school glue stick.
One of the kits is for me and the others will be gifts.
You get 2 Sweetpea Pods from 1 10" square. I made 14 pods. Four of the pods will be used as Christmas presents (filled with little treats) for the granddaughters at Christmas time. The rest of the pods will be given as small gifts here and there. I just like having items like this on hand so they are ready to go when the occasion arises.
These little bags were fun to make and sewed up quickly.
Update - This pattern also called for fusible fleece. Again I used leftover batting attached with Elmer's school glue stick.
Another Update - Here is more information about the bags from the Lazy Girl Designs website.
I prepped the last 7 applique blocks for Sweet Surrender. I'm in the home stretch! The rest of June is going to be very busy for me so I don't know how much sewing I'll accomplish. Hand applique will definitely be happening in my down time though.
Linking to - Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Quilting is More Fun than Housework, Main Crush Monday, Em's Scrapbag, Love Laugh Quilt, Quilt Story, Esther's Wednesday WOW!, My Quilt Infatuation, A Quilting Reader's Garden, Crazy Mom Quilts
