Saturday, December 17, 2011

Maaaybe 2011's last finished project....

I just finished telling Debbie, in an email, that pincushions are one of those things I just won't make because of the "what do you fill it with?" dilemma. But then I saw Lucy's pincushion (scroll down a ways in the post to see it), which led me to this tutorial at Ellison Lane Quilts, and I was sucked in! Jennifer suggested crushed walnut shells as a filler in the tutorial, which believe it or not is sold at pet stores for lizard litter (!!), which I had every intention of looking for but eventually realized that at this time of December, do I really want to be going into any store when I don't have to? I don't think so! So I ended up using uncooked rice, which I think worked fairly well in the end. I stuffed it pretty full, which I think helps as well. My plan also was to go around the edges and do a top stitch around just to secure it all a bit more, but with how full I stuffed it, it just wouldn't have been feasible on the sewing machine so instead I took some Perle Cotton embroidery floss and did a neat little blanket stitch. The jury is still out on how well it will actually work as a pincushion, so I'm not getting rid of my pink tomato yet, and I'm not sure how I feel about the raw edges of the patches, but it's cute for sure.

sew many ways

Fresh Poppy Design

7 comments:

Debbie said...

Oh it's so cute! I'm not usually a fan of the raw edges either but I really like it on this pinchusion & I love your wonky quilting. Very cute!

Wee Little Birds said...

SHOCK!!!
I can not believe you haven't made a pincushion. Only joking.
My friends think I am a bit obsessive with pincushions I am always making a new one.
Yours is very pretty, I think I can feel a new one coming one.

Marion Starr said...

My Mum always said that the best filler for a pincushion was natural (washed) fleece as it still retained the lanolin and stopped the pins from rusting.

Marion
http://aussieknittingthreads.blogspot.com/

Pam B said...

Too cute! I'm feeling a bit inspired...

Hugs,
Pam

Toni said...

So cute, Heather! Your blanket stitch looks great! Using rice was a fabulous idea. I really need to make a few pincushions as it seems I'm always losing mine!

Lucy | Charm About You said...

I love it!! I did think of using rice but wasn't brave enough!! Good to know :)
I like the scrappy raw edges, I think it adds to the look and makes it not perfect in a good way!!
The blanket stitch looks fantastic!

Krista Schneider said...

I'm loving it! Super cute, hopefully the rice works out well. I really like the cute blanket stitch :D