Pincushions

For quite some time I have needed some pincushions. Why? I think this photo says it all:



My mother had given me a nice, traditional pincushion - the kind that looks like a giant strawberry. But I find the filling too hard - when I'm sticking pins into it in the middle of sewing, it's too resistant. Somehow I came up with this McGyver solution of the sweat sock. But obviously it's yucky.

I've been wanting a nice(r) pincushion for some time, and have spent many hours looking at the delightful concoctions people have come up with on Etsy. They are seriously delightful, but I have two cartons of fabric sitting there, mocking me, saying come on, can't you take this on?




So, I have been sketching out some potential designs this week - all very cute and whatnot, but ultimately, I decided to be very spontaneous and make use of my scrap bag. I only started keeping a scrap bag recently, when I started reading up on string quilting - this is a good tutorial.

Anyhow, I only had 45 minutes to cut and sew these up, so I decided to use solely my scraps. First I cut them - intentionally not entirely straight - and sewed them all together, not ironing between pieces. Then I ironed the whole mess, and squared it off to a 8x5 rectangle.



It wasn't my original intention to make two, but I had prepared the perfect size to cut it in half.



I chain stitched the fronts to save time.



This is how far I got in less than an hour - not bad! They are sewn three quarters around, and are just waiting for their filling and trim.



I am attaching these cute pop-poms from M&J Trimming.



Now they just need their filling and final stitches!