Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Five Little Finishes ~~ Pincushions

I've been sewing a little, though not much. I had an idea last week that is sort of a secret. My guild has booked a bus to attend the Gulf States Quilting Association quilt show in April. 



The bus holds 35 people and I had 20 or so pincushions already made and sitting in the basket, waiting for a recipient. Making another 15 shouldn't be that time-consuming. I wrote about other pincushions for this project here.

I had to rip out the handwork on this round one.
That flat side was making me crazy!
These were quick and easy. I just sewed strips of fabric together to make the four rectangular ones. The round one is a left-over circle from some other project. I quilted it in a circle from center to edges.



The others all have straight line quilting so they would quilt up quickly. Did you notice the LSU colors? In Louisiana if you want people to love your stuff, toss in a few with LSU colors. That LSU love translates to all kinds of other colors--just don't be obvious about rival colors!

I sort of made a batch of these in an assembly line fashion. First I sewed all the strips for the tops, then quilted all of the pieces by pinning them to the same fairly large scrap of muslin. I used scrap batting, too, so everything used in the making is scrap of some sort. I don't sew my batting pieces together...just kind of butt two pieces against each other and pin in place as I pin the pincushion top on. 

Backs of pincushions in green plaid
After quilting the top, it was short work of adding the backs and filling them. The hand work of sewing them closed was not easy because I use that darn clear nylon filament thread. It's impossible to see, curls around everything, and makes little kinks in itself. I've tried ironing it, which helps a little, but it's still a fight.

Shocker: I remembered to put in my little tags as a subtle reminder to the recipients of me. Well, these five make 25, I think. Only 10 more to go! 


How's this for a little surprise when you go on a trip? Wouldn't it be fun to be able to choose your favorite then pass the basket to the next person?  I'll put a few extra in so everyone gets a choice, but how do you feel about being the last person to "choose"?
Better! Rounder! Neater!

11 comments:

Susan said...

Oh so cute!!

Preeti said...

I think one of those has my name written on it. You did not see? Well take another look. They are cute and I'd love to have one.

Mary Marcotte said...

Thanks Susan. Preeti, I think one does have your name. There are a few more that I haven't blogged about, yet. I'm making in batches! Pick a favorite and it's yours!

Kaja said...

These are great - I'd love to dig around in a basket choosing my favourite.

Sylvia@Treadlestitches said...

What a nice thing to do! I wouldn't mind being the last person to choose from this bunch, they are all great.
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

grammajudyb said...

What a generous idea, to have a little souvenir of your bus trip. I am sure everyone will be extremely pleased. Aren't pincushions fun to make?

Mary Marcotte said...

Thanks Judy. I like making pincushions partly because they are fast projects but they are a great way to play or practice a skill. Not too much time investment is nice, too. Being able to give a little something to everyone is the best, though.

Mary Marcotte said...

Hey thanks Sylvia! I want lots of variety so everyone can find something they really like. This next batch is totally different, so even traditionalists will find something. Wait till you see how I cheated!

Mary Marcotte said...

That what I'm thinking. I want everyone to have fun looking at the possibilities. But really I'm having lots of fun making them.

Kaja said...

Thanks for linking up with AHIQ and the reminder that improv works on even the smaller projects.

Ann said...

I love the way you used your scraps and the colors. Tiny projects are wonderful... although 35 makes a large project. Have a great trip. Than,s for linking with AHIQ.