Tomato Pincushion - Day 8 of 100 Days on Pins and Needles

I have featured a variety of pincushions but today I thought I would showcase one that is a very traditional design. Some of us may remember our mothers or grandmothers having a similar pincushion in their sewing box full of pins and needles as they hand stitched a hem or even a quilt.  Many of us may have one like it ourselves or have even made one for ourselves.  In my collection this was one of the designs that I did not have so I decided that it was one I had to give a try.

I found a super simple "Martha Stewart"  pattern with a video tutorial using a piece of rectangular fabric cut on the bias.

Martha Stewart's Homegrown Tomato Pincushions

I made mine using scraps of green cotton flannel, but I did not cut on the bias and still got a nicely finished pincushion.  The star shape leaf section is cut out freehand using felted wool and finished off with a rust colored button.  The pattern calls for gluing the star shape leaf section on the top but I decided to use a long doll needle to stitch mine in place using the button to finish it up.  Using fabric cut on the bias would probably give you a smoother finish to the sides since it would have more "give" but I think mine came out nicely.

You could add some crushed walnut shells, decorator sand (found in craft stores in the floral section) or plastic pellets (found in a craft store and used for dolls, pillows or toys) to the base of the pincushion to give it some weight.  Add an emery filled strawberry to sharpen dull needles and you have a complete old fashioned looking set.

This pattern is an easy to do project even for a beginner.  It would make a great Girl Scout project or even a school project, of course since the use of a sewing machine is required it would be best to do with some adult supervision.

I hope that you enjoy this post and will give this pattern a try to create a variety of tomatoes in assorted sizes to fill a basket and display in your sewing room or even in your kitchen.  If you drop in to take a look, have a question, suggestion or if you decide to create your own please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Fluttering Hearts Contest Entry

I love creating original designs and my latest "Baby's First Valentine" Rag Quilt is one of my favorites.  A sweet baby quilt that makes a great baby shower gift or Baptismal gift for a special little girl.

Baby's First Valentine

This week I have entered my quilt in the "Fluttering Hearts" Quilting Gallery Contest.  Please check it out and cast your vote for up to 4 of your favorite quilts.  I may not be the fanciest, but I do believe I have the sweetest looking quilt in the contest.

My quilt is made up of 3 different fabrics, 2 in different shades of pink and one in a brown "sweet pea" all over print on a pale pink background.  It has layered hearts in the center medallion and smaller hearts in the corners which have been clipped to create the "rag" effect along with all the exposed seams.  It is finished off with a traditional quilt binding in the print fabric.

Please check out the contest and cast your votes.

Doll Pincushion - Day 7 of 100 Days on Pins and Needles

I had to take a break from my quest to find and make a variety of pincushions and needle books due to family illness but now I am back to searching the web for new designs.  I will continue to search out new designs and will post what I find every Monday instead of daily.

I found this pattern in a Family Circle Magazine many years ago and made copies of the pattern for future use.  A few years ago I needed a gift for a Secret Santa exchange and I decided to make  this cute little design for a quilting friend of mine. The picture above is the one I gave to my friend.  The pattern called for the doll to wear a straw hat but I decided to give her a funky hair style and tie it up with a bow.

I spent the last 2 days searching the internet for a similar pattern without success.  The pattern I have is from 1993 so I have not been able to find anything on the web that even comes close to the design I used.  The closest thing I could find was a Half Doll Pincushion made with a porcelain figure.

Half Doll Pincushion

There are various places to purchase the half doll figures such as Ebay, Etsy or Amazon.  Some can be quite pricey but another option that I found on a YouTube video is a Barbie Doll Pincushion using a Barbie doll with the legs removed for the doll portion. I have included the link to the YouTube video, but as it is with many home made how to videos, this one is very slow moving and one needs to be very patient with the maker.

I hope that you join me next week to see what I find and over the next few weeks I will try to work up a pattern for today's featured design.

Quilting Gallery Contest Entry

After a few months of dealing with family illness I am back and have submitted an entry in next week's contest on the Quilting Gallery website.  Their contest theme is "Fluttering Hearts" and my latest Etsy shop listing is called "Baby's First Valentine" made in a rag quilt design that I think is perfect for this theme.

Baby's First Valentine

Over the next few weeks I will be working on creating a twin size version of my recently published quilt pattern "Party of Four" as I have had some interest in working out the details for a larger than lap size version.

Before family and life interrupted me I was working on finding 100 different pincushion and needlebook designs so tomorrow I will continue with my quest and I hope that you will join me once more.