Wednesday, April 23, 2014

My First Pincushion

Pincushion made for my mom using tutorial at ivoryblushroses.blogspot.com
This gift idea was inspired by Lisa B.'s Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2014 (CQJP 2014) projects.  She has made a pincushion each month this year, and they are just gorgeous!

On her blog, ivoryblushroses.blogspot.com, Lisa has a tutorial where she generously shares directions on creating a crazy quilted pincushion.  I have a long way to go to aspire to the works of art she creates, but I had fun creating this for my mom.
Embellished pincushion "block" for my mom.
My mother loves pink.  In fact, Mutt, my 14-year-old son (the nickname is his choice!) set a rule for any gifts we give my mother.  They need to be pink, soft and fluffy.  This qualified for his guidelines.

Unfortunately, the pink cotton fabrics are the only ones that are practical to use as a pincushion, as the cream and white fabrics are not horribly forgiving.  Luckily, my mom decided this was just too pretty to use.  She plans to keep it near her sewing machine to admire when she sews.

2 curved rows of linked chain stitch with detached chain stitch flowers.
Seam Close Up
The stitches were all created with EdMar flosses in various shades of pinks.  Pink pearl beads, white pearl beads, and pale pink seed beads dressed the seams up a bit. (Click on any photo to see a larger image.)
Seam created with chain stitch and straight stitch combination.
Unless beads are added as part of the stitch, I always attach each bead individually.  (I found wrapping the floss through 3 times secures them firmly in place and three knots in the back keeps the single strand of floss from pulling through.)  One of the pearl beads above ended up too close to my seam, so I was able to snip it off without worrying about losing any of the other beads.  (Bonus!)
Bullion-stitched roses, buttons and pearl beads within stem-stitched ovals.
The seam above was the most time consuming.  I am still a novice with THAT stitch (a.k.a. bullion stitch.) In spite of my imperfections, I love bullion-stitched roses.  I received the two pink buttons in a birthday package my husband ordered for me at eveningstardesigns.net.  (They are still having a close-out sale as of the date of this post - and I am not affiliated with their shop.)
Pincushion - view from the wheel-seam side.
Pincushion - view from the bullion rose side.
As you can see, the pincushion is not perfectly round.  Thankfully, my mom loved it anyway!

If you are interested in making a pincushion, Lisa's tutorial is great!

If you have made a pincushion, I would love to see it.  Feel free to leave a link to one in your blog or on your Flickr account.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Renee



10 comments:

Wendy said...

it's lovely! I bet your mum was thrilled. I'm very impressed with the bullion roses.

Anonymous said...

LOVE THIS!


Now to add making a crazy quilted pincushion to my To Do list....

Renee said...

Thank you! I love the roses, but I certainly struggle with them.

Renee said...

Thank you! LOL - I think we found another thing in common... Reading other blogs is dangerous. It makes it impossible to shrink the To Do list.

Annet said...

What a lovely gift for your mother! Thanks for the link, I have seen this tutorial a long time ago, but couldn't find it anymore.

Renee said...

Thank you! Lisa's work is gorgeous and the tutorial was pretty easy to follow. If you make a pincushion, I would love to see it - your work is gorgeous!

Lisa Boni said...

So glad you were able to use the tutorial to such success! Your bullion stitch roses are gorgeous!

Renee said...

Thank you, Lisa!

Laurie said...

I can understand why your mom wants to admire it....it's very pretty.

Renee said...

Thank you! You are so sweet.