Our family had the pleasure of hosting some friends- Janelle and Scott- from Massachusetts for a few days recently. They were on their way to a family reunion but made some time to visit with us and it was definitely one of the most significant highlights of our summer! They have three lovely children, two of them very close to the ages of my children. It was chaotic but fun to have five children under the age of five in our home for a few days! Gregory and Allen played constantly together and had a blast.
We took them to Garden of the Gods and I probably talked the ear off of my friend Janelle.
Janelle kindly offered to bring me something I might be missing that is only available in Massachusetts but instead, I asked if she wouldn't mind bringing back a baby quilt for a mutual friend. Then I got the brilliant idea to make lots of pincushions for our friends who sew:
The pattern is Wild Flower Pincushion, designed by Anna Maria Horner, available for free here.
I used many very special, favorite fabrics and enjoyed putting together unique combinations from my stash (this was definitely not part of the "purge"). I think this one is my favorite:
Poor Janelle took seven pincushions back for me, which I really appreciated! It wasn't so much about saving the postage money, it was just nice to not have to track all of the addresses down, package them up, and get to the dreaded post office to mail them!
Soon after our friends left, I made three more for some other friends:
Here are some tips I have for making these:
- Reinforce the seams on both ends of the base (base= part stuffed with fiberfill)
- Make sure the petals are spaced evenly around the flower center- that was what seemed to be the trickiest part and it was made easier if I did a good job of sewing the center smoothly
- The "heavy" interfacing needed for the very bottom is Peltex. You can also use chipboard (a cereal box).
Linking up to Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.
8 comments:
Oh, the pincushions are really cute! And a great idea...maybe I'll make a few for back-to-school teacher gifts! :)
These are so very sweet. I love them. You chose gorgeous fabrics for them.
These are adorable!
These are lovely! WOw, 10!!!!!
I searched out the pattern for this over a year ago, printed it out, and I Still haven't made one. If you can do ten, surely I can make one. Lucky friends!
AND THEY WERE SOOOOOOOO APPRECIATED. I love them all so much!!!!!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! How did I get so lucky to have such a wonderful friend who happens to also be extremely talented! : )
I finally got around to using my pin cushion. It's even cuter with pins in it. So, there's that. And you're awesome.
what a bouquet of special gifts! So pretty. I collect pin cushions and love them, great job!
LeeAnna at not afraid of color
lapaylor.blogspot.com
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