Three Pin Cushions and a Needlebook

Today I'm posting about some tools of the trade. This pillow pincushion was made from two leftover quilt blocks from a quilt my mother made. I just sewed them together to make a little pillow with a bit of vintage rick rack in between and an odd vintage button to finish it off and whalah! A pin cushion for my quilting pins. 

For this chicken pin cushion I watched several different online tutorials - there are many for this particular style. Then I picked my favorite methods, combined them and came up with this. I love how silly it is! I put my applique pins in it. 

This needle book is my own design. I knew I wanted a big one because I have so many pins and I wanted it to be simple too.

This mouse pincushion was a free pattern I found online. It turned out to be a bit of a mess, but it still has personality. I put my regular sewing pins in it and everything stays organized. 

 

As a Hen Gathereth Her Chicks

 

This was a really fun felt applique to do. I felted a lot of the wool for it myself. The pattern is by All Through the Night with just a couple variations from me.

I especially like this pattern because when my kids were little I'd call them chickens referring to the scriptures in which Christ would talk of gathering His covenant people unto Him like a hen gathering her chicks. 

This was an imagery I could wrap my brain around, with my little ones running to and fro at the grocery store and other places. I wanted to gather them around me and keep them safe!

Four Table Runners makes Eight

    My family has a fun tradition they share with many of you. They have a gift exchange every year for Christmas. I have nine (yes, you heard that right) siblings. 

    This last Christmas I had one of my sisters who happens to live in a very small space. When asked what she wanted she said 'table runners' so I made four of them that were double sided. Twice the amount for half the storage space. It made sense to me anyway. One of these I gave to her for her birthday, the other three were for Christmas. 

This first one is very plain and neutral on one side. The bird pattern on the other side was modified only a little from a pattern by All Through the Night. The front and back are made from felted wool. 

    A lot of this wool I felted myself. After seeing the prices for ready made felted wool I decided it was a skill I needed to learn to do myself! I adore doing wool applique and have built up a nice supply of fabric for it that I have purchased and felted myself. 

This second one was made very simply from some good cotton quilting fabric with cotton batting inside to give it some heft. 

This third runner was made with cotton gingham and quilting fabric on one side and on the other, gingham and Aida cloth cross stitched with a pattern from a pattern booklet I have by Jane Chandler. It was meant for a finger tip towel, but I think it looks nice here. 

    The rick rack is beautiful vintage cotton. My mom had a huge stash of rick rack she got as part of a job lot at an auction an I've been using them for many things. Modern rick rack is just not the same. 

 This is the fourth runner. Quilting fabrics on both sides and a cotton batting to give it a nice weight make it fun to touch. The pattern is by Kim Hannay. I changed all the colors from the original but I still like the way it turned out. 

    If you look very carefully at the pictures you will find a rather obvious quilting mistake. I am not good at quilting, as a matter of a fact, I stink at it, which is why I was rather proud that the quilted items did not turn out to be a total mess, and my sister forgave me for not making everything perfect. 

    That's the beauty of hand made items right? They're not perfect. It gives them character. 

Bread Cloth

The tricky thing about bread cloths is that they don't get a lot of use unless a person bakes. The fabric is also usually made with a very loose weave. Because of the nature of the weave the embroidery needs to be fairly simple. I try not to overwhelm people with these - I mean, how often will they actually get to use them? 

    And I do expect them to be used - and put in the washer and the dryer. These were made with an acrylic thread my sister got second hand. I've found it washes and dries nicely. 

    This first one is from a vintage pattern I found online. I changed it a bit to suit the weave and size of the fabric. 

This second bread cloth I modified from a pattern by Buttermilk Basin. I have a few of her books and the patterns are all gorgeous. It was also changed to suit the fabric and format. I think they're so cute I may actually make some for myself.