A Bevy of Pincushions and more...

As I was taking pictures for this post I was looking around at all my sewing stuff and realized that I have actually made all 3 of the pincushions I currently have. The red one I set into a small wooden bowl I got in Hawaii. The heart I was making for a friend. fell in love with it and decided to keep it. I still have to make another one for her. The last one is the one I just made the other day. I have an even bigger collection of pin cushion patterns. I have been collecting a lot of sewing stuff lately. Maybe someday I will have time to use it all!

I have been really busy with work, but still making time to work on a few sewing projects. I would love to be able to make all my Christmas projects, but reality has set in and I know I won't be able to do it. The goal though is to maybe make my Christmas cards and I have a few ideas now I just have to find time to take a trip to Aaron Brothers and get a few supplies. Hmmm...how to fit that in, I'll have to work on that one.

I have however managed to find a little time to make a few things. I made this little pincushion in just about an hour with a pattern I bought from Fig Tree & Co. I had to check out the site after seeing Joanna on The Quilt Show. It was a great episode. I just recently purchased a membership so that I could watch some of these shows and have been really enjoying it. The site was a little overwhelming at first because they offer so much, but now that I have it figured out I just can't stay away. I spent two whole evenings watching all the clips in Alex's Daily Blog. I haven't checked out Ricky's yet. I learned so many things from Alex, I had always thought of her as the person who interviewed quilters and didn't realize how much she actually knows about quilting.

I also had to try out the tutorial I found at Happy Zombie which Monica so generously shared for penny pockets. It is a beautifully written tutorial and the project is so fun and easy. Follow my link and try it out if you haven't already. I am making mine from some fabrics I had in burgundy and green because it will match my Christmas ornaments. I am thinking of making a string of 7 to fill with goodies or candy canes, for a 1 week till Christmas countdown ...more thinking to do on that.

I also spent a good deal of time on this 12" quilt block from the McCall's free patterns. It turned out to be quite complex so I doubt that I will be making any more besides I used a lot of the fabric to make my pennies so it will have to get put with other blocks in the future or maybe made into a pillow. I just loved the pattern and had to give it a try. I have decided that making just one block of something I find interesting is a great way to learn and decide if I want to go further with it. It is also a great way to use up some stash or at least transforms my stash of fabrics into a stash of blocks...

Enjoy creating!

Ferne