Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Cushy Cushion

Hi All,
While I'm finishing up the project that I alluded to here (it's actually finished, I just haven't photographed it yet) I thought I'd share something else I made recently. A great big, felty pincushion!


I love pincushions, having them and making them, and don't think one can ever have too many. The felt ones are so fun to make, you really can't go wrong, and there are SO many adorable, inspiring felt pincushions on Pinterest

It all started with a little posy of flowers. Felt flowers are some of my favorite things to make, especially with a nice wool, or wool blend felt. To me, they feel like you get a lot of bang for your buck because they're really cute and making them is so much faster than embroidering a whole flower in fill stitch. But when you combine those two elements, you've got serendipity! There's tons of ideas for felt flowers on Pinterest, too! Some of these flowers I hand cut, and others I cut with a small die cutter and my Sizzix, which is brilliant and a great tool I never would have known about were it not for my friend, Paulette and her gorgeous felt  & embroidery work.
A few micro seed beads scattered here and there, a bit of meandering vine, a couple of leaves and viola, happiness.

I didn't really have a pattern for this cushion, I was just playing around. All I knew was that I wanted it to be pretty good size.

As you can see, it's a bigg'n! I like them like that, they don't get lost in piles or fall off the ironing board so easily when they're big and have a flat bottom.

I trimmed the sides with a couple of different sizes of ric-rac in pretty sage green and baby pink, easy & cute.

I am really enjoying using this pincushion, I'm as in love with the colors now as I was when I picked them out of my stash, they sort of remind me of color pallets that Cath Kidston uses in a lot of her products (which I *love* and covet with every email update I get - I want it all!), simple primary colors that feel fresh & pretty.

So yeah, pincushions. I love 'em. How 'bout you?

How's your week going? Is your summer off with a bang? Schools all over the country are letting out for the summer, do you have any big plans? Do tell!
oxo,
Lisa

9 comments:

TheMistressT said...

Sooo cute! Sooo Lisa! Hey, whattaya stuff your pin cushions with? I keep wanting to make one, but am not sure how I want to stuff it. I keep seeing the ones stuffed with steel wool that are supposed to keep your pins sharp, but I really like the ones I have that are filled with sand, too. Hmmmm.

my cup of tea said...

Love this Lisa! I knew you have been busy! Could you message me some info on the sizzix thing? I just ordered tattered florals.Left you a FB message too. Hope you have big summer plans!
~Donna~

Lisa said...

Hey all! I'm replying to Tara's question here because it's a good question and I didn't even think about it when I wrote this post. I stuffed this cushion with poly-fill, but there are options, so I just wanted to put that out there. At a quilt show recently, my mom bought a bag of crushed walnut hulls that are used to fill pincushions with, and keeps your needles sharp. I've also heard of using steel wool, but I don't think I could do that, the very idea sort of sets my teeth on edge. Another idea that I've heard of is to stuff with your felt scraps, I think this would be great in a project that had a definite shape to it (like arms and legs if it were a human/animal shape) because getting poly fill to be firm can be a little frustrating. Thanks for the great question, Tara!

Anonymous said...

Ficou muito bonito e num tamanho prático! Parabéns!
Um abraço!

Egléa

RetroSandie said...

It's just beautiful!!!! I will have to give this project a try. I do have a couple of pin cushions I use. One is a felt star with a pink rose in the center that holds all of my looong ball head pins. Then I have a smaller pin cushion that I use for my small ball pins. Thanks for the ideas and hints!!!!! :)

Aurelia Eglantine said...

This is gorgeous! I've recently been admiring pincushions of every shape and size over on Flickr and am thinking about making one of my own. This is the kind of pinkeep I want for myself - pretty AND practical :)
Thanks for the info on stuffing!

Jusmom1 said...

I, too, am working on a pincushion...a cute Hexie Flower one. I have never made a hexie pincushion before and am having FUN! I love pincushions I saw one I wanted yesterday at JoAnn's but I didn't want to spend $15. It was an adorable little teapot. Oooohhhh.....DROOL! Maybe if it is still there the next time I go to JoAnn's I will take it as a sign...

Angela McRae said...

This is one of the prettiest pincushions I have ever seen in my life! Gorgeous! (I share your love of all things Cath Kidston. I want the purses, and the luggage, and the linens, and of course the teawares ... so much pretty on that one site!)

Beedeebabee said...

Oh Lisa...you are way too sweet! xo

I love, love, LOVE your pincushion! The flowers you made are sooo pretty, as is your dainty embroidery, and I love the colors you used. They're perfect. You're so right about needing a big pin cushion. That falling off the ironing board comment made me laugh! You're such a hoot! (and a very talented hoot at that!) xo