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Saturday 23 January 2021

A Crazy Pincushion

 I have been enjoying myself this week with embellishing the little pincushion that I showed you in my last post. I have been taking photographs as I go along as some of you may be interested in how I worked the embroidery - skip to the end if you just want to see the finished pincushion!

So this is how the basic block looked.

The pink fabric in the centre section was not lying as flat as I would have liked so first of all I added some tiny colonial knots to flatten and hold it in place, then some beads in the spaces.


The next job was to position the mauve lace and I decided to add it across the corner.


I then added the chain stitches around the edge to hold it in place and some straight stitches to emphasise the flowers.


I like a curve to lead the eye around the piece so this stem was added in next using stem stitch.


I then moved onto some seam treatments. This first small section uses some flower shaped sequins held down with beads then some fly stitch and chain stitch flowers.


For the seam next to it I worked a row of closed buttonhole. In the open spaces I sewed alternate tiny hearts and chain stitches. In the closed gaps chunky colonial knots. I topped the points with chain stitch and straight stitch flowers. Note the gap on the left - a little heart will be added there after construction as it would otherwise get in the way of the sewing line.


I used a simple row of colonial knots along this third seam.


Next I decorated the stem with ruched roses, leaf ribbon stitch and some straight stitches.



Which just left this last seam. I didnt want anything too fancy or complicated here so following the dotty theme of the last seam I used a row of beads to decorate this.

Now all that was left was to add in a spider for good luck. At this point just the legs as again the beads for the body and head would get in the way of the sewing machine during construction.

After I had machined the pincushion together and turned it through, but before stuffing, I added the missing heart and the beads for the spider.


And there we are, one crazy pincushion!




I am back to quilting now - a nice, simple, narrow border on my Red Manor House.


23 comments:

  1. A tiny little masterpiece pincushion. Your work is always so wonderful. I marvelled at every picture. I love seeing the process and how your project grows. So interesting. Thanks for sharing. ;^)

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  2. Lovely! Must try this sometime! Enjoy the quilting.

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  3. Love your pincushion. It's wonderful. Hugs, xx

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  4. aaaammmmaaaaazzzing how you have transformed those pieces into a work of art... lovely watching the process and such a beautiful result.... do you really use it to stick pins in?????
    Hugz

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  5. Lin that is absolutely stunning!
    Thank you for the step by step...may need to make one of these one day

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  6. How amazing is that! I love your step by step process . You have so many ideas. The spider is a quirky addition that completes it beautifully. Clever gal!

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  7. That is certainly a beautiful crazy pincushion. You did a fantastic job of embellishing it with your gorgeous embroidery. Thanks for sharing all the steps along the way.

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  8. Wow! This is fabulous. Thanks for taking us step be step through the process.

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  9. Thanks for showing the steps Lin. I really like your spider.

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  10. Beautiful pincushion Lin, I love crazy quilt stitching and all the extra little surprises you have added, beads, sequins and that impressive creepy crawly. Lovely colour combination too. perfect.

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  11. A lovely layering of stitchery!

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  12. That is one beautiful pincushion Lin! It was great seeing what you did step by step. Love the spider!

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  13. So pretty, but I bet more time consuming than larger projects. I must admit I don't have very much patience with small fiddly projects,
    x

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  14. Your crazy patched and hand stitched pincushions are heirlooms! They are so beautifully done. The spiders you always add send me running back to photos before them. They are too real looking for me. But pretty bead bodies and heads give them beauty. If spiders bring luck, then no wonder I have none...I keep killing them! Ha! Your pincushion designs are are amazing needle and thread art! I love them.

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  15. That is far too pretty to stick pinks in.

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  16. What a wonderful job ... the pin cushion has become very noble. I love it. Greetings to you and have a happy weekend.
    Viola

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  17. Your little pincushion, Lin, is gorgeous. Loved seeing the surprise of each photo of all the delightful pretties and embroidery you added along the way. Another exquisite pincushion imagined by clever you.

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  18. Love love love this beautiful and detailed pin cushion.

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  19. Wow what a gorgeous pin cushion! And thanks for talking us through how you did it. A perfect project for using wee beads and sequins - love the spider on it!

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  20. So pretty. I want to start a new crazy quilt so bad but I have got to finish my UFOs first. :)

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  21. Great pics showing your steps of construction, and it looks beautiful, and much too pretty to stick pins into!

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  22. gorgeous pincushion, love that little spider!

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  23. Slowly building the picture..... Very nice.....

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