PPPP

It's that time of the year again for Ida's Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade or PPPP.  There are lots of great prizes to be won and lots of pincushion inspiration to be had.  Be sure to check it out HERE.

I really haven't added many pincushions to my collection this year.  One thing that I do is make pincushions for the granddaughters as they learn to sew with me.  This was one that I made this year.

Another pincushion that I added was an elongated one to rest along the front of my sewing machine.  I have seen so many of them and they are the perfect shape for placing right where they are needed.  This one was made out of scraps and made up so quickly.  I stuff all of my pincushions with walnut shells and fiberfill to give them the needed weight to keep them in place.

Ida asked that we also add our "ugly" pincushions to the parade.  Although these are pretty worn and ugly, there is no way I could part with them.

The first is from my beginning sewing days.  It has definitely seen better days.  It is now used very gently as I do not want to completely wear it out.

This last one is a true treasure as it was made by one of my granddaughters when she first learned to sew.  She is now in college!

So.....pop over to Ida's and show us your pincushions.  

For the Love of Pincushions

As I said on my last post, Ida at My Sister Made Me Do It blog is having a Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade starting today.  Link up a pincushion post with your favorite pincushions and you have a chance to be a winner of some lovely gifts, including a gift certificate from Green Fairy Quilts.


I have a few lot of pincushions in my creative world.  One would think that I would spend no time searching for my pins with my collection, but somehow that isn’t the way it is.  They always seem to hide themselves under piles of fabrics.  I guess they think I enjoy a good game of hide and seek while sewing.  I remember my mom and my grandmother always having pins between their lips while sewing.  Maybe they got tired of looking for their pincushions too. 

Here are most of mine in one grouping.



Of course, they all have a certain place where they belong in real life.  Over the years I have received pincushions from swaps...............



as gifts............

Made by my DIL with the grandchildren's thumbprints

Made by a  granddaughter when she was young.  It's filled with little bits of fabric and is a great pincushion.

......and pincushions made for hops.





Then there are two "oldies" in the collection.  My dad brought me the green one when he was traveling and the old red tomato is one that I remember from when I first started sewing - over 60 years ago.  These are treasured and not used.



So........do you have a special pincushion to share?

A Sewing Weekend

I had a fun day of getting reacquainted with my sewing machine yesterday.  It was a perfect day!  I had the doors and windows opened in my sewing retreat and listened to the chattering birds outside. 
Sew….what did I accomplish?

I added more blocks to my Goodnight Irene scrappy sewalong.  I’m still trying to decide how big I will make it, but I am thinking maybe 9x7 blocks. 




It appears that this block is a popular choice for the RSC14.  This month the color is blue.  I had seen this block on Wanda’s blog.  She has an eye for color and design that cannot be topped and her blocks in this design are incredible.  Thus….the inspiration!  The block is very large (24x28) so I seriously doubt that I will be doing all 12 months of this challenge.



Those who follow my blog know that with spring also comes the grandchildren’s school auction.  Each year I make a school uniform that is auctioned off.
 



I received my pincushion swap from my swap partner, Leona.  I just LOVE what I received.  This is a pincushion that I have wanted to make F.O.R.E.V.E.R. and have never done it.  I absolutely love everything about it – the fabrics, the color, the weight and the design.  As well, Leona included all sorts of fun goodies with it.  What a great swap it was!



For some reason I am continually getting an error message when I try to open blogger so I am back to using Live Writer if this post seems very strange.  It just seems to be a problem on my desktop computer so who knows what goofy setting I have changed. 

Slow Stitching

Did somebody steal January?  Sheesh, the months are going quickly.

There has not been much sewing going on around here - again - this past week.  I am beginning to sound like a broken record. 

One of my fairly regular Christmas gifts seems to be a jury summons.  I always love how it comes in with the wonderful Christmas cards.  Anyway, this past week saw me on jury duty and actually serving on a jury.  It was a short one this time, unlike the 5 month one I was on in 1997.   It still took up my treasured time, but I am free for another year now.  Yeah.

My sewing moments were short, but I finally managed to finish up my Sally quilt that I started about 6 months ago.   It has a soft flannel backing and an all over quilt design so it is nothing fancy, but I am pleased with the finish.  It's one more completed UFO in my books too. 

When I do the quilts for the grandchildren I always like to include a label with their newborn photo on it. 

I'll be linking this one up with a Lovely Year of Finishes.

 

Goal setting for February is going to be tight as we have a busy one, but I think I will finish up a Schnibbles from several years ago.  It is done in my favorite fabric line, Boutique by Chez Moi.

One other small project that I finished was a pincushion.  Beth had made one for herself and shared the material with me to make one.  It is a nice heavy one with the crushed walnut shells.  I loved using the selvage edge on the fabric too.

Lastly, I sewed up a couple of X&+ blocks for our February queen who requested bright + and gray, black and white Xs.

I am hoping to get a little more sewing in this coming week.  We will see.  You never know what will pop up around here.