Erica's Stitches

And now ... the rest of the finishing instructions ... Measure the top of the pincushion and cut squares of quilt patting about the same size or a little smaller. Place the squares in the pincushion and mush them down until they just fit.  You want them to fit tightly, but not too tight. Fold in opposite sides and lace together. Be careful of the tension.  If you pull too tight or not tight enough you will distort the box shape. Repeat with the other two sides making sure that the edges are tucked in.  If you want to add a bead or button to the center, now is the time.  It helps to have a really long needle.  Go up from the bottom and come out of the top center.  Pick up the bead or button and go back down through the center and out the bottom.  Tie the ends together tightly and cut off.  I finish with a drop of nail polish.  (Somehow I missed getting a picture of this step) Next, cut a f...

When I finished my second pincushion I tested the directions I wrote up for the first one.  They were horrible!  So, the second time around I documented my progress.  It's such fun testing my own patterns. The pincushion started out flat, stitched with a square plus sign shape.  It could also be rectangular, as long as the corners are an equal number of threads. First is the creasing - both along the edges of the top of the box and at the bottom.  As you can see in the top photo, I also creased the corners. Now, trim the linen to about an inch to inch and a half past the stitching.  Then, turn the pincushion face up and fold diagonally across the upper left corner. With thread that matches the linen, go through the corner on the front and the back and come up two holes to the right on both sides.  The basting stitches are very important here but can be removed as you go. Keep going along over two and u...

If you were going to come up with your own pincushion, what would it look like? I imagined one where a design went all around the edges, in this case an alphabet. It wasn't too difficult.  First, I calculated how many stitches I needed to go around the pincushion.  Then I made up an alphabet that was too large to fit and then started eliminating stitches until it fit.  Notice the A is only 3 stitches wide but the B is 5 stitches.  So, some letters are really small and others are big. I didn't want the top to be completely covered with stitches.  After all, you have to have a place to stick the pins. So, I ended up with a simple X pattern enhanced with the some beads.  I've used something similar in ornaments.  No matter what colors I've used it always looks good when completed. Like the pincushion?  The pattern is for sale at www.patternsonline.com . I came up with my own way of putting this pincushion tog...