Yet Another Pincushion

But this one is a bit different from the others I've made. It actually has emery in it, to keep the needles nice and sharp.

I found the kit as I was attempting to clean up the sewing room this past weekend. I think I bought it at the Long Beach Quilt Show last July, and it's been hiding under stuff for the last seven months. It's from Bird Brain Designs, which has all sorts of darling kits. One of the things I really love about quilt shows is the vendor stalls. I just love wandering around them and picking up little kits that I can put together easily. This is certainly one of them. It has all of five components, if you count the two colors of perlé cotton.

Well, six components, as I added the beads. This was so quick and easy I kept forgetting to take pictures, but as it's so simple the photos are really not necessary to explain the construction. I traced the two pieces out on freezer paper, ironed the pieces to the wool, cut them out and started stitching. I did add most of the beads before sewing the strawberry body, but afterwards added a few along the seam line. After gathering the top of the strawberry slightly I placed it in a shot glass to pour in the emery. Then finished the gathering, secured the stitches and added the leaf top. This was secured with little stitches in the inner portions of the design.

It was so quick and easy it only took a couple of hours to make, and I even have quite a bit of emery left over, although I don't think it's enough for another pincushion. However, Bird Brain Designs sells emery on its website, so I can always get more.