The gold and blue below one belongs to Gaynel.
Mine is the red and blue one below with the folded up corner.
August's Project
Our project for this month was a pair of pin cushions from our book, Vintage Patchwork by Pam Buda. I didn't want to overwhelm everyone after a month off and following our HUGE 12" HST mini.
I was kind of surprised that some of the group memebers had never made a pin cushion so we took a little time to talk about what to do after you made your little pieced pin cushion top.
HOW TO FINISH A PIN CUSHION
If you are planning to quilt your pin cushion top, then layer the top with a light batting (I don't usually use a piece of backing fabric when I quilt a pin cushion because it will have a bottom piece later). Pin or press the layers together.
Machine or hand quilt as desired. As we are talking about a 5" square, you'll want to choose a simple quilting pattern like stippling or wavy lines. Straight line or quilting in the ditch work too. You could also explore some of your special stitches on your sewing machine.
After quilting, square up your pin cushion top/batting.
Place a piece of backing fabric right sides together with the pin cushion top. Pin the edges if you need to.
Leaving an opening that is at least a few inches in length, stitch all the way around the outside.
Clip the corners and turn right side out through the opening.
STUFF your pin cushion. There are lots of different materials that you can stuff your pin cushion with, I do not suggest you stuff it with rice or beans or another food item as it might drawn insects. STUFF your pin cushion until you can't stuff it any more then stuff it a little bit more. My favorite stuffing tool is a chopstick.
Whip-stitch the opening closed.
Voila! A pin cushion.
