Little Bucket O Pins Tutorial!

You will need:

1 mini tin bucket (mine came in a pack of 3 from the cheap shop.  It measures 5cm in height and 6 cm across the top)
Piece of patchwork fabric approx 25cm square
Needle and strong thread
A large handful of Polyfill stuffing
10cm Ribbon
15cm Ric Rac/trim
Hot glue gun
marker
scissors


Method:

On the reverse side of the patchwork fabric, draw a circle approx 18.5cm in diameter with a marker (I used a small cake plate to trace around).

Cut the fabric along the line.

Thread your needle with a long double thread and knot the end.

With the wrong side facing, fold the edge towards you and stitch a running stitch around, leaving the thread tail hanging.

Work your way around until you come back to the beginning (just like making a large yo-yo).

Gather the threads by pulling one end to create a ball.

Stuff until firm.

Knot the threads to secure, and trim excess thread.

With the hot glue gun, apply some glue to the bottom and inside of the bucket, keeping away from the rim.

Place the stuffed fabric ball inside with the gathered end in first.  This is the pincushion made, now for the decorating.

Apply a small dots of hot glue to the bottom edge of the outside of the bucket, affix trim.

Tie on the ribbon to the handle and trim ends.

Place some pins in the top and... ta da! Easy peasy!

You can also try using this method to make pincushions out of old china teacups, little ramekins, eggcups, silicone patty cases or even recycle an old tuna tin!  The possibilities are endless!  I'd love to see what you come up with :)

Sew Sew Sew

Hello lovelies, oh I have been busy!  After submitting my assignment just before the weekend (sooooo glad thats done) I have been sewing to my hearts content.  I have fallen madly in love with this quilt by Bonnie Hunter called Wonky Wishes.  

I decided to dig out all the old, tired fabrics from my stash and start using them up.  I used to love country fabrics and colours but in more recent times have moved on to a brighter, fresher palette.  So gradually the oldies are getting cut up into 2.5" squares and then 1.5", 2" and 2.5" strips for other upcoming projects.  If your not familiar with Bonnie Hunter, her site is here and she, in my books, is the worlds greatest scrap quilter!  I just adore her designs and her passion for all things quilted.  There are tonnes of free patterns on Bonnie's site and oodles of free tutorials.  She has even written a few books and now spends a great deal of her time touring the US and overseas holding workshops.  I just love her frugal ways.  Not a scrap of fabric gets wasted, and from following her ideas, I started using the Scrap Users System and the Leaders and Enders concept.  Absolutely brilliant and yet so simple you'll wonder why you didn't think of it.

Anyhoo, here is my progress on Wonky Wishes:

Not a great pic because the sun was coming through the window (but you aren't going to hear me complaining about sunshine in Melbourne lol) they are so much fun and I am definitely chewing through a lot of my old fabrics.

I also got inspired to have a go at making my first rag rug quilt from this tutorial, and hope to finish it by the end of the week.

This one is for the BlanketLovez charity, of which I am the co-ordinator for Melbourne.  So far its been a lot of fun, fairly easy, and I can't wait to see how it turns out once its washed and dried and the seam allowances fluff up a bit.

As for this project, I'm still working on it.  But hope to finish it off soon so I can post the instructions for you all.  I still think there is a better way to make the leaves so they are a little more durable.

But for now this is how it is.  I just need to quilt the front and make the cushion backing.

Lastly, I do apologise for these hazy photos, they are taken on my iPhone so the resolution isn't great. I've just ordered a new camera that takes higher resolution pics and videos which is very exciting and means I can start producing my patterns and post some online videos of quilting tutorials.

Till next time

Yours in stitches

Leanne x