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 :)

Cuteness!

Hello lovelies!  I've had quite a productive week!  A few good things are on the horizon and I am dying to share them with you.  Firstly, this week I bravely ventured off to meet my local quilters guild.  I realised I needed to be surrounded by people who share this crazy love for quilt making and I wasn't disappointed.  I discovered a whole group of lovely ladies who are just as passionate about this craft as I am.  Our meetings are once a month but there is a sub group that meets weekly.  It was also a surprise to discover that two of the members I already knew as their children go to the same school as mine!  Small world.  If your looking to connect with others who share your passion, make new friends and go to quilt related events, I highly recommend making your acquaintance with your local guild.

My other news is that next term I will be teaching sewing at my daughters primary school... I'm very excited about this!  My daughter and I have been coming up with some small but cute little things for the kids to make.  I made this little bucket pin cushion and this adorable little needle book.  The pincushion bucket I will soon be putting on the blog as a tutorial.

 They are super easy and quick to make so stay tuned.

Front

Back

Inside

The needle book pattern can be found over at nanaCompany.  I love how it uses mostly little scraps you have laying about from other projects.

In other news, I have put the tumbler quilt away for now, but started sewing these little I-spy jars.  I have built up quite a collection of these novelty fabrics.  I look forward to using them in some of my kids quilts for BlanketLovez but this quilt will be for our family.  I'm going to turn some of the blocks on their side to make it look like the jar has fallen over and some of the creatures have escaped.  I've just made the pattern up as I go, so when its finally together I might even draft it as a pattern for my new shop.

Anyway, a quick post today, but hope to be back later in the week with a recipe or two.

Yours in Stitches


Leanne x