An October Pincushion

Several months ago, I was asked to make a pincushion for a friend, by a friend. Jackie asked me to make one for Marty's birthday, which is October 22nd. With a few suggestions as to color, etc., I set out to design a pincushion which I thought Marty might enjoy. After some thought, I came up with the design you see here and I can show it to you now because it is now in the home of it's intended owner.

Sometimes I have to wait months to find out if the recipient was pleased, as many of the things I make come under the heading of 'surprises' for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, etc. So, I wait patiently, hoping the pincushion, or heart, or whatever I have made for these people, has meant the same to them as they do to me....an heirloom. It's important to me for these 'things' to mean something to the new owners....enough so they plan to keep them forever....however long that is, and then, to pass them on to someone else to love. Why this is, I don't know...but I think of the person I'm making these 'heirlooms' for the entire time I work on them...hoping they will know they were thought of along the way with great fondness...even when I don't personally know them.....and especially when I do.

So, I thought of Marty the whole time I worked on this piece, along with Jackie, who commissioned it...after all, she deserves to be thought of and to be pleased also.

Marty likes the colors burgundy and green, so I chose fabrics from my stash coming as close as possible to these colors. I knew I was going to embroider a monogram on a heart and also embroider a basket of flowers...something just told me subconsciously to do that....all the elements of this pincushion were decided on one at a time...piece the background, embroider the letter on a heart, applique to a square....applique the square somewhere on the pieced background, etc, etc. One decision at a time.

I'm especially fond of the embroidery meandering around that square....it's an outline stitch with threads woven in and out of the stitches, then held in place with a tiny straight stitch. (The piece I'm working on now has the same design on it, but I used a back stitch instead of the outline stitch this time.) I drew the basket right on the background square, then embroidered it....the same with the flowers and the silk ribbon bow on the right side. You've probably already figured out all the things I did on this piece....but, do you know I especially enjoyed beading the edge? It's one of my most favorite things to do. Hopefully, from these photographs, you can see how to do one for yourself. (I've taken one photo of the pincushion as I held it in my hand...so you can see the approximate size of it...6 inches square. I thought that might help...as otherwise, it's hard to tell if it's tiny or large.) Also pictured is the back of the pincushion....just thought you might enjoy seeing how I finished it.

I'm working on more of these....more events to celebrate....so, if all goes well, you'll see those in a few weeks, or months, depending on when they are received. I've heard from Marty and she really likes hers....makes me feel really good!

Hope you enjoyed seeing Marty's pincushion....as much as I enjoyed making it...and I hope she enjoys owning it. An heirloom....made with love....'syrup-y' but true. Take care out there, pat