Pincushion Potential

The pincushion. An item in the sewing room that used to be strictly utilitarian and plain in appearance. (I [Kara] think of the traditional tomato pincushion here.) However, in recent times the lowly pincushion has been elevated from just being functional to a stylish, creative, decorative, item that graces not just our sewing rooms but can be used as a part of any room's decor.

As a former seamstress (see Out With the Old and in with the New), my tomato pincushion was my right-hand gal, and I'd go into panic mode if my assistant cat knocked it somewhere into the messy depths of my sewing room. It's still downstairs next to my sewing machine, ready to fulfill its duty for that time that I come out of seamstress retirement, or for when I can get some time to do some quilt piecing.

 But now my assistants are these two gems:

They sit beside me at my kitchen table where I do most of my stitching now. The flower pincushion was made this past April at Jan Vaine's Tea and Stitches Retreat, and the crazy quilt one was given to me by Teri at our last Appliqué Academy.

A couple of months ago, our friend Jo brought a craft to do during our weekly stitch time. It was a pincushion made from a bottle cap. I was hooked after making the first one and proceeded to scour my house for bottle caps.

Without realizing it, I now had a pincushion collection and began to think that I really needed to add to it. I had also been seeing a lot of creative pincushion ideas on Pinterest and different blogs that I followed. Combine that with my love of all things vintage, and I now had another collection: items for "potential" pincushions. My thrift store wanderings took on a different mission as I viewed the housewares aisle as a place to find future pincushions.

Here are a few of my recent finds:

The sugar bowl top will hide the pincushion and the bottom will be storage

 Won't these look lovely as pincushions with some vintage trims?

This basket will have new life with some wool for a pincushion top

Hidden storage and a pincushion

This brass acorn used to be a lighter 

A bee-themed pincushion with storage

So what to do with all this potential? I think each item will lend itself to a certain decorative flair and I've gathered a few items that I think will work for the new purpose these pieces will have. Antique quilt blocks, doilies, and velvet will make beautiful decorative tops, and this sari silk ribbon will certainly be used somewhere.

Add in some vintage-style trims, beads, lace and silk and I've already found so many options for creating some beautiful yet functional works of art.

Do you have a pincushion collection or have you transformed any unconventional items into pincushions? Stay tuned to see how these treasures find new lives as pincushions, and check out our "Pins and Needles" Pinterest board for inspiration to add to your own collection!

A Collection of Antique Blocks

A few posts back, I (Kara) wrote a post about the UFOs of the past and shared my collection of quilt tops. Those UFOs or PUPs (Poor Unfinished Projects) have fewer steps on the road to completion than what I am sharing with you now. Through the years, I have garnered quite a collection of antique blocks. Some of the blocks I have were purchased with a purpose in mind, and some I purchased just because they spoke to me.

It started about 28 years ago when I saw these blocks in an antique store in Michigan, and they jumped into my hands all by themselves.

I hadn't even made a quilt yet, but I loved their vintage look and feel. There are 44 total in the Double T pattern.  Almost all of them are hand pieced and are in fairly good condition.

Double T pattern

This next set I purchased on Ebay because I wanted to have a go at repurposing some blocks with embroidery.  The feed sack fabrics used in these blocks were so charming, and there was a wide variety of patterns.  The blank center called out for embroidery.

I do have a few of the blocks that someone had started to put together, and it appears as if they may have lost interest in the project. (I can relate.) These are also hand pieced.

I was kind of on a roll with this idea of repurposing old blocks with embroidery, so when I saw these next blocks and their solid centers, I bought them.

 

One of the blocks has an embroidered signature, "Olive Groover, March 1934," which leads me to believe that maybe it was destined to be a signature or autograph quilt. On a whim, I checked Ancestry.com, and there were a lot of Olive Groovers throughout the country at that time.

This block was a popular signature block

My next purchase was a lot of star blocks made of feed sacks and other fabrics. There was one large star with a piece missing and six smaller stars.

One of the smaller stars has a chunk missing from one of the ends, so I will borrow some fabric from it to replace the missing piece in the large star.

In this lot, there were also quite a few half done stars. Those may be a good "I'm in the car for 10 hours, what should I do" project.



My most recent purchase was these three mini Dresden plate blocks that I found in a Salisbury, MD antique store for only $3.00.  It would have been a crime not to buy them.

So what to do with all these blocks? Someone long ago had a purpose and plan in mind for them and for various reasons were unable to finish them. The antique quilt top UFOs that I have just need to be quilted, whereas these blocks have quite a few possibilities when considering an end result for them.

I turned a few of the Double T blocks into scissor keepers for my friends at Jan Vaine's Tea and Stitches Retreat.

I mentioned that I was going to try embroidery on the white center feed sack blocks, and that is what I have started for those.

My vision is to make nine embroidered blocks and turn it into a wall hanging for a child's room.  I have four drawn and two nearly completed.  I've tried to keep the embroidery simple so I actually get the project done this decade.

While taking pictures for this post I had an idea for the star blocks.  I loved the simplicity of the blocks on the white background of my bed quilt, so I think that I will appliqué them all on a white background and then quilt it.

As for the other blocks that I have, those will have to wait for their inspiration to come. I am open to ideas, if anyone would like to share them.