My new Prettified Pincushion is one of my final completed projects for 2021. It’s a great introduction to foundation paper piecing and the size is perfect as a pincushion or a pattern weight.
I’ve had a copy of Ayumi Takahashi’s Patchwork Please! for quite some time, and have wanted to make the pincushion featured on the cover about as long as I’ve had the book. However, the tiny amount of paper piecing required to make the pincushion intimidated me and I put it off. I’ve never done paper piecing before and it always sounded convoluted to me. I finally forced myself to try it and the pincushion came out great!
I like Ayumi’s choice of mixing linen and quilting prints for her pincushions, so I did the same with mine. Scraps of Dance in Paris by Zen Chic are used for the patchwork and for the sides I mixed in a lovely sewing-themed print from More Paper. I used a little fusible batting to interface the pieces before sewing them together, and the construction method makes the nicest corners for the pincushion. I stuffed the pincushion with a combination of walnut shells and lavender.
The covered buttons were so easy to make using a Dritz covered button kit!
Even though this is a small project, I was able to learn two new things (foundation paper piecing and making covered buttons) on it, and it didn’t take long at all. It’s always nice to try something new and get a great result! This Prettified Pincushion was a great little project for me! What new things did you try in 2021? Are there any new things you’d like to learn in 2022? I’d love to know in the comments!
