I think pillows are a great beginner project, heck – they are a great project for any level stitcher. Excellent practice. Not a big fabric investment, not even a big time investment, and they allow for you to experiment with fabrics, colors, thread, closures and size. They always look fabulous and are the perfect accent in any room. Beautiful shots of color. I love pillows.

Everybody came to class with an idea or drawing and we talked about how to turn it into an appliqué. We made a pattern, traced it onto the fabric, then cut them out of fabric and pinned the motifs down to the pillow fabric – and stitched away. Once the front was done – we put a zipper in the back, stitched up the sides and VIOLA! pillow happiness.

I think you might remember my love of handmade pincushions? This is another great sewing project. Great practice for learning basic hand sewing stitches. These were inspired by this FABULOUS tutorial. Each picked a jar or bottle lid, made a pattern and picked their colors. I LOVE the pocket for the scissors/seam ripper. Makes it a cool little sewing station.

Small projects like these are perfect practice for any sewer. They make the best accessories for your home or sewing kit (or sewing lounge!)

Wednesday, February 27 6Pm-9Pm – we’re making Egg Cup Pin Cushions at LuckyStitches.  I hope you can make it.

Found this sweet vintage pin cushion on ebay.  How wonderful would this be for my collection?  I’ll have to keep my eyes on it.

I have been making pincushions for my swaps lately. I’m loving them. This one was inspired by this tutorial.

The first one I made was this one:

It’s a mason jar. the fabric is from a pair of old pjs. I stuffed it full of polyfill, plus a little bit of super fine steel wool. Glued it to the lid, stuck it with a bunch of star felt pins, filled the jar with ribbons and voila!

This is my most recent:

Using felt, I made an egg for the egg cup! And of course, the star felt pins!  It’s really adorable.  It was easy to make.  After sewing the felt pieces, stuffing the egg shape, I glued it into the egg cup!

This was my February Coloriffic Swap-o-rama that I sent:

I received this lovely Winter Bird Embroidery from Vidya

Then I received this amazing March Coloriffic Swap-o-rama package from Rain. It came all the way from England!

I sent off this little embroidery (oh so late…so sorry dear swap partner!)

and I sent this to my March Coloriffic Swap-o-rama partner in a land far far away…..

This swap thing is so addicting. I love it. I love the things I get in the mail and I love sending things. I have a lot of fun experimenting. For example…

I made this egg cup pincushion:

Which I think turned out really adorable, especially with the star felt pins.

Then I made this bag:

based on this really cool tutorial . The way she does this lined bag with a zipper is quite easy to follow. Another way to do a zipper.  I  *heart* the internet!

JAN07 Colorific Swap-o-Rama – Received!, originally uploaded by zannestar.

I can’t tell you the thrill I got when I found a package in my mailbox from PORTUGAL! The heart beat a bit faster, and I couldn’t wait to get inside and take it all out! There are so many wonderful things in the package from Cristina. THANK YOU!

First – the fabric, red and white floral that is STRETCHY! It’s a nice weight, will be fun to work with. The ribbons. Oh the ribbons. Perfect for someone who had a little girl and loves to sew. Ric Rac (need I say more?).

A handmade pincushion. It’s so fabulous. (I’ve decided the first of my collection of handmade pincushons – they are so awesome!) Red with white dots and a button center. The flip side is a beautiful white felt with a red button center. Which one to use? Hand painted clothespins. Some of them are decorated with STARS! Cristina did her homework! Beautiful, glowing glass beads with red centers.

A star shaped container of bath gel, floating ball candles and some delicious hard candy – perfect for a night of pampering.

The cutest little red barretts with sweet birds on them, just for Izzy! She loves them! I showed them to her, the next thing I know, one is missing and I find it hours later in her bed. True love!

A sweet little red duckie bank with white hearts, a heart clip (to hold photos of my sweethearts) and a precious cute “woof woof” aka dog keychain.

Izzy loved this package as much as I did. I was lucky to snap this shot before her little hands tore it apart.

Thanks Cristina! It’s a very thoughtful package! I love it!