Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade - 2016

I love a good parade!!!

You may have noticed that I love a good pincushion, too.

It's time for the Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade,

and I'm joining up!

YOU can join, too!!!
There are lots of great prizes to be won,
and you'll get a chance to make new pinnie friends.

This would be a very long post indeed if I were to share

ALL of my pincushions,

but I'll showcase a few of my favorites.
If you click the links, you can see more details about each pinnie.

Here's one I made from the Zakka Style Sew Along.
I loved seeing how others used the same simple pattern,
creating dozens of beautiful interpretations.

In my opinion, the best pincushion tutorial ever written
was for the Cathedral Window Pincushion
by GoGo Kim. 

I made my first one from the puppy prints
of Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hoey for Moda.

I've made literally dozens of these,
usually in batches of 3 or 4.
This set was a favorite of mine, made this year.

I can't stop...they are like my "comfort" food.
I make them whenever I just need to create something pretty,
for my own happiness.

I like to give them as gifts,
and you may see them popping up in Blogland sometimes.

I also love to sell them in my shop on Etsy.
I LOVE making them as a custom order.

My Susan Branch pincushions are just as much fun to make.
This one is mine to keep and use.

I've made lots more to give and sell.

Before you ask...I don't have a source for any more of the
Susan Branch images. Maybe someday, she'll make more!
Wouldn't that be awesome?!?!?!?!?
They are truly amazing and add so much to a little pinnie.

Have you heard of the Skinny Pinnie???
I hosted a swap for these, and it was super fun!
Here's the one I received...so precious,
with teensy handstitched hexies in adorable prints!!!

And here's the one I sent to my partner.

Pinnies are one of my favorite gifts to receive.
My sister from Susie's Sunroom made this pincushion for me,
and I use it all the time, as one of my main pinnies.
I station 3 or 4 of them around the room while I sew.

I fully intend to make many more pincushions.
You can never have too many!

I hope you enjoyed my entry in the 
Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade.
Be sure to visit all of the other posts to see
some fabulous pinnies!
There's still time to link up to join the parade!

On a personal note...

As a proud band mom,

I get the chills as I see our high school band

marching down the hill toward the football stadium.

The drum cadence grabs everyone's attention,

and we watch 200 musicians and bandfront marching onto the field.

This year, one of our sons is a drum major,

which makes it super fun to be a band mom.

As another anniversary of September 11 passes,
I am so thankful that my sons have been able to participate
in lots of traditionally patriotic events like parades.
I hope the American flag will always hold meaning in their hearts,
and that they will always appreciate the freedom that it represents.

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More Thoughtful Pincushions - Part 1

It's my firm belief that 

you can't have too many pincushions.

I'm finding lots of wonderful friends who feel the same way,

and that's how we ended up with

53 skinny members of the

Skinny Pinnie Pincushion Swap!

{Once my partner has received her new pinnie, I'll show you that one.}

One day last week, I had a free sewing day!

I decided to make some more

Thoughtful Pincushions

using my Susan Branch illustrations.

{This was the first batch of Thoughtful Pincushions I created.}

Before anyone asks,

I must say that I've looked all over the web

and haven't found a source for the wonderful panel 

of quotations, illustrated by Susan Branch.

{Luckily I had quite a few squares left, even after sharing some with friends.}

I wanted to create this new batch of thoughtful pincushions

in the most playful way possible,

so I cut a whole bunch of colorful fabrics

into 1 1/2" strips.

{I'm pretty sure that in heaven, there will be giant heaps of fabric strips like this,

and all of the quilters will be allowed to jump in them, all day long.}

The real fun began when I chose the fabric strips for each quotation.

I made a log cabin style block for the front of each pinnie.

This one called for bright colors to go with the dried flowers.

I liked the old-fashioned prints
placed side by side with the modern fabrics.

{Repro prints from my earliest stash, along with Scrumptious and Mama Said Sew fabrics.}

Here's one I made for a singer...
who loves pink.

What a sweet quotation, huh?

{Bonnie and Camille fabrics...Marmalade and Scrumptious.}

This next one is a little bit country...

It made me feel warm all over, so I chose a dash of red,

with a bit of black and some gray and green.

{More Scrumptious, a bit of Bake Sale by Lori Holt, Mama Said Sew - again! - and a bit of a cherry print from JoAnn.}

I really loved the colors of this little nosegay,
and I pulled out some bright strips from the pile.

The finished block makes me smile!

{Marmalade, polka dots from Riley Blake, Briar Rose and green gingham from a vintage sheet.
The background is from Tanya Whelan's Sugar Hill line.}

Here's a quotation that would obviously look great
with lots of hot pinks and reds.

For some reason, though,

I decided to go sugary-sweet for this block.

Look what happened...so sweet that it makes my teeth hurt!

{All by Tanya Whelan...Rosey and Sunshine Roses.}

This last one...for today...is my new favorite, I think.

The quotation is as lovely as the drawing,

and I decided to go bold with my fabric choices.

{"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly.
"One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."
Hans Christian Andersen}

I adore the drama of the black print against the lime greens,
with a taste of orange and blue!

This combination will definitely show up again

in my sewing future.

Stop by again soon, for Part 2,

to see the finished pinnies!

{I promise not to make you wait very long.}

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Getting Skinny for 2014

I'm not really a fan of New Year's resolutions.

This year, though,

I've decided to GET SKINNY,

and I'm inviting all of my quilty friends

to join me!

{Come on...it's going to be FUN!}

We're getting skinny by having...

The Skinny Pincushion Swap!

No matter what your dress size,
and even if you don't think of yourself as a skinny girl,

you can do this!

It's so easy!!!

Just use this free tutorial by Green Bee Designs

to create a one-of-a-kind,

made-by-you, made-for-your-swap-partner

Skinny Pincushion.

Maybe you remember the month

Susie chose the Skinny Pincushion theme for

the Across The Pond Sew Along.

{Susie is super skinny - she made two of them! So inspiring!}

Susie's pair of Skinny Pincushions

My sweet bloggy friend Nesta,

over at Ella and Nesta's Little Room,

somehow came up with the idea to have a

Skinny Pincushion swap.

It's going to be just the cure for the winter blahs!

Nesta's skinny and sweet pincushion

A Skinny Pincushion is easy to make.

You can add some assorted goodies just for fun,

then send it off to a happy new friend...

and wait for your OWN Skinny Pincushion to arrive

from another swappy friend!

The Patchsmith designed a sewing mat to go with her skinny pincushion!

Here's the skinny on the swap:

1. Email me to tell me you would like to join the swap.

eamylove@aol.com

2. Specify whether you are able to ship internationally,

or if you would only want a partner in the US, 

or your home country.

3. Include your own mailing address in the email.

Also include any likes/dislikes and requests about colors, themes, or size.

4. Spread the word to other friends who might want to Get Skinny!

5. The swap registration will close on January 31, 2014 at midnight.

6. You will receive the mailing address of your partner from me,

via email, sometime in the first week of February.

7.  Create your Skinny Pincushion and mail it to your partner 

by February 28, 2014.

That's all!

We have started up a Flickr page,

and you can get ideas or cheer others on,

as they get skinny.

I found lots of inspiration on our Across The Pond Flickr page:

I think this is the BACK of the one by Elly of Mad4Patchwork!

The front is so sweet, too!

So many cute little motifs on one skinny pinny!

Vera of Negligent Style used selvages to make hers unique

and fascinating.

Vera is motivating me to get skinny right now!

Cindy's Skinny Pinny is so stylish

and sweet, in every detail.

Those buttons are just so charming!

Visit Cindy at Adventure's of the Singing Quilter for more ideas.

Pennie Pins posed her poodle pinnie
on Flickr.

Pennie's poodles are sitting pretty for healthy snacks.

Top 5 reasons "Getting Skinny" was never so easy:

5.You can do it in less than an hour.

4. All of your clothes will still fit you, no matter what your size.

3.  You can lie down while you Get Skinny,

and you won't need a nap when you're done.

2. While you are getting skinny,

you can eat chocolate or ice cream,

or even chocolate ice cream!

1. You'll have a new Skinny friend,

when it's all done!

So sign up now by emailing me at eamylove@aol.com.

We'll all Get Skinny together!

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Pin It Blog Hop - Thoughtful Pincushions

Today's the day!

It's my turn for the Pin It Pincushion Blog Hop!

Special thanks to Madame Samm and Kristen from Meadowbrook

for cheering us on, as we finish the hop today.

I thought and thought about what sort of pincushion

to make for my stop on the blog hop...

until I came up with my Thoughtful Pincushions.

For quite a while now,

I've had a wonderful piece of fabric from Susan Branch's

Martha's Vineyard fabric line,

printed with all sorts of little quotes and sayings.

{I used a bit of it for my zakka pot holders last year.}

I took some time to fussy cut all of the

sentiments into little squares and rectangles.

I chose my most favorite one,

about rainy days, and decided to turn it into

a lovely pincushion to keep for myself.

It was fun and easy to add some little bright scraps

and a frame of fabric.

I used a fun stripe for the backing and added my label.

I plumped it up with plenty of polyfil,

and I love love love how it turned out!

Once it was finished,

I couldn't wait to make more of them!

Here's one I just knew my sister Susie

would love.

{Hop on over to Susie's Sunroom today and see her Pin It pincushions, too!  

They are berry berry sweet!}

"When you come right down to it, the secret of having it all is believing that you do."

I love the polka dots with the little button print and the 30's style

floral fabric on the back.

Even if you don't have this hard-to-find panel

of sweet sayings,

text prints lend themselves nicely to pincushions.

Here's one I made from some cooking themed fabrics.

As I worked with the various little thoughts,

many friends and family members came to my mind.

I know some of my favorite sewists will enjoy

a little something I've made especially for them.

My mom thinks I should keep this one for myself, too!

{tee hee}

"Housework, when done correctly, can kill you."

I wonder who could find these tucked inside their Christmas boxes?

In just a bit of leisure time, I made

this whole collection of bright and happy pincushions.

Don't you think they will make thoughtful presents?
What a great way to let someone special know you are thinking of her.

If you liked these pincushions,
you might be glad to know I've made many different kinds of pinnies!
You can find more in this post,
as well as in lots of other posts from the past on my blog.

Check out all of these blogs, too, 
for more great pinnie inspiration today!

September 17
Life in the Scrapatch
Why-Knot-Kwilt
Amy Made That...by eamylove --- You Are Here!
Michelle's Romantic Tangle
Quiltscapes
Kwilty Pleasures
Words and Stitches
Val's Quilting Studio
Les Quilts
Sew Peace to Peace
Bumbleberry Stitches
Susie's Sunroom
Quilts From My Crayon Box
Quarter Incher
I Like to QuiltBlog
Just Quilt It
Sew We Quilt

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