In early December, I had the opportunity to teach a pincushion workshop to a group of quilters from the Central Ohio Modern Quilt Guild. I have wanted to teach a workshop for a long time.
It is important to me to have each class participant leave with a finished product. I determined that a lot of prep was necessary in order for a maker to take a completed pincushion home. One of the challenges of making a finished pincushion is the long drying time for glue. In order to accommodate that, I offered colored ceramic vessels that could be prepped prior to class. Additionally, working with a vessel that is a little larger than a traditional salt cellar is helpful when learning how to make pincushions. And as a bonus, the variety of colored ceramic dishes made matching fabrics an enjoyable process.
Colored ceramic dishes
As participants worked through the process, I was able to help them troubleshoot a variety of issues. I enjoy teaching and was happy to have an opportunity to share tips that I have learned over the years. I am looking forward to teaching again! Thank you Central Ohio Modern Quilt Guild for inviting me to be a part of your group for the day.
Last fall, I drove out west with my daughter Lucy for her return back to college. While visiting in Utah, I made a trip to the The Quilter’s Lodge. Have you been there? It is a beautiful store as well as a venue to provide retreats for quilters. While browsing through all of the fabric, I found an interesting and colorful line. The fabric artist, Lorraine Turner, was new to me, and for good reason – she’s a new artist for Free Spirit Fabrics. Her first line, Calico Horses, had several prints that I felt would work well as pincushions.
The art throughout the fabric required planning for various cuts and matching up with different sizes of glass. I was originally going to use the large white milk glass hobnail ashtray, but the glass is so shallow that I didn’t really like the way the pincushion looked in that glass. So I found another large ashtray. I really like the finished product and feel like the glass complements the print.
Being able to capture the beautiful faces of three horses was a bonus!
Succulent Surprise was one of my favorite prints in this line. The saturated colors spanning the rainbow worked well with larger cuts, such as the one above in Ittala glass. The fabric is beautiful coming through the bottom of this interesting glass.
Hunting for small cuts of the succulent fabric was enjoyable for the salt cellar glass.
I was drawn to the Birdseye Mustang print because of its whimsy and variety of colors. Using a colored piece of glass works well to highlight the blue within the print as well as showcase the glass.
Pincushion Pals made with Lorraine’s fabric.
The glass color of the salt cellar below is a deep red, possibly “brick red”. Finding a snippet of fabric that shows off the glass and fabric at the same time requires patience in waiting for the right piece of fabric. I leave pieces of glass sitting out in my workspace waiting for inspiration. It’s surprising how many times I have a piece of glass there and happen to lay down a piece of fabric and the two seem like perfect companions.
The cut of fabric came from a cactus that was in the Calico Horses print. The picture below is the cactus but glued onto the bottom of the pincushion of the large ashtray. It’s easy to see the beautiful strokes of color used in the red glass salt cellar from this cut of fabric.
The Lupine Valley print has saturated colors of violet and periwinkle with touches of green and pale pink. This print is beautiful! The gentle scalloped edge of the clear pedestal glass seemed like a perfect match with this fabric.
This print also works well for smaller fussy cuts.
This batch of pincushions have all been sent to new homes. Little pieces of art from Lorraine and I have been sent all over the world! I had orders from Australia, Finland (a first for me), and from all across the U.S. Making the pincushions and matching pins is such a pleasure. I am grateful and happy that I’m not the only one who enjoys them!
While on the constant hunt for glass through thrifting and antiquing, I find all kinds of interesting and unique pieces. At times, I do not even know the intended purpose of a piece. I buy unusual pieces with the thought that I may use it eventually. The ceramic glass that inspired the pincushion pal was purchased within the last couple of years and I had it for many months before deciding what to do with it.
Pincushion Pal Base – Original Ceramic Inspiration
Lucy and I thought it might be fun to create a little caddy that could be used for handwork. I mocked one up with the original glass.
First Pincushion Pal
After creating the pincushion and many discussions, Lucy and I thought this was a great addition to the pincushions we make so I started hunting for more glass pieces like this. While searching, I finally discovered the origin of the piece. The three holed ceramic dish is the base of a condiment set for a jelly jar and salt & pepper. I searched and found some whole sets on Ebay. I bought one but the base broke during shipping so I only have the jelly jar and salt & pepper.
My latest batch of pincushions was made using Patty Young‘s fabric line, Lucy’s Garden, by Riley Blake Designs. In an Instagram post, Patty talked about her inspiration for this colorful line. I realized after reading about Patty’s inspiration, that there is a definite ‘art deco’ feel to the prints in this fabric. That element is so appealing to me and probably one reason I really like this line. In addition, I have a daughter named Lucy who was named after 2 grandmothers – so I really like that name.
Fabric designer and quilt pattern maker Robin Pickens has created several lines of fabric with Moda Fabrics. I used fabric from Painted Meadow, Dandi Annie, and Dear Mum to create this batch of pincushions.
My adventure into making pincushions was not planned. I entered a quilt in the National Quilting Association’s (NQA) quilt show several years ago. While there, I was browsing through the vendors and came upon salt cellar pincushions. I was smitten. I bought 3, one for me and each of my daughters. The little salt cellar dishes are unique and charming. I wanted to make them and told my daughter, Lucy, that we should try to make them together. We live in the midwest and there is an abundance of antique stores here giving us ample opportunity to look for old glass. The following summer, after collecting some glass salt cellars, Lucy set out to make the pincushions. She had recently had ankle surgery and was non-weight bearing and looking for something to do because she was bored. She did an amazing job troubleshooting the pincushions. I had a basic idea of how to make them, but she perfected it! Several years and a thousand+ pincushions later, we still love making them – it’s so much fun! I’m a quilter, but now I feel like I’m a pincushion artist too. We have expanded the pincushion containers beyond the salt cellars, but salt cellars are how we started and still my favorite base to use in making the pincushions.
The books pictured above, The Open Salt Compendium and 5,000 Open Salts, A Collector’s Guide, catalog a large variety of salts and include the manufacturer and date of production. Another reference is Salty Comments which was written from 1984-2005 by Ed and Kay Berg. Their early newsletters were written on a typewriter and pictures of salt cellars were hand drawn.
Our process of sewing on a button with matching thread and creating a custom crystal and glass beaded pin gives each pincushion their own personality and appeal. My pincushion journey includes hunting for glass and looking for just the right fabric, or cut of fabric, to make the pincushions. I have met a lot of interesting people and learned so much along the way. I am sure I will continue enjoying the whole process.
The hunt for fabric to make salt cellar pincushions is always fun! When I spotted Suzy’s fabric at my LQS, Sew to Speak, I knew it would probably be a favorite. Suzy Ultman’s has such a fun style with her art and creations! The prints from Suzy’s Minis 2 are perfect for salt cellar pincushions because of their petite scale.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Another enjoyable part of the process was picking out accessories including buttons and creating the custom crystal bead pins. These little popsicles needed a very small button! I call it a micro button. I’ve had these in my stash for a long time and never really thought I’d use them.
The term “cuteness overload” is not an exaggeration with these prints!
If you are interested in a pincushion, visit my Etsyshop! And keep up to date with pincushion progress on my IG @lesleystorts.
Progress continues on the Ice Cream Soda paper pieced quilt. I’ve been working on this for about a year and half. That’s a long time! I love making the blocks and matching them with pincushions that I have on hand.
Piecing the blocks together is a lot slower than I thought it would be. But I’m happy to be at the stage to be able to connect blocks.
This project was started by Jodi from Tales of Cloth. Her website is full of wonderful inspiration and English paper piecing projects.
In other happenings, Ohio is up to it’s shenanigans again with the weather. The sun was out and shining and it was raining at the same time. Raindrop shadows?!
Happy Quilting! ▶︎ ▶︎ ▶︎
I’ve enjoyed reading so many people’s blogs and Instagram posts looking back at the past year. In compiling my projects for the last year, I’ve enjoyed seeing what I completed too.
Ohio in Blue made with Katarina Rocellas’s fabric was one of the most fun quilts I made last year! I was pleased with the finished quilt.
My Pike Quilt made from Sharon Holland’s fabric was challenging to design and make, but an enjoyable process at the same time. The free pattern for this quilt can be found HERE on Craftsy.
Lucy and I made dozens of saltcellar pincushions! I have so much glass I need to get busy making more.
Rainbow Pincushions
Pincushion Swap
Rainbow Love
Saltcellar Pincushions
Saltcellar Pincushions
I was surprised at the number of quilts I made that I did not keep! If I didn’t have pictures of these, I would have forgotten.
Fiber Optics Lap Quilt
Fiber Optics Quilt
AGF Market Quilt
Halloween Quilt
AGF Quilt Top
AGF Quilt Top
In February I created a quilt for RJR Fabric’s quiltwithlove.com blog – also known as #whatshadeareyou. Creating the Game Night quilt was a challenge and a quilt that I had been wanting to make. I’m happy to be able to check this quilt off of my list and enjoy it.
Game Night Quilt
Backgammon
Chinese Checkers
Playing Cards
One final quilt for my year of the rainbow is my Lucky Point Quilt.
Overall I would call it a successful year! And 2018 is off to a good start because I have a couple of quilts that are almost finished that get counted as 2018 finishes 😉
If you made it this far — well, thanks! And one last goodie that I found of our driving dog while I was searching for quilt pictures…
Storts Market 