January Pincushion for CQJP 2014

I finished my Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2014 piece for January!   My goal is to make one large pincushion each month for this project.  

Spring must have been heavy on my mind amidst our winter snow and bitter cold!  

It turned into such a happy piece!

I wasn't thrilled with the rigid straightness of the piecing on this block, so used the lace to add interest.  All of the lace came from un-salvagable items.  Love being able to give them one last bit of life this way! 

It wasn't until I added the little pink beads in the lace that this piece came to life.  It always amazes me how just one small thing can make such a difference.


I love the fancy little ribbon trims for finishing the bases of these pincushions.

The butterfly is embroidered on felt and the edges finished with tiny blanket stitch.  The edges are not wired, so I don't think it quite qualifies as stumpwork.  It sits lightly on the pincushion!  I was greatly inspired by Jane Nicholas' book,  Stumpwork Butterflies & Moths (Milner Craft Series).  It was a huge help!  Many thanks to Susan at Plays With Needles for the recommendation!

It just makes me happy!

On the base, I embroidered my name and added the month since it's a monthly challenge.  Hopefully at the end of the year, I'll have all 12 months completed!

Here was what it looked like before I started stitching on it.  I am very glad to have minimized the yellowish fabric, which didn't add much to this block and was one of the reasons it sat in my Unfinished Project basket for so long.

I have to share the sweet "Snowball" swap block that Tahlia sent me!  I asked for CD sized blocks with a bit of extra room in the middle so I can make little banners out of them by either folding them in half or cutting them in half and backing with other fabric to make a Christmas banner to hang on my fireplace mantle!  I also asked for shades of green and a winter woodland theme. 

I just adore the block she sent and especially this sweet bullion bunny!  Perfect!  Thank you Tahlia!

I had the opportunity to do some serious stash enhancement in the past month.  Luscious shades of silk dupioni!  Small pieces, but so wonderful to now have so many lovely colors to work with!   They didn't come without a bit of headache though.  While at the sewing expo in Denver, I thought my wallet had been stolen.  When I went to pay, I discovered my backpack unzipped ~ and knew that I had zipped it up.  Then I realized my wallet was not there.  Hunted and hunted through my bag, removing everything and putting it back.  Not there!  Total heart stopping panic!  Headed to the front desk where we called and immediately stopped my credit cards, notified the sheriff and filled out a report.  A couple hours later, when I got home, emptied out my previously thoroughly searched bag... and there was my wallet at the very bottom of the bag.  Whew!  How I didn't find it when I searched and searched again at the expo, I will never know.  I did have to go through the hassle of getting new credit and debit cards issued, but that's ok.  I'd rather have to do that than worry about someone else using them.  Better safe than sorry.  So relieved I didn't have to replace everything else though!  

The next day, I was able to go back, with my daughter along this time, and finish my purchases!  What fun we had!  It was a joy to see Helen Gibb again, who I had the great pleasure of taking a class from many years ago.  I use her book The Secrets of Fashioning Ribbon Flowers all the time!  I was also able to meet Cheryl Oberle, whose book, Folk Shawls: 25 knitting patterns and tales from around the world (Folk Knitting series) I have used again and again!  She was delightful and my daughter kindly took a photo of the two of us! 

Had another headache this week as well.  I picked up my camera and for whatever reason, was not able to keep hold of it and it dropped to the floor - with the expensive macro lens attached.  I just about cried when I saw that the glass on the front of the lens was broken. Then I realized that it was just the filter that broke and not the lens itself!  Made me very glad that I put a UV filter on all my lenses!  It took all the brunt of the fall and was the only thing damaged!  It was a bit of a fright removing the broken filter as it involves wire cutters and pliers and a lot of elbow grease, but the great news is that the macro lens is INTACT!  And I was able to use it to take all the above photos!  Whew!

Hoping for a slightly less eventful week this week!