Delicious Leftovers

Two years ago (wow, already?) I joined the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Flickr Group. 

It was great fun to sew along with so many amazing quilters.  I do love this online community.

Now, the FW blocks in the book finish at 6".  But I prefer working with smaller scale designs so I tried making 3" blocks. 

I soon realized, however, that the fabrics I'd chosen - Lecien's Flower Sugar - had more medium/large scale prints and the tiny pieces required for a 3" block weren't working out.  So I ended up making mine 4.5" ... and had these 5 little ones left over.

They've been shuffled around my sewing room a lot for the past two years because I didn't know what to do with them.  So many times I had them in my hand as I eyed the garbage bin.  But I could never bring myself to toss them ... they were just too cute to throw out.

Am I ever glad I kept them.

One rainy afternoon last week I found them ... yet again ... under a pile of stuff ... and I'd finally found the inspiration I needed to turn them into something thanks to this free pattern by Heather Bailey. 

Five somethings, actually ...

Now I know I'm not the first quilter to turn an orphaned block into a pincushion ... not exactly revolutionary.

But it's a personal first ... and can I just say how remarkably satisfying it is to turn a "mistake" into something so gosh darned cute & fabulously useful? 

As with my strawberry pincushions, these are stuffed with ground walnut shells.  They are firm and weighty.  Love them. 

(My 10 year old left me a message in the walnut shells bin ... love that kid.)

With the exception of the first pincushion I made (bottom right in the photo below), all the bottoms are quilted too.

So from these ...

to these.

And they only took me a day to make.

Plus two years. ;)

One year ago today ...

Comments

[Lee]

Yet again, lovely. It is, however, good to know that I am not the only one that suffers from 'Plus Two Years' -itis. Dreadful disease but it can be overcome, as you just proved. You are a medical miracle!

[Debbie Johnson]

So adorable! Love them!! Did you stuff them only with the crushed shells? No fluffy stuff? These would make awesome gifts. They just look so happy!
Hugs,
Debbie

[Hildy]

Leave it to you to make something totally cute out of orphan blocks, love them! And your daughter is such a sweetie say hi to her:-)

[Annerose]

Die sind ja wunderschön geworden und die Blöckchen habe endlich ihre Bestimmung gefunden. Toll hast du das wieder gemacht.
Ganz liebe Grüße Annerose

[jan]

sew very adorable!! I am glad you didnt throw them away. Just thinking they could have wound up in the trash makes me wince.lol
Now I am going to have to put "have leftovers" so I can make pincshions on my to do list.

[Mary Carole Dolce]

Oh my goodness...I LOVE them! They are seriously adorable! Good save for those "little blockies"! :-) ~ Mary Carole

[PAM]

LOVE!!! Not only cute, but the photos are wonderful, wouldn't they make cute cards or little photos for a sewing room. xo

[Kathleen, Troon, Scotland]

Gorgeous! Really clever idea, and will make lovely gifts too :D

[Karyn liza]

They are so cute!

[Christine B.]

What really cute pincushions... just so sweet. I loved your strawberry pincushions too!

[Linda Gilbert]

I think they are so beautiful.

[Tammy]

You make the prettiest little projects : ) Love these pincushions! What a beautiful little gift for quilty friends and a great project for extra blocks. I also made a bowl full of strawberry pincushions to share with friends.

Thank you for making every day a little prettier with your talent, your awesome ideas and your beautiful blog. You also make us all laugh...that is the icing on the cake.

Have a pretty wonderful day!

[greg]

LOVE THESE! They are so bright and happy!

[SuperMomNoCape]

They are all so pretty. I love how you've displayed/photographed them in that little wire basket.

[Pattie]

Absolutely adorable!!! I'm so glad inspiration struck at just the right moment! Thanks for sharing with us.

[Sandra (Cherry Heart)]

So cute and what a fabulous use of those extra blocks. I love the quilting on them too, that's a great touch!

S x

[Christine M]

Your pin cushions are gorgeous. They look so pretty all stacked up!

[Babychaser]

So cute! Great idea! Love those striped ones! :)

[Anita]

I love your little pin cushions! They are so cute! Where do you get the walnut shells? Do you crush them up yourself or do craft stores sell them? I haven't made pin cushions yet, partly because I am not sure about the walnut shells. Thanks!

[Bonnie Nyquist]

I have made that pattern many times,and I must say,yours look sooo much beter! Briliant idea to use leftovers and tell your daughter she is a sweetie to make that heart in the walnut shells! Your blog is just so interesting! You make then eatest things!

[edith]

very cute - would make wonder gifts. Can't wait to try these.

[Robin]

Such sweet little cushions, each one plump and perfectly shaped. Lovely soft colours and gorgeous stacked together. A great gift for those who love to sew or for pinning earrings & brooches too!R♥

[Denise in PA]

You are just amazing! They are just too cute!

[Archiethewonderdog]

I love them!

[Kay]

Just gorgeous. These would make great gifts for crafty friends.

[Cassie A]

Absolutely love this! I am just starting a FW quilt and am using your finished quilt along with Lori Holt's finished FW as my inspiration :) I love the little pin cushions and have several scraps of vintage quilts that I think I'll make them from. Thanks for posting the pattern. Good day to you!

[Jane]

Those are so cute ... love the colors. I've had the Farmer's Wife book for quite a while but haven't done anything with it yet. Feeling inspired here!

[Amy]

those are soo cute, K. love the bitty hexagons, too. long time no talk... miss ya! xo amy

[Alex]

Super cute! I love that they aren`t round, they look so good in a pile like that. Good work.

[tasha]

again...im catching up on your little blog! so cute as always. i love your idea of making some pincushions with your leftover FW's. very cute! i loved the ending.... 'plus 2 years.' it made me laugh because i make that kind of remark as well on little things here and there. i got it from cheaper by the dozen with steve martin. have you seen it? when he's looking for a nanny and he's making phone calls and telling how many kids he has, he says something like ' i have 2 kids....plus 10" it cracks me up! anyway, so I do the same thing whenever I get the chance. ha! (makes me feel so clever!) yours made me laugh! :) thanks for being silly. and making cute things! :) have a great day!

[Xanthe Grundy]

Magnificent!

[Felie Hempfling]

Such a great use of all those fabric scraps, too cute!

[Kay]

I have just come over from Pinterest because I have these pinned to my pincushion board, I have been wanting to make something similar so thank you so much for pointing me in the direction of the tutorial.

[jasperizer]

These are so cute! I think I'm going to make a bunch of them :)

[Kelly]

Fast forward a few years and I finally get the time, motivation and inspiration to make one of these pincushions. Only to discover that the Heather Bailey pattern is no longer available! ARGH, I shouldn't have left it so long huh? Yours are super beautiful, they are what made me finally decide to do it.

[Sharon]

I have been looking foe a pattern for a square pincushion for days. I finally found yours and the link to the pattern. :’(