Melissa provided a choice of projects - both pincushions: one hexagons, the other mixed shapes. Because I had
paper-pieced the bed quilt in hexagons three years ago, I chose to work on the mixed shapes. We began with a sheet of template shapes on heavy paper to be cut out, then cut our fabric and glued the fabric shapes around the paper. This is the first time I have used glue to secure the fabric to the papers. It was a lot of fun.
Left to my own devices I'd have tried to glue down the little tails on the diamonds but they fit neatly together under each other.
I was using a couple of small squares of hand-dyed fabric I bought at a market day. It gave me plenty of scope for mixing colours within a palette. This was a well designed project. The diamonds form the top of the pincushion, rectangles the sides and a hexagon the bottom.
It was, as always, a great group of students, sharing their work and encouraging each other. Melissa was an attentive and knowledgeable teacher. This was pretty much where I got to when the class finished at 2pm.
At home I added the hexagon and joined up the sides
before removing the papers.
By the time I left home that evening for my first Adelaide Festival of Arts commitment, the pincushion was finished - my idea of a great teaching/learning project.
I had had a great day, learned the skills of glueing papers and managing diamond corners - and ended up with a finished product.
I have given this pincushion to my granddaughter Niamh. She is 8 years old and has joined JEMS - the Junior Embroiderers' group. She has made me two pincushions but does not have one herself.
Niamh's take on this? "If you don't want to be a Nana you have to stick your pins into one of these, otherwise you stick them in lounges and things".
Oh dear, I'm very much guilty as charged I'm afraid!
I decided to turn a couple of mine into pinwheels.
