Pages

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Graph Paper QAL: The Pincushion Project

Far, Far Away Pincushion by Fabric Mutt from tutorial by S.O.T.A.K. Handmade

Our first small project for the Graph Paper Quilt Along is an absolutely adorable pincushion by my talented friend Svetlana of S.O.T.A.K. Handmade. This little beauty uses 1 1/2" squares and a brilliant piecing method first devised by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson! I used scraps from the original Far, Far Away collection by Heather Ross for my version, and I'm completely in love with the results. You'll find the full tutorial complete with photos and all directions here.

Far, Far Away Pincushion by Fabric Mutt from tutorial by S.O.T.A.K. Handmade

This project is perfect for fussy cutting your tiniest pieces of treasured fabric.The only square that I quilted on mine is the one with the little princess shoes which I framed in gold Aurifil thread. I also added a piece of ruler twill tape for the loop on the side and backed it in more of this velvety soft cotton gauze.

Far, Far Away Pincushion by Fabric Mutt from tutorial by S.O.T.A.K. Handmade

Every time I look at this pincushion, I want to hug it. That's normal, right? Be sure to check out Svetlana's tutorials page for more great patchwork projects. She has a bright, colorful style that I just adore!

If you're working on a quilt for our event, it's time to start cutting out your squares! For those of you who are new to quilting or who just want a refresher course, I highly recommend taking a peek at this post by Jacquie Gering  for Sew, Mama, Sew! on prepping and cutting your fabric. It's a good reminder to me to change out that rotary cutter blade every so often. I'm terrible about that...

Next Monday I'll have a blog link up here so that you can share your versions of the pincushion as well as progress on your quilts. If you're on Instagram, you can also tag your pictures with #graphpaperqal. I can't wait to see what you're making!

9 comments:

  1. Super cute, love all those tiny squares!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is so cute. Svetlana has the best tutorials! What did you fill it with? I need to make a new pincushion because my old one was filled with batting scraps and it was really difficult to stick pins in it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You stole my brain parts! I decided to make a tiny 16 patch, finish at 4" yesterday morning!! It's going to be a coaster though, AND I'd completely forgotten the interfacing trick. So happy for the perfect timing, and that I'll have something to link up to your QAL. Love the idea, but wasn't sure I'd ever manage to be in the right place at the right time with it (having some mad granny squares thoughts though, so we'll see!). :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Adorable, Heidi! I need another QAL like I need another hole in my head, but I can't resist - I adore the appeal of the graph paper grid too much and I have the perfect small patchwork project I need to tackle this month, so I'm in! : )

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for sharing the link to the tutorial. I made an audible OH! noise when I read it. Now, where did I put that interfacing.......

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think it would be great to make a pillow version of this with the same color for it looks really cute but first I need to make a pin cushion first good thing I still have some scrap Dressmaking Fabric.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I had to clear out some other projects before I could try this. I have tons of 1 1/2" squares for leader/ender blocks, but have never tried the interfacing idea. OMG! Perfect corners and no stress. I like to use crushed walnut shells in my pincushions and I think the interfacing is a great extra layer to keep everything in. Picture in the Flickr group soon.

    ReplyDelete

Aren't you the sweetest for leaving a comment! Due to all the ads that bombard this section, I have to moderate everything first, but look for your comment to post in a day or two. Thanks so much for writing!