Bitty Bowl of Pins Tutorial Part 3 & 4

Part 3 of the Bitty Bowl of Pins Tutorial.

Let's begin by cutting a 3/8" strip of silver metal.

The metal is a bit heavier than heavy tinfoil.

I just used a ruler and one of my older blades.

It cuts easily with no problem at all.

Then cut the 3/8" strip into 2" lengths.

Find the letter stamps for P, I, N, and S .

Line them up and tap letters on stamp pad and then stamp on a sticky note. This will be your stamping guide. Line the metal up with the stamped letters on the sticky note so that the letters fall in the center of the metal as seen in the picture below.

Now take the first letter P and lightly tap the top of the metal stamp with a hammer. You really don't have to hit very hard as the metal is very soft. You can practice on a piece of scrap metal to get a feel for how hard you will want to hit the the metal stamp. Continue the process with the remaining 3 letters, I, N, and S.

Using your rotary cutter (with an old blade) cut just a snippet of metal off each corner at an angle.

You have two choices for the metal rivots on each side of the PINS letters. On the original pincushion I used silver brads and an 1/8" hole punch as seen in the picture below.

Or you can use the a silver iRock gems. They are attached using the heated application tool as seen in the picture below.

The letters are made black by filling in each letter with a sharpie pen. Then rub off any excess with a scrap of batting.

Attach mini glue dots to the back of the metal sign.

Now attach the metal PINS sign to the porcelain bowl

Press and rub edges to mold the metal to the bowl.

Bitty Bowl of Pins Tutorial Part 4

Consists of gluing the pincushion into the bowl.

I used hot glue and applied it to the inside of the porcelain bowl and then pushed the fabric pincushion into the glue and did any quick adjusting before the glue set. Hold your hand over the pincushion and firmly hold in place until the bowl cools off.

Your Pincushion is now complete!

I do hope you enjoyed this little adventure with me.

Have a great week!

Here are the Links for Part 1 & 2

Bitty Bowl of Pins Tutorial Part 1 :The Supply List

Bitty Bowl of Pins Tutorial Part 2 : Making the Pincushion

Bitty Bowl of Pins Tutorial Part 2

Here is Part 2 of the Bitty Bowl of Pins Tutorial. I hope you were able to locate the supplies to make this little project. Remember though that you can use any fabric to make this pincushion.

I will have to make a few pincushions out of other fabrics to inspire you.

Well let's get started.

Here's a picture of what you'll need.

Cut your piece of fabric to measure 4.5"x9.5"

Fold the short ends (5") together.

Sew right sides together using a 1/4" seam allowance.

Press the seams open.

Pull a length of quilting thread from the spool measuring about 36" long.

Thread needle and knot one end.

Measure down a 1/4" and sew a running stitch around one raw edge of the fabric.

Pull the running stitch tight to pull the fabric in.

Wrap the thread around the gathered fabric.

Secure the thread, tie a knot, and cut the end of the thread.

Turn fabric right side out.

This will become the top of your pincushion.

Stand it up.

Here's a view looking in.

Fold the top edge down 1/2" and press.

Sew another running stitch close to the top edge of fold line.

Pour in a generous 1/2 cup of crushed walnut shells.

Put in a little stuffing to prevent the crushed walnuts from leaking out.

Pull running stitch tight.

This is the point that you will make any adjustments to how full and

how tight you want your pincushion.

You don't want it too tight because you need to mold it to fit into your bowl.

Just take out or add to it before you sew up the end.

Sew opening closed by criss crossing the thread from side to side across the pincushion.

Secure thread, knot, and cut off the end of the thread.

Cut off a piece of crochet thread measuring about 20"

Thread a long needle matching ends of thread.

Insert needle at bottom of pincushion pushing through to the top.

Then thread through one side of a two hole button and then through the other side of button and down again into the pincushion and out through the bottom of the pincushion.

Tie 2-3 knots in your crochet thread then cut tails within about an inch of knots. You may place a bit of glue on the knot to keep it secured. Do not cinch your thread too tightly as you will want a bit of give when you smush it in your bitty little bowl.

Turn it over to see your finished pincushion.

I've made two pincushions, so far.

Don't they look cute together?

Click HERE to go to the

Bitty Bowl of Pins Tutorial Part 1- Supply List

Click HERE to go to the

Bitty Bowl of Pins Tutorial Part 3 & 4-

Stamping the Metal and Finishing the Bitty Bowl of Pins

Coming Soon!

Bitty Bowl of Pins Tutorial Part 1

Thanks Everyone for all of your positive responses on wanting a tutorial for the Bitty Bowl of Pins. I thought I'd break up the tutorial into sections and start first with the supplies you'll need to make it.

I thought you might want to see a picture of it being held in my daughters hands so you could get an idea of the proportion of the bowl. It's smaller than you think.

Part One:

Supply List for Bitty Bowl of PINS

Just for your information. . . I tend to have all the supplies I need on hand whenever I start creating things but on occasion I still get to go to the craft store to find what I need for a project I'm working on.

Please remember. . . I've been collecting craft and sewing stuff for years and years. I just don't want you to feel bad or feel obligated to go out and spend money on something you may not use again. I'm just including the links to purchase any of the items you need to make the pincushion look exactly like mine.

Supplies:

• 1 Mini Bowl from Crate & Barrel

I bought my Mini Bowls at Crate & Barrel. Here's the LINK to buy it online if you don't have a store near you. These are the dimensions of the bowl: 1.75 oz. 3" diameter x 1.875" height.

Cost: $1.95

• 5" x 9.5" piece of fabric for the pincushion

I used fabric from the "Sew Happy" collection by Monaluna for Robert Kaufman which is now out of print, but if you do some looking around on the internet you may be able to find it. I did some looking and found it HERE. It's expensive, but you may be able to find it for less, so keep looking and I would recommend that if you LOVE it then you should buy it. . . NOW! It also comes in black.

Cost: $10.50 a yard

• Crushed Walnut Shells for pincushion filler

I bought it at a local pet store but you can buy it here at AMAZON You can also use Silica Sand which many quilt stores are carrying for quilters but, you can also buy it in quantity at a place like Home Depot.

Cost: $5.48

• AMACO ArtEmboss Soft Metal Sheets 9 1/4" x 12"

I bought mine at a local Craft Store. Here's the online link to AMACO for the Aluminum Sheet #50067S (medium weight)

Cost: $7.29

• 1/8" Metal Letters & Numbers Stamps from Harbor Freight

I bought my set at a local hardware store and my set only came with letters.

Cost: $7.99 (currently on SALE)

• 2.5"x2.5" Bench Block

If you're going to be doing metal stamping I would recommend you purchase a Bench Block or if you have an ANVIL handy, I'm sure that will work but, I bought my Bench Block from Beaducation. It helps the metal letter stamps give a nice clean impression on any metal surface. P.S. They also have a variety of metal letters and shapes. They also provide a Beginning Stamper Checklist that you might want to check out HERE.

Cost: $18.00

• Two Mini Silver Brads to make it look like the metal PINS label is permanent

I purchased my silver brads from a local Craft Store in the scrapbooking section

Cost: less than $3-5.00

• Glue Dots for glueing on the Metal PINS label.

I purchased my glue dots from a local Craft Store in the scrapbooking section

Cost: less than $5.00

Upcoming Tutorials for the Bitty Bowl of PINS. . .

• Part Two: Making the Fabric Pincushion
• Part Three: Stamping the Metal
• Part Four: Putting It All Together

Itty Bitty Bowl of Pins

Just thought I'd pop in to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day and to show you the sweet little red pincushion that I recently created and made for my RED PINS. I was thinking of doing a little tutorial for anyone who might be interested. Just leave me a comment if you'd like to know details on how to make an Itty Bitty Bowl of Pins for yourself.

I'm calling it my "Itty Bitty Bowl of Pins" because it's an itty bitty bowl that I found and I love anything that's itty bitty. I use to collect really small things when I was a kid. Just a side note... do any of you remember the original Pet Shop Pets? Well, my girls and I LOVED them and somehow I've held onto a few of the original Pet Shop Pets. I have them hidden away from my grand daughter who would adore them and then lose them. lol.

Bitty Bowl of Pins. . .

Remember to leave me a comment if you're interested in a tutorial.

Chair Makeover

One summer day I happened across this really cute chair while shopping at our local Deseret Industries (thrift store). I walked by this chair and it immediately caught my eye. I looked at the price tag and was a little surprised at the cost but loved it so much that I continued to look it over.

Lots of thoughts went through my head as I stood there.

Thoughts like. . .

"Where am I going to put it?

"Do I have room in my already crowded sewing room?"

"My husband is going to laugh at me and think I'm crazy."

Lol. . . I loved that chair so much that I didn't really care what he may think and when other ladies started looking at the chair I showed an attachment to it besides, when they saw the price of $25 they moved on anyway.

It had lots of scratches on it and was missing the lower spindle between the two sets of legs so, I probably paid too much for it but, every time I go to Deseret Industries I see ugly chairs so when I saw this one I just had to snatch it up. I'm really happy that I didn't leave it behind especially after I painted it!!!! Keep scrolling and you'll see why I love it so much!

I knew immediately what color I wanted to paint it!

Any guesses? lol.

Yes!

It was Definitely. . .

RED!!

CHERRY RED to be EXACT. . .

And here are the awesome results of the make over.

Isn't she pretty?

Here's a look at the missing spindle.

But, I don't mind it so much.

It's such a pretty red when sitting in the shade.

My Cherry Red Chair looks totally awesome in my newly Remodel Sewing Room which I will be showing you really soon once I get the special quilt for my room back from the quilter and get the binding on it and I also, just need to finish the curtains too and then I'll be ready to take pictures and show it off.

Remember that flood we had in the basement before Thanksgiving and Christmas? Well, my husband surprised me with a makeover for my sewing room.

I'm sure you know that if you give a quilter new flooring for her sewing room that you're going to have to have new paint to go along with it, and. . . new curtains, and . . . a new quilt, and. . . and. . . I was hoping for a new Red Horizon sewing machine too but, that will just have to wait I'm afraid.

Anyway, I'm super excited to share it all with you in the not too distant future.

Mrs. Bitty Bits Cherry Red Chair.

I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas!

The photo was taken by me and is a picture of an ornament that hung on my mother's tree for many years and now hangs on my tree. It's one of those cherished ornaments that reminds me of my mother and the many wonderful Christmas memories from my childhood.

May you have peace and joy in the New Year!

Front Cover News

Many of my quilting and blogging friends have been receiving their February 2012 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine and noticed that my quilt is on the FRONT COVER. I was hoping to do this post before it hit the stands but heck, that's been my life of late. I seem to be several steps behind in a lot of things.

First, I want to tell you how much I appreciate the sweet notes I've been getting. It's like receiving a SWEET GIFT each time a little note pops up in my mailbox. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! It really brightens my day : )

Every time I look at the magazine I think. . . WOW!!! I really made that!! WOW!!!

It's been a hard secret to keep and I'm super excited to finally be able to talk about it.

It all started when I took a few quilts to Spring Market earlier this year and I had the opportunity to talk to a few Magazine Editors. I was really nervous but they were delightful and easy to talk to. It was fun sharing some of the things I'd been working on and they actually bought two of my quilts right then and there. Wow! Super exciting!! I could hardly believe it!

Anyway. . .

I love making scrappy quilts so I decided to design a quilt that would use a lot of the fabric I have in my stash of 30's reproduction fabrics. It's borderline hoarding, probably, maybe. . . but, don't quote me on that. I also love all of the new fabrics that are always coming out so, I decided that I would mix the OLD with the NEW and make a very SCRAPPY quilt.

If you look closely at the quilt in the magazine and the pictures of the fabrics I used you will see some pretty old fabric. I've been collecting Aunt Gracie fabrics and other reproduction prints for many years. You will also see a lot of newer fabrics from some of my favorite designers like. . . Sandy Klop from American Jane, Lori Holt from Bee in My Bonnet, Monica from Happy Zombie, Flower Sugar Fabrics by Lecien, Amanda Herring from Quilted Fish, Denise Schmidt's recent collections, and lots of other designer's too.

I really wanted to give the quilter the ability to use their stash but also allow them to go shopping. Who wouldn't want to have some of the newest cutest fabrics in their scrap quilt? It was VERY HARD for me to STOP buying fabric. I kept telling myself, “Ooooh! Wouldnʼt this be cute? I have to have a bit of this!” I actually used over 150+ fabrics in this quilt. I hope you have fun playing with your stash and adding the newest cutest fabrics to your quilt.

Here's a picture of some of the fabrics I used.

Here's a view of the multiple HST's I made for the quilt.

Just so you know I did make about (8) 15" x 15" design boards to layout and plan each and every quilt block for this quilt. I like to call it "Organized Chaos" because I wanted the quilt to look esthetically pleasing yet have a totally random look I laid out 8 blocks at a time and would then sew them together. I also wanted all of the colors to be represented in each block.

Go HERE for Lori Holt's tutorial on how to make your own Mini Design Boards. I do need to let you know that I changed a few things. . . First I made my boards bigger and instead of using hot glue to adhere the batting I used spray adhesive on the back of the batting to adhere it to the foam board and lastly, I didn't make any binding for the 15" x 15" boards since that would be 60" of binding for just one design board and at that point I really didn't want take the time to make that much binding. I loved using the smaller and portable design boards to construct these and other blocks that I've made and I know you'll love them too.

Little Flooding Update:

We spent the weekend moving stuff out of one bedroom to the next so that we could paint. Now we have to move things out of the last bedroom so it can be painted before Thursday. That's when the last of the carpet is being put in. Yeah! Then the Christmas decorating and clean up can begin. I'm hoping by the end of the week I can get the tree decorated, the bedrooms put back together, and the curtains hung. My daughter and her BF come on the 21st. We are excited for the festivities to begin.