Moda Sliced Pincushion Challenge

Well, would you like to know a good way to distract yourself about pincushions? Make another, harder, more complicated pincushion! Give yourself about 12 hours to make it. Don’t use a pattern because you can’t. Oh and make sure that it is something that you’ve never done before…because otherwise it would be too easy. Run to the store AGAIN for supplies and to your mother’s house for some beads and a quick photo shoot….all the while trailing your two year old along with you.

But I think she was worth it. She? Why yes. Meet the Mermaid Lorelei.

Isn’t she sweet? She’s going to look perfect in my new sewing room we’re working on. Thank you to a few special friends who took an honest look at my first pincushion yesterday afternoon and encouraged me to step up my game a bit. It’s hard to create in a bubble. Hey, even on project runway they get Tim Gunn’s advice!

I did a similar technique on her face as I recently did on my mini quilt. People responded so well to that girl, I’m hoping you all like this one as well. She has her own ethereal look.

Lest you think she is not truly a pincushion, let me reassure you that she is fully functional. She is stuffed with a combination of poly fill and crushed walnut shells. So pins fit in her beautifully.

The challenge, to remind you all, was to make a pincushion using a jelly roll as our precut. We also needed to include rick rack and a button somewhere in the design. And any other fabric used in the design must be Moda fabric. And believe it or not, this little mermaid fits all of those criteria.

Her head, body and arms are all made from a Bella White Jelly Roll strip. That made for some tiny piecing, but I don’t need a large pincushion…so it worked well. Her arms are also made around pipe cleaners so that they have some shape to them and are bendable.

She has rick rack at her waist for scales and through out her hair. And those two star buttons are keeping everything properly in place. 😉

Her tail is made from an older line, although it looks an awful lot like one of the new pezzy prints. But this is from the original release I believe from the Peas and Carrots line by Sandy Klop.

Her hair was sooo fun and frustrating to work on. I won’t tel you how long I took to get that hair to look just so. But a couple of tv shows may have watched while I did. I had a lot of fun picking out the yarn yesterday at Joanns with Caitlyn in tow. She loved all the pretty “softs” and carried them around the store for me.  Ahh…two year olds!

So that’s my entry into the competition for this week.  I hope that I make it onto the next round, but I know that I’m proud of what I’ve made.  And once again, that is what truly matters.