So much for the Christmas decorations!

The plan for my “free time” today was to clear the house of Christmas decorations. And I was getting somewhere on the job- honest. Then, I took this ornament off of the tree.

A mitten, made by my talented – she puts me to shame!- sister-in-law, adorned with paper pieced tulips. That brought to mind my friend Rhonda and her husband Tony- they would love those tulips.  THEN, I thought (I know, I know.  My mind works in mysterious ways.  Even I am astounded at the circular route it takes!) Anyways, I thought of a Twitter message  whoops can’t say that- I swore off Twitter didn’t I!   I was reminded of an  email that I recieved ( I get them both ways!)  from Sew,what’s new.com about sewing a wristlet pincushion.    I am on a pincushion craze right now. I also can’t understand why I can never ever, ever find any straight pins in this house.  Do the cats eat them?  Hope not!  That, however,  is another story altogether.

Back to this story.  I decided to meld the two ideas together and came up with this uber cute little thing…

After reading the directions from the website,  and making my own wristcushion as a prototype, I decided that a few alterations to the pattern would make this a “make in 15 minutes” little project.  Assuming of course that you don’t have to draft a paperpieced tulip while you are making supper.  And assuming that you don’t have to gather up all the cute little vintage pillowcase scraps left over from making starting a baby quilt.  And assuming you don’t look at the quilt blocks and decide to sew up just  a few more sashing pieces.  Then screwing up because the last row didn’t need sashing.  Then…

To make a long story short(er), this project actually got done! 

A quick rundown on what I did. 

1.  Cut a  rectangle of fabric- or do what I did and embellish with other fabrics. Mine was 4 inches by 14 inches.  The tutorial that is on the website above suggests 5 by 15.  Do whatever you want!  I won’t be looking over your shoulder!

2.  Fold in half lengthwise and stitch across one end and down the long side. 

3.  Turn and press.  

4.  Find  the center.  Measure out 1.5 inches each way from the centre and mark.  Stitch across ONE of these lines.

5.  Stuff.  I used clipping from Kate’s diapers- not HERS, but you get the idea.  ( and also not done!) Bamboo fleece and absorbant liner stuff.  It was handy and actually in the garbage can, but it looked like it would work!   If you are picky about what you use, feel free to use emery, steel wool, pencil shavings  or whatever is right for you.  Me, I am not that picky!
Stuff it pretty tightly, and pack it in so that you can stitch across the other marked line.

6.Make sure it fits your wrist, and add the velcro.  Best to use your noggin when figuring out where the loop and hook parts go.  Elsewise you will be “frogging it “ for sure!

A close of  the tulip.  Please ignore the unmatched spots.  I was trying to hurry!  There are some colour issues with this photo for sure!

And on my wrist.

No more pins lying in wait for unsuspecting male feet to step on.  Well, in theory anyways!  It will be in the mail to my good friend, as soon as I find her address! 

It’s a good thing that I am taking the tree down.  I found a present that I forgot to give,  hanging on a  branch in a Nash Jeweller’s bag.  Young Miss Leah didn’t make it home from Alberta for Christmas, so I gave her presents when I was out there for her birthday, and sent some in the mail AND gave some to her boyfriend to take back.  But I forgot this one.  A sweet little bracelet made out of a fork.  As an added bonus, I was supporting a local artist.  Apparently these were hot, hot, hot in the London area this season.  So Leah, if I can’t get it to your boy before he returns, get ready to visit your favourite post office!

Time to get back to the Christmas Tree the dismantling of anything remotely Christmas themed!