Four Patch Pincushion

What does one do when they have lots they should do? Make a pincushion. It's not like I started another huge project that ate up the entire day and it really came under the heading of cleaning up because I used some left over pieces, that were already pieced, that I came across while looking through scraps while contemplating yet another scrap quilt. This while listening to some news show on TV where they were discussing how some municipalities are banning leaf blowers. I sure wish my town would jump on that. Of course I was listening to leaf blowers while the program was on. I don't get it, winds predicted to be 30 mph today and people are out there blowing their leafs. I'm just watching mine blow away.

So I took the four patch, lined it with some sheet sewing around the edge 1/8", found some more of the yellow fabric and cut it out the same size as the 4 patch, lined it, sewed em together leaving a small opening, turned it inside out, filled it with ground walnut shells, and then blind stitched the opening and sewed two buttons on in the center. Use a long sturdy needle for the buttons. Sewing the sheet to the pieces first and then sewing them faces together makes it so you are only dealing with the face fabrics when you slip stitch and my guess is walnut shell dust won't be coming through the fabric because it's lined and has to work through two layers.

And as for walnut shells, the prices some people charge is ridiculous. You can get walnut shells, in bags at your local pet store. They sell it for birds and lizard cages. You can get enough to do a gazillion pincushions for about $7.00. Or you can but it on Ebay or Etsy, or your local quilt shop for around $3.00 a cup. My bag had 5 quarts = 20 cups.