Pincushions as Wall Art

Does anyone out there enjoy ironing? Seriously, if ironing is your happy place, I'm a little concerned. I have to admit that ironing is one of those chores that I put off for as long as possible, then once I've been steaming and pressing away for about 20 minutes, all of a sudden I'm in the zone. I listen to the TV -- Rizzoli & Isles, Law and Order SVU, Grey's Anatomy -- and breathe in the steam and lovely fragrance of spray starch. First you couldn't pay me to iron ... next thing you know, I'm ironing everything in the house.

This go round, I started with table runners, a couple of blouses, fabric squares to embroider on and aprons that I wear at work. I do love my Black & Decker iron!

I was able to give my daughter her happy little house pincushion over the weekend. She said she'd like to hang it in her workspace so I stitched a loop of ribbon onto the back. Then I decided I wanted to be able to hang mine as well. I like that I can enjoy it as artwork on the wall but take it down and use it as a pincushion if I need it. She sent me a photo of her pincushion hanging at work. And here's a picture of mine hanging in my craft studio over the thread rack.

Once I had some little fabric squares ironed, I was ready to trace the design for the Garden Delight Needle Book from Patchwork Loves Embroidery. I used painter's tape to hang the printout on the back door glass, taped the fabric square to that, then traced away with a water soluble pen.

I'm a big fan of jewel tones and rich colors and this little piece of fabric in my stash is just begging to be made into a snazzy little needle book. The print has a black background featuring flowers, vines and leaves in burgundy, pink, green and metallic gold. Matched some embroidery floss to it for the design.

I really enjoy hand-embroidering in the evenings while watching TV with hubby. Peaceful!

So many projects, never enough time ...