Needles and Pins

Sometimes you just fall totally in love with a design, and this is one that I have fallen head over heals in love with.  You know that feeling, don't you?!! I suppose that's rather appropriate since it is almost valentines day!

 Here's the design I'm talking about...

I love the soft colours and the slightly old fashioned look about the design. Needles and Pins is one of a set of three designs that I have for sale  at www.TangledThreadsOnline.com. The three charts cost just $3 (approx £2) that's less than the price of a cup of coffee! Anyway, on to what I have made using this design.

For those of you with a deep rooted fear of sewing using sharp needles, this project is for you! This would make the perfect Mother’s Day gift, which isn’t too far off by the way! (March 14^th in the UK and May 8^th for those living in the US, not sure about dates for the rest of the world.) Start now and you’ll be done and dusted well in time to sit back, relax and watch others scampering round trying to find a Mother’s day gift as perfect as this…..

Every time I have seen these cubes, I always loved them but thought they would be too complicated for me to make....but I was wrong! They are super easy and look adorable. Here's how I made this one.

For this project you will need-

Stitched piece ( Needleblocks chart from www.TangledThreadsOnline).com

Iron-on interfacing

Foam cube

Batting

Pins

Co-ordinating fabric ( a' fat quarter' will be more than enough for this project)

Ribbon

Glue

Taking your foam cube, cut a square of batting  the same size as the front of the cube and glue in place (of course, I got so carried away making this that I forgot to take pictures of every step) Iron the interfacing onto the back of your stitching.  Place your design centrally over the batting covered part of the cube, and pin in place. For this design I used an 89 x 89 x 69 cube so the edge of the cube was two squares from the edge of the stitching.

I ironed a crease down the edges to make it easier to keep it centralized and also to keep the edges looking neat.

Once pinned in place, fold the edges over neatly like a Christmas present or the old fashioned hospital corners on bed sheets! (Who remembers them?!!)

Push the pins in all the way so that they are flush with the aida (unlike the one in the picture that is sticking out slightly!) These pins will be covered with material so won't be seen. Remove the pins from the front of the cube.

Cut a square of the co-ordinating fabric large enough to cover the back of the foam square and to fold over approx. 2.5 cm (1”)  on each side of the cube.

Make sure you iron out any creases in the fabric!

Cover the back of the square in the same way you did with the front. I used the opposite side of the cube for the folded edges to stop it from becoming too bulky.

Cut a strip of fabric approx. 2.5cm (1”) wider than the width of the cube and long enough to wrap around the cube with approx 1cm extra. Carefully iron the folded edges of the strip to neaten. This strip of fabric should now be the width of the cube.

Starting on the underside of the cube, pin the fabric strip in place and the wrap around the sides of the cube.

Pin carefully when you get back to the start, folding the edge over to form a neat edge.

You can place the pins inside the folded edge although since it’s on the base they won’t be seen.

All that’s left to do now is tie a ribbon all around the cube and finish with as big and fancy a bow as you want (or can make!)

If you feel the ribbon is too fussy, then there are lots of other ways to finish off the cube. There are plenty of fancy trimming that you can buy from the craft store or an easy way is to add some quilters pins…these end up looking like a string of pearls on the edge of the cube and make it look totally different than with the ribbon and bow.

If you decide to finish your cube like this remember to do both the front and the back so that it doesn’t tip over!

So, for a few dollars (none of the individual items were expensive, I think the ribbon cost the most!) you can have a wonderful gift to give someone...or of course, you could keep it for yourself!!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona