When did the red tomato pin cushion become iconic?At left is a photo of my new, felted wool pin cushion. I balanced it on edge so you could read its cute little label, but when sitting on its bottom, it's actually egg-shaped and looks rather like a short-haired Tribble.
At one time these were commonly found at quilt shows. I longed for one but when I finally decided I could afford it, they were no longer to be found. It finally occurred to me to search online and I bought this one on eBay from this eBay seller. It's so cute, and the lanolin in the wool is supposed to be good for your pins. I haven't had a pin cushion in years. When my previous red tomato wore out I bought a new one at JoAnne's, but the glue holding on its leafy green top was so thick that I couldn't poke a pin through it. So it was essentially useless. My pins slide into this wool one as if into butter.
Instructions for making your own are here, but there's no way I'd ever actually do it. And although I bought mine on eBay, I've since discovered that they are also available at Brush Hollow Studio. (Caveat: I've never ordered anything from them, so consider this as information rather than an endorsement.)
2 comments:
I have a pin cushion like yours and use it regularly. I have lots and lots of pin cushions - quite a collection and I enjoy looking at them all, although I only actually use a few.
Which pincushions do you actually use most?
Before I got this one I used a Blue Willow saucer which is very easy to use when you're taking pins out of something. You just drop the pins into it. But it's hard to pick pins up out of it without stabbing yourself.
Actually, I have several different kinds of pins depending on what I'm sewing. I could see using a different cushion for each kind of pins. (Right now I just keep them in boxes.
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