Hi Everyone!

I haven’t been here in awhile but I recently discovered afew tips and a really cool pin cushion project that I wanted to share with you.

First the needle.  I am noticing that it’s getting harder and harder to thread my machine needles.  The automatic threader doesn’t always do it’s job.  I discovered that if I put a little white piece of cardboard behind the machine needle, I can see the hole in the needle much better.  I actually cut off the end of the cardboard that comes with bias tape.  Be sure to keep it small so it will fit behind the needle.

If you are into making your own patterns, a really inexpensive paper to use are the end rolls from newspapers.  When they print newspapers, they do not print all the way to the end of the roll.  They get rid of what’s left & start a fresh roll.  These are called end rolls.  It is clean newspaper paper without any print, etc.  If you call your local paper, they can tell you where you can get them free or just afew dollars a roll.  These rolls will last you along time.

And finally, the pin cushion.  Like alot of you, I have alot of pins that I use for sewing.  I really wanted a larger pin cushion–one that would hold alot especially the big quilting pins.  I took this minature hat box, about 4″ in diameter & 3″ deep and made a matching liner out of the same color as the box.  Mine is a Red Hat box so the lining is red.  I filled the liner with clean sand and sewed the opening in the lining completely.  I placed the liner filled with sand in the box and it works great!  Because the sand is fluid, it will mold to whatever shape your box is.  The pins are easy to put in or remove.  Be sure to use only pins with heads on them.  The top of the box has a little pin cushion that I use for sewing needles.  It also works great as a fabric weight!

Happy sewing!

Terry