Sewing Room Swap...

After all the challenges and guild projects that we've completed in the past year, the Boston Modern Quilt Guild decided to throw a Sewing Room Swap so that we could make little gifts to treat each other and prettify our sewing spaces! From our blind signup, I drew Jen of A Quilting Jewel.  The only item on her wishlist was a thread catcher basket that you could hang off a sewing table or ironing board.  No colors were given, but Jen is a big fan of rich jewel tones (hence the blog name :)).

When I went on a bit of a fabric binge during the winter doldrums, I found this super cute Kokka fat quarter that I thought would be novel and charming enough to feature in the swap item.  I pulled a few other jewel tones that popped up in the print to complement it and went searching for a good pattern to use!

I scored big when I found a free tutorial (circa 2009) on Sew Mama Sew by Elizabeth Hartman for a combination pincushion and thread catcher!  As always, her patterns are super easy to follow and always have an impeccable finish.

The pincushion is filled with Polyfill but also weighted down with an inner pocket of rice so that it can sustain the weight of the basket and any accessories that you put in the organizing pocket.  It has a felt strip on the top so that you can easily separate your needles from your pins.

The hanging pocket is sewn right into the bottom of the pincushion and sits perfectly on the top of your ironing board, on your sewing table or even on the arm of a couch if you're doing handwork!  See that little button loop? That's where you can attach your thread catcher if you want it hanging!

Or you can just keep it on your desktop.

Sorry that I couldn't be at the meeting to give it to you in person Jen, but at least I'm glad that you got it before the big swap day!  Hope that you enjoy it and it catches lots of jewelicious scraps! :)