52 Things to do with an old Shirt - #3 Make an Ozark pincushion

Rene' Riggan's applied felting class was the one class that
did not require a sewing machine.

We just wrapped up our Ozark Quilt Retreat for 2012. It was the best ever with 36 ladies in six classes -  quilting, talking and sharing fun!
I wanted to do something special for my Quilt Retreat teachers. It's February, so we are short on funds and there is a lot going on at work, so I am short on time. To top it off, we are starting into lambing and kidding time at home, so...
Now, I'm not a quilter myself, but both my parents are, and most of my friends are. They assure me that "Quilters collect pin cushions." Thinking that it was way beyond time to write another 52 things to do with an old shirt - I set out to design a pincushion for my quilting teachers.

Select a shirt from your box of old shirts.

 Silk and wool are a good combination for a pincushion. Together they will clean the pins and keep them from rusting. Silk shirts are comfortable to wear, but they do seem to wear out fast. I have a lot of them in my Shirts to Rework bag. Some just have stains or fading, others have tears. I pulled out one in very bright colors.

Gather shirt, scissors, wool, yarn, glue, a canning jar with
metal ring lid.

Cut out a square of the silk, about the siize of your hand. Cut a second section, a little smaller and irregular shaped is ok. You'll use that section to wrap the wool up into a ball. Then lay the square of silk top-side down on the table.Put your silk wrapped ball of wool in the center of the square.Pull the corners up and wrap a piece of yarn around them. Tie it tightly. Now you have something that looks kind of like a big shuttlecock for badminton.

Take an old ring of a canning jar lid and pull the tails of your silk ball through the ring. Put glue all around the top of the ring and mash the ball down into the ring.
Let it dry, then flip it over and trim the tails to make a cute rosette.
Put your pincushion lid on a clean pint canning jar and Voila' - you have an Ozark Pin Cushion.

Cut your outside wrapping piece a bit bigger than hand-sized.
Cut a second piece to wrap your wool in.

Thanks again to all the wonderful quilt ladies who gave me such a fun week!

Put your silk wrapped wool into the larger square of silk,
pull up the corners and tie with yarn.

Put any good, allpurpose glue on the top of the ring
lid and set it over the silk ball, with the tails coming
out the bottom. Mash it down so the glue sticks.
Trim the tails to make a neat rosette.

When the glue is dry, put the lid on the jar
and, you have your Ozark pincushion!