Happy Valentine's Day! I have been wanting to create something Valentine-y. I like special quilts to celebrate each holiday, but I just ran out of time to make a pink and red quilt. But I HAD to do something! And so, pincushion to the rescue! The little pins are by the fabulous Annie at Pinks and Needles.

I raided my stash for reds and pinks, and came up with an assortment of Lori Holt, Pam Kitty Morning, Atsuko Matsuyama and Flower Sugar. I had to take a quick pic of my scrappy mess.

I've never made a pincushion. See, I'm just not that creative with my sewing machine. If you've read my about me page, you'll know that I don't do zippers or darts or sleeves... And yet, a pincushion has been on my wish list for awhile. This little pineapple cushion was made with a paper pieced pattern from the January/February 2012 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine. Except that theirs was in country colors. That's so not me. But I could imagine it in my Grey Dogwood colors.

Yes, I'm a bit of a sloppy paper piecer! But I do use my little wooden presser all along the way, and I'm careful to trim all of my seams down to a scant quarter inch to reduce bulk.

Ok, so I gotta tell you a funny story about the filling. It's stuffed with crushed walnut shells. They give it a nice weight. I got that little trick from Miss Pretty By Hand. But you know where to buy crushed walnut shells? In the pet store. In the reptile bedding section. Yes, next to snakes and lizards. I love turtles. Snakes terrify me. I tried to buy the shells online so that I could avoid seeing THEM. No luck. I had to visit 4 pet stores to find it! Each time, I walked into the reptile section keeping my eyes to the ground so as to not make eye contact with the snakes. And now I am the proud owner of a 5 quart bag of reptile bedding.

Hummm, I wonder if any snakes need a pincushion?! 'Cause I could make a jumbo, 5 quart pincushion!