How to sew the cutest coasters in less than 15 minutes...

We all have tons of fabric scraps left over from our sewing projects right? 
That's why I love quick little projects to use all these cuties.
Here is one, that you will love and actually use as well.

Materials needed: ( for one coaster)
​finished size: 5" circle
- 9 x 2" squares
- fusible batting 5"x 5"
- 1 piece of fabric for the back 5"x 5"
- binding strip ( bias cut, that's important! ) 18"x 1.5"
- If you want to make these coasters water proof, iron on some vinyl ( heat n bond)
before or after you quilt them ( note: the ones here are without vinyl). 

Before you start:
Read the instructions carefully
Seam allowance is always 1⁄4” unless mentioned otherwise.

Instructions:

1. Cut out all your fabrics and batting as mentioned above.

2. Sew your 9 squares together.
​Here is a quick video on how to piece these squares successfully.

3. Iron on the fusible batting and place on back piece of fabric wrong sides together. 
Then quilt the square to your liking.
If you want to make these coasters water proof, iron on some vinyl ( Heat 'n Bond) before you quilt them .

4. Draw a circle on your quilted square and cut it out 

5. Fold over the beginning of your binding strip 1/4" and then clip, pin ore clue your binding strip in place, along the outer edge of your circle.
​Stitch along the outer edge with 1/4" seam allowance.

6. Fold over your binding to the back and fold it under 3/8" as shown in photo 1,
photo 2 shows the coaster from the front. 

7. Now stitch binding in place from the front. Or hand stitch from the back, which ever way you prefer. It's super easy with the machine.... I feel good :-)

Here we go, all done...
What do you think? Easy and cute, right?

Happy coaster sewing.....

This adorable little lunch bag set or picnic set consists of three vinyl lined snack bags and a small patchwork tablecloth.
This is a fun set for this upcoming summer picnic season.
We might not be able to go to restaurants any time soon, but we will be able to go for picnics. 
This is the perfect excuse to sew something cute for ourselves, don't you think?

Each little snack bag or lunch bag has a cute and most importantly easy to sew heart 
in the front. 
I added a simple running stitch row to the heart for extra cuteness. But you could also embroider the lunch bag owners name or a sweet message, in case you want to gift these cuties. 
How about a subtle 'I love you' ? 

I used iron on vinyl for the lining of these snack bags. It's super practical and easy to use.
You can use any kind of quilting cotton fabric and just iron on the vinyl.
The one I used here is from Heat n Bond.
This way you can wipe the inside easily. And just in case something spills, your outside bag and everything else is protected.

There are three sizes in this picnic/ lunch bag set. Enough options for all sorts of snacks, fruits and sandwiches.
And to complete this adorable little set and to use up the scraps you have left over from sewing the bags, I added a small table cloth to the pattern.
The size is 21"x 21" and perfect for a short picnic at the motorway service station when on a road trip, or when hiking, to enhance your mountain view even more.
Are you ready for a picnic?  
Let me know what you think about this easy to sew little set in the comments.

Mindfulness featuring Buddha and the eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism,
is a new quilt pattern I designed these past few months.
I hope it helps and inspires you. And maybe helps you navigate easier through these special times.

Buddha and the eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism...
The eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism can be traced back to ancient India where Buddhism originated.
Some of these eight symbols are also associated with ancient royal rituals in India such as coronations of kings. Today, the eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism are closely related to Buddha or Dharma.
Dharma is an important Hindu or Buddhist concept, referring to a law that governs the universe. Although there is no single-word English translation, a close adaption
​is 'right way of living'.
​These symbols represent the offerings that were made to Buddha by the gods when he achieved enlightenment.

Why are these eight Buddhist symbols called 'auspicious'?
Auspicious means, giving or being a sign of future success.
​And that's exactly what these symbols represent,
they are symbols that are helpful for success and prosperity.
These eight symbols are often seen in many holy altars in front of a Buddha statue
or mural.
They also serve as focal points of meditation and contemplation, so if you want a better future or if you want to grow deeper in your spirituality, it might help to make these symbols your focus.

Here are the eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism and their meanings: 
​
​1. The Lotus Flower

Thelotus flower symbolizes the complete purification of the body, mind and speech. 
Since the lotus flower is an aquatic plant with its roots in deep mud, but a blossom that rises above the muck and opens to the sun, beautiful and fragrant, it's no surprise that the lotus represents the clarity of enlightenment.

2. The Conch Shell

The conch shell has long been used as a battle horn in Asia. In ancient India the conch also represented the Brahmin caste. 
In Buddhism the conch shell represents the sound of Dharma, reaching far and wide to awaken the human beings from their slumber of ignorance.  
Dharma, which derives from a Sanskrit root word meaning 'to uphold or sustain'.
The concept behind Dharma is anything that produces or keeps a positive order. 
The conch shell symbolizes the need to accomplish one own and others wellbeing.

3. The Precious Parasol

Theprecious parasol is a symbol of royal dignity and protection of the sun.
In Buddhism the precious parasol represents the wholesome protection from illness and suffering in general. 

4. The Treasure Vase 

The treasure vase is filled with precious sacred things, but no matter how much is taken out, it's always full.
It symbolizes a long life and prosperity.

5. The Eternal Knot

The eternal or endless knot represents Buddha's endless wisdom and eternal harmony.
It's a symbol for the endless cycle of suffering, birth and rebirth. As well as the inter-twining of wisdom and compassion.

6.The Victory Banner

The victory banner symbolizes the victory over obstacles and negativities and the fear of death.
More generally it represents the victory of wisdom over ignorance . 
There is a legend, that Buddha raised the victory banner over Mount Meru to mark his victory over all phenomenal things.

7. The Dharma Wheel 

The dharma wheel is one of the most well known symbols of Buddhism.
The wheel has eight spokes, representing the Eightfold path.
The Dharma wheel, according to tradition, was first turned when Buddha delivered his first sermon after his enlightenment.
It symbolizes the turning of Buddha's teachings, which enables humans to experience joy and liberation.

8. The Golden Fish

The golden fish were originally the symbol for the rivers Ganges and Yamuna.
They came to represent over time the good fortune in most Asian religions. 
In Buddhism the golden fish symbolize happiness as they have complete freedom of movement in the water.

And here is the whole Mindfulness quilt with all the eight symbols surrounding Buddha.
What do you think? One can't go wrong with all the auspiciousness right?
It does present favorable circumstances and is showing signs of a favorable outcome,
​isn't it?​

Thank you so much to Riley Blake Designs for supplying the absolutely adorable 
Stardust fabric series designed by Beverly McCullough that I used
for this amazing project.
Also a huge thank you to Iva Steiner @schnigschnagquiltsandmore
for quilting this beautiful quilt. For more info on her services check out her Instagram.

Now lets explore MINDFULNESS a bit more.

Mindfulness is the human ability to be totally present and aware of where we are and what we're doing. It is the ability to not be overly reactive or overwhelmed by what's going on around us. We all own mindfulness, we just have to learn how to access it.

This past year has shown us, that our lives can be turned upside down easily from one day to another and there's little to nothing we can do about it.
And while we probably looked on the outside before, for comfort and fun, it's now more important than ever, to learn to be just content with what we have, and concentrate on our insides.

           Tweet this:​ Meditation can significantly reduce stress
​
Thats where mindfulness finds it's perfect place. Our minds go all over the place and we loose touch with our body and surroundings and sooner than we think we're stuck with obsessive thoughts about things that happened or we're anxious about the future.

Studies say that 8 out of 10 Americans ( or Europeans) experience stress in their daily lives
and therefore have a hard time calming their minds and bodies. This puts them at a high risk of numerous diseases among them being heart disease and stroke.
Mindful meditation, even for just 10 minutes per day, can make a huge difference.

This is why I added this Yoga Pillowcase pattern to my Buddha quilt pattern series.
It's an easy sewing pattern for a standard round Yoga pillow. 

Three facts about Mindfulness:
1. Anyone can do it You don't have to change your beliefs or anything like that. Everyone can benefit and it's easy to learn.
2. It's a proven practice You don't have to take mindfulness on faith. Both experience and science have proven its positive benefits on our health, work and over all wellbeeing.
3. Mindfulness is not exotic It's what we already do and what we already are. We just have to learn to come back to it more and more. Here are 6 helpful, mindful attitudes: 
     - non-judging,  - acceptance,  - patience,  - trust,  - letting-go,  - gratitude 

A great way to come back to our mindful attitudes and get unstuck is meditation.
What do you think? Something you would want to explore?
Or is it already something you practice regularly? Let me know ...

Materials needed: (all measurements are width x height)
 
​For the pillowcase top:
> 1 FPP Block of lotus flower in 8”x 8” size (unfinished 8.5”x 8.5”)
> 2 2 strips of fabric 3” x 8.5”
> 3 2 strips of fabric 3”x 13”
> 4 one piece of fusible interfacing 13” x13”
 
For the side panel:
> 1 2 strips of fabric 32.5” x 3”
> 2 2 pieces of fusible interfacing 32.5” x 3”
> 3 1 strip of fabric 7” x 5.5”
> 4 1 strip of fusible interfacing 7”x 5.5”
> 5 1 endless zipper + slider 24” length
> 6 2 pieces of fabric (for the handle) 2.5” x 6”
> 7 1 piece of fusible interfacing 2.5” x 6”
 
 For the bottom:
> 1 one piece of fabric for bottom of pillow 13” x 13”
> 2 one piece fusible interfacing 13” x 13”

Before you start:
Read the instructions carefully
Seam allowance is always 1⁄4” unless mentioned otherwise.
 
Instructions: 
 
1. Cut out all your fabrics as mentioned above.
 
2. Sew your lotus flower quilt block, it will measure 8.5” x 8.5”
 
3. Attach the side strips to your quilt block

​4. Draw a 13” diameter circle (or a 6.5” radius)

​5. Cut out a 13” diameter circle 

​6. Iron on fusible interfacing and quilt to your liking 

​7. Attach the fusible interfacing to the side strips of fabric ( 2x  32.5”x 3” and 1x 7”x 5.5”)
    Sew the endless zipper to the long sides of the two 32.5” x 3” strips of fabric. 
    And top stich along the zipper.

​  8. Stitch the 7”x 5.5” fabric to one end of the zipper part.
      Top stitch along the seam as well.

8. Lay the two pieces of fabric for the handle right sides together and attach fusible 
 interfacing to one side. Stich along the long edge with a ¼” seam allowance.
 Then turn inside out and top stich along the long edge again with a small seamallowance.

​9. Attach the handle to the side panel and cut to width of panel.

10. Now clip the side panel to the top circle till the side panel ends meet. This is where you stick your side seam, this way the side panel fits exactly to your yoga pillow top.
Once the top piece is stitched in, repeat for the bottom circle.

11. Open up your zipper and turn your pillowcase inside out.

Tadaaaa your yoga pillowcase is all done....
Now take your time for some mindful meditation and enjoy :-) 

Thank you so much to Riley Blake Designs for supplying the absolutely adorable 
Stardust fabric series designed by Beverly McCullough that I used
for this amazing project.

Oh, when I saw this new fabric line from Riley Blake Design called Ahoi Mermaids! by Melissa Mortenson, I just new I had to design a matching pattern.
This mermaid pattern comes in three different quilt block sizes and it will be perfect for too many quilting projects.
I think I need to make a mini quilt for my youngest daughter.

And just because these Mermaids are so cute and pretty,
here are some Mermaid facts or stories:

1. The earliest mention of a Mermaid legend comes from Syria.
The woman's name was Atargatis. Apparently she was beautiful and powerful and fell in love with a shepherd boy. After she had his baby girl Semiranis the boy died and Atargatis became depressed and very , very sad. So she decided to throw herself in the ocean.
But because of her beauty, the gods saved her and changed her into a Mermaid, with only her lower body being transformed into a fishtail.

2. The name Mermaid literally means 'woman of the sea'
The old English word Mer means sea and maid means woman... There we go Mermaid,
ahh woman of the sea :-)

3. The aquamarine is said to be made out of a mermaids tears 

​4. Seacows or Manatees were often mistaken for Mermaids.
Many lonely and maybe drunken sailor saw these huge mammals and thought they were Mermaids. Christopher Columbus was said to have seen ' ugly and fat Mermaids'.
I mean can you blame Christopher Columbus or the sailors? Months at a time at sea... but then again apparently only 5% of the ocean has been explored, so who knows for sure.

5. A Mermaids kiss gives you gills.
According to an old folks tale, if you kiss a Mermaid you can breathe under water. 

6. The color of a Mermaids tail depicts her mood.
You be the judge, because whatever color a Mermaids tail is, is a clear sign of her mood.
And of course it totally reflects her personality... well if  was a Mermaid what color tail would I have ?

The story of my Chinese New Year quilt.
Our youngest daughter was born in Taiwan. So we get to celebrate Chinese New Year as well as our regular New Year.
Chinese New year is also called Spring Festival, as it falls at the end of the still
very cold and wintry days, but marks the end of those days and welcomes spring,
with all its new beginnings and fresh starts.
You can also call it the Lunar New Year since its date is set according to the
Lunar calendar. The Lunar calendar is still very important in China and South East Asia and all traditional holidays are still celebrated and many people calculate their birthdays according to the Lunar calendar as well.

The idea for this quilt was born in January of 2020.
​I have to admit I always loved paper lanterns, they feel light, breezy and fun and always give a vibe of happiness, don't you think?
So I started my Chinese New Year series with all sorts of different paper lanterns.
There are 4 types of paper lanterns in this pattern.
The longer skinny lantern as you can see in the photo above.
A paper lantern that's shaped as a double trapeze.
The prettiest lantern of them all, called the palace lantern.
And of course the most popular paper lantern, the balloon lantern.

A quilt just with lanterns was the first idea, but it needed something more dramatic,
so I designed the dragon.
The dragon is a symbol of power, strength and good luck in East Asian culture.
​They supposedly control water, rain, typhoons and anything that has to do with water. Dragons are everywhere all over East Asia - in legends, festivals, astrology, art, names and idioms.  
Dragons are definitely seen as LUCKY and good, quite different from the evil, dangerous fire breathing dragons of most Western stories.
So here is my good luck dragon.

Just a dragon and lanterns didn't feel right and complete, so I added another very important Asian sign, the Yin Yang koi fish symbol.
​It represents duality and harmony in life.
In Feng Shui the Koi is tied to the Yin Yang symbol and it is said to represent two Koi, one female and one male and shows that all things in life are connected.

How did I decide on the fabric and colors?
First of all, I have always been a huge fan of Art Gallery Fabrics, because they are the nicest finest cotton fabric. And when it comes to detailed foundation paper piecing patterns a high quality cotton fabric is very helpful. A light weight cotton just makes your life so much easier when piecing small segments with many seams. It was an absolute joy to work with Art Gallery Fabrics for this quilt pattern. The fabric series 'Matchmade' by Pat Bravo was a real match made in heaven.
And second of all my color choices depended heavily on traditional Chinese colors in general and for Chinese New Years in particular.
Red is Chinas favorite color which represents luck, joy and happiness as well as it wards off anything evil.
Yellow is an imperial color and represents power, royalty and prosperity. 
So how perfect was the 'Matchmade' series for this quilt project?
I had to add a little more pink, since anything without a good splash of pink is just not me :-)
Therefore I mixed in some Art Gallery Pure Solids to add some more of my favorite hues.
I couldn't be happier with the fabric choices for this Chinese New Year quilt, I think it's the perfect combo. Don't you agree? 

It took me about two weeks to finish this quilt top. The paper lanterns are fairly quick and easy to sew, they took me about two hours each. The dragon was a great project for a Sunday afternoon.
And while this quilt top looks really fabulous as it is, I knew I wanted something really special for it as far a quilting goes.
I am usually very content with simpler straight line quilting, but I thought this quilt asked for more. 
So I called up Iva Steiner @schnigschnagquiltsandmore , and asked her if she would have the time to quilt this beauty. And yes thank goodness she did. 
So I drove down to Luzern/ Switzerland and brought her my quilt top. It 's about a five hour drive from Frankfurt, but I loved the nice change during our Covid lockdown.
And all I can say, Iva did a fantastic job, her quilting is absolutely stunning and the icing on the cake of my Chinese New Year quilt, don't you agree? 

 Thank you so much to Art Gallery Fabrics for supplying the fantastic  
 'Match-Made' fabric series designed by Pat Bravo that made this stunning quilt possible.
And a special thank you to Iva Steiner for her stunning quilting in this Chinese New Year quilt. 

So who is ready for a Sew Along ? Let me know :-)

Don't these just look as if Mr. Bunny painted them himself?
This is a free pattern and step by step tutorial for adorable Easter bags... this cute little project was made especially for Riley Blake Designs.

Finished bag size :  8.5" wide, 9.5" high and 4" deep at the bottom

Fabric/ Materials needed: (all measurements are width x height)
>   1 FPP quilt block 8.5" x 8.5" (bunny pattern pattern shop here or the bunny on the pink bag is from my book 'Adorable Animal Quilting' )
>   2 strips of fabric on each side of the FPP block 2.5"x 8.5"
>   2 strips of fabric for bottom panel 12.5"x 3"
>   2 strips of fabric for top panel 12.5"x 2"
>   1 piece of fabric for back 12.5"x 8.5"
>   2 pieces of fabric for lining 12.5"x 12"
>   Fusible interfacing 2 pieces 12.5"x 12"
>   2 strips of fabric for handles 2,5"x 12"
>   2 strips of fusible interfacing 2"x 12"

Instructions:
-Sew your Foundation paper pieced quilt block - like the little bunnies here .
the block will measure 8.5"x 8.5" unfinished.
(unfinished - meaning not sewn into a project yet).
-Cut out all the fabric, lining and fusible interfacing pieces.
-Attach the side strips to the quilt block. Then attach the bottom and top panel to the quilt block ( see pictures below).
- Do the same for the back, attach top and bottom panel to the piece of fabric for the back.

-Interfacing gives your bag more structure and stand.
-Iron on the fusible interfacing to your front and back exterior main pieces of your bag.

Sewing the handles:
- iron on fusible interfacing on fabric strips of handles, center to width of fabric,
leaving 1/4" seam allowance on both long sides of the fabric strips.
- Fold over 1/4" seam allowance on each side of the fabric strips and clip or pin in place .
- Now fold the strip in half and clip in place again. Then sew along the clipped edge and the opposite long edge with a  small seam allowance to finish off the handle strip.
- Repeat for second handle.

- Quilt your exterior pieces to your liking.
- First I started with some hand quilting around the bunnies
- And then I did some diagonal and some straight line machine quilting.
- I drew the lines with a washable fabric marker ( this one can actually just be dusted off,
   it's a dressmaking chalk pen, that comes with several different color refills)
- Then I machine quilted the front and back exterior fabric pieces with straight lines or 
   some diagonal 1" squares.

Attach the handles at 3" from the outer edge to the top of exterior front and back fabric pieces. And clip in place.

- Lay lining fabric, right sides together, on top of outer bag pieces and clip in place at top edge. Handles are now sandwiched between lining and outer piece.
- stitch along top edge with 1/4" seam allowance.
- fold exterior and lining pieces open.

- lay both Easter bag pieces on top of each other, right sides together
- Clip or pin the raw edges in place, matching up each seam and clipping or
 pinning the matched up seams.
- Leave a 3"- 4" space at the center of the bottom end of the lining, this is your opening
 for turning the bag later.
- Then sew along the four open sides.  Do not sew the 4" opening at the end of the lining pieces.

For a  flat bottom of your bag, you need to box all four corners.
Two corners of the lining and two corners of the exterior fabric.
Starting with flattening the corner, the seams, bottom seam and side seam should be on top of each other. Then measure 2" from the top corner with an acrylic ruler and draw a line across with your fabric marker or a water soluble pen.

Stitch along that line and  trim off the corner, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance.
(Repeat this for all four corners)

Turn your Easter bag by turning the pieces right sides out, pulling through the opening in the lining. Push out the corners nicely. Press the lining opening under 1/4" and
stitch closed with a small 1/8" seam allowance.

- Fold lining into bag and stitch along top edge of bag to secure handles and lining.
TADAAA all done, HAPPY-EASTER-EGG-hunt.


Thank you so much to Riley Blake Designs for supplying the absolutely adorable 
'Easter-Egg-Hunt' fabric series designed by Natàlia Juan Abelló that I used
in this super cute Easter bag project.

What do you think? Ready for Easter?

Hey dog lovers, this little dog walking bag is absolutely perfect for you...

Our dogs are part of our family and we love them dearly.
The kids love playing with the dog and also love walking the dog as long as the
sun is shining.
The excitement fades quickly if it's raining and when it's cold outside. And it gets worse
if they need to look for all of the dog walking equipment before even getting to the front door. That's why you need a dog walking bag.

So I decided to come up with a cute little bag pattern,
to keep all the dog walking equipment handy.
This adorable dog walking bag is small enough to grab quickly, even when just walking around the block.
It is big enough to keep all your dog walking kit in one convenient place.
And most importantly this dog walking bag is pretty enough to keep by the front door.
So win, win, win!

Keep all your dog walking items in one convenient bag , the leash, dog litter bags,
paw wipes, treats etc.
Attach a pretty hook close to your front door and keep this cute dog walking bag right there beside it.
You will never leave the house again and forget your dog walking kit.

This 'walk my dog' pattern includes a foundation paper pieced beagle quilt block as well as the full pattern for the bag.
You will find the comlete pattern including step by step photos,  in the newest
'Make Modern Magazine'  issue 38.
I hope you will enjoy the walks with you puppy with this pretty dog bag.

Happy sewing

You know I love recycling and reusing. And you know I looove recycling and reusing fabric.
I roam through flea markets, garage sales, second hand and thrift stores and almost always find some pre-loved piece of fabric.

And I always buy old fashioned flat sheets, they're most often made of really thick cotton, or a cotton/linen mix, which is absolutely perfect for all sorts of sewing projects.
Especially dish cloths or napkins, but I also use them in quilts, key fobs, pouches and much more.
I wrote a whole blog on fabric recycling in case you want to know more.

Today I want to show you how to make the cutest dish towels with recycled cotton sheets and left over fabric scraps.

Materials/fabrics needed for 2 dish towels:
- 2 pieces of white fabric ( I use cotton table cloth or flat sheets for this, they're pre-washed so many times, that they work perfectly as dish cloths as they dry dishes very nicely) 20.5"x 27".
- 40 pieces of 2.5"x 2.5" fabric squares.
- 2 strips of fabric 2"x 5" for the hanging tab

Sewing the dish towels:
1. Cut your fabrics as mentioned above.
2. Sew your fabric squares into 4 strips of 10 squares each ( two strips per towel)
3. Press your seam allowances.
You can either seperate your seam allowances and press them each seperatly,
or press the seam allowances in opposite directions before joining your
fabric square strips. This is really easy and quick. (photo 1)
You press one strip in one direction and the other in the opposite direction,
this will help with nesting your seams and having accurate corners and matching points.
The seams sort of fit together automatically ( photo 2).
You end up with a perfectly flat fabric square panel. ( photo 3)

4. Fold over the long raw edges of your square panel 1/4" and press again
then pin or clip in place.

5. Place this panel on one of your white fabric pieces at 7", mesured from the bottom raw edge of your kitchen towel and pin in place.
6. Stich this panel in place with a small seam allowance. I also added some diagonal seams.

7. Sewing the hanging tab for the tea towel:
- Fold the 2"x 5" strip in half lengthwise and press. Fold in 1/2" seam allowance on each long raw edge and press again.
- Stitch with small seam allowance.
- Fold the tab in half and clip in place at the center of the back of your kitchen towel top edge.

8. Fold over the raw edges of your dish towel 3/8" twice and pin or clip in place.
I did just simple corners on these tea towels, but if you want to get really fancy you could do mitered corners as well.

9. To finish stitch all the way around your kitchen towel.

What do you think about these kitchen towels? Don't you agree they're ...... :-)?

Now I cant wait to see all of your tea towel versions...
use #dryinstyletowel on social media, so I can find your makes .... happy sewing.

Do you ever wonder what to do with all those super cute fabric scraps that are left over from your sewing projects?
Well, here are a couple of pincushion ideas for you to sew up with the smallest fabric pieces.

Now you might wonder how I get those fabric scraps color coordinated, and how I will find them when I need them. Here's a simple trick, I make it a habit to cut up the cutest scraps right away into 1.5" squares and sort them by color into a simple acrylic organizer box.
That way, I have them handy when I need them for fabric stamps, hang tags or smaller sewing projects like these pincushions. Plus that box is really pretty to look at, don't you think?

I also cut up some Dresden plate pieces every once in a while and keep them in another box sorted the same way. I like making these tiny Dresden plates, just because they're so super cute, and I can really make use of the smallest fabric pieces. For cutting Dresden plate pieces I use the Darlene Zimmerman Dresden Acrylic Ruler.

This awesome pincushion is also called Deluxe pincushion and is a super cute pattern from the book Sew organized for the Busy girl by Heidi Staples.
It's a great pattern and a quick and easy make.
This is an absolutely perfect pattern for all kinds of fabric scraps.
You can use them color coordinated or by theme, make a little fairytale pincushion, or one with just flowers, a Christmas themed one or use very modern little scraps.
I'm sure you will find tons of inspiration when you go through you fabric.

Mini Dresden plate pincushion:
finished size aprox 4"x 4"

Fabrics/ materials needed:
- 12  1.5" Dresden plate pieces
- 2 pieces of fabric 4.5"x 4.5"
- 1 basted 1" hexie, paper taken out.
- 1 piece 4.5"x 4.5" fusible interfacing
-a hand full of fiberfill, or your prefered pincushion stuffing material

Sewing the pincushion:
1. Cut all the fabrics as mentioned above. Cut 12 1.5" Dresden plate pieces. (photo 1)
2. Fold the Dresden plate pieces in half , lengwise , right sides together
 and stitch along the top edge ( wider part of blade) with a 1/4" seam allowance. (photo 2)
Chain piecing these blades makes this step super easy.
3. Cut off the corners (as shown in photo 3) at a 45° angle, this gives you nice, sharp points.
4. Turn each blade's sewn end right sides out. It usually just takes a finger to create a sharp point as you make that turn, but if necessary use a pencil to push the point outward. Be careful not to push too hard or cut through the fabric. Then press these.

5. Sew the Dresden Plate blades together by aligning the side edges right sides together with a 1/4" seam allowance from top to bottom, then press seam allowance open.
After sewing the full circle, press the entire Dresden plate.
Note: Most Dresden Plates are made with a 18° wedge ruler ( like the one I used), this means technically to form a full circle it would require 20 blades ( 18 x 20 = 360), but I use only 12 for this pincushion. Otherwise the full Dresden Plate would be too big and wouldn't fit on a small 4.5" square. The Dresden plate is so small, that it works just fine after pressing the full circle with 12 blades . And there will be a hexie placed on top anyways.
Or you could  us a 30° wedge ruler ( 30 x 12 = 360)

6. Stitch the Dresden plate onto one of the 4.5" x 4.5" pieces of fabric. Mark a cross in the center of the square to make placing  the Dresden plate easier.

 7. Place basted hexie ( paper taken out! ) on top and stitch in place.

8. Iron on fusible interfacing and place back 4.5"x 4.5" piece of fabric on top, right sides together and stitch around along the raw edges leaving a 2" opening for turning the pincushion.
Cut the corners at a 45° angle, this gives you nice and sharp corners after turning.
9. Turn your pincushion right side out, and fill the pincushion with fiberfill or your preferred pincushion stuffing material. Press the opening under 1/4" and stitch closed by hand.

The cutest little pincushions made entirely from fabric scraps, are all done .....
Aren't they just darling? 

Have lots of fun sewing up all your fabric scraps.