Wool Doodle Pincushion--One Monthly Goal Finish and Fifth Finish for 2nd Quarter 2021

Wool pincushion project upper right

After the March retreat in which I began this project, I spent a couple evenings stitching around the circles. At that point, I had stitched: colonial knots, chain stitch, Palestrina stitch, lattice work, tiny cross stitch, fly stitch, and ribbed spider web.

All the threads but the green and copper sparkling threads are from my grandmother's stash. She would have crocheted something with the threads; but, she would also have approved of how I used them in this project.

Embroidery finished

I chose these threads because they were a variety of weights and would contrast with the wool applique pieces and wool background. 

I didn't work on the project in April. I decided to make it my One Monthly Goal for May so that it didn't become a UFO! (Unfinished Object) I placed the project bag where I would see it every day and for the first twenty days of May, seeing the project was all that I did!

First side of strip sewn

Then over five evenings, I reviewed more stitches through Mary Corbett's Needle and Thread video tutorials. I stitched the rope stitch, the scroll stitch and the lazy daisy stitch. It was fun to stitch the circles with decorative threads and stitches. I liked how easy it was to pull thread through the wool fibers. Once I had finished embellishing the circles, it was time to actually make the pincushion.

I selected a couple scraps of batik fabrics from my small chunks drawer. I cut a circle out of the lighter batik and a strip from the darker batik fabric. I used the batik circle as my pattern to cut a circle from my wool applique.

Stitching the back to the pincushion

I used a lot of pins and pinned the dark batik strip to the wool circle. Once I had the strip pinned then I cut the strip to the correct length and seamed the ends to form a circle. I stitched the two pieces together and repeated the process with the other batik circle. Except, I left a two inch opening in the seam to allow me to turn the project inside out!

I had a quart size bag of small bits of batting scraps and a bag of fiber fill. I slowly stuffed the pincushion about 2/3 full with a mixture of batting scraps and fiber fill. I hand stitched the opening closed. My May monthly goal that I had posted about earlier this month was met!

Had this not been my one monthly goal, I doubt that I would have put one stitch into this project. It felt great to have a finish. I am going to enjoy using this pincushion. When I use it, I will have the pleasant memory of how the project began. It felt great to return the threads to storage and to empty a project bag!

View of thread and of side of pincushion

This was goal number 15 on my 2nd Quarter goal list. This was goal number six on my May goal list. I used about a fat eighth of fabric for the project which brings my stash usage for the year to 3 and 3/8 yards. I'm linking to Oh Scrap/Quilting is More Fun Than Housework and to Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - May Finish Link-up.

Regarding COVID:

Worldwide: 170M cases; 3.53M deaths

United States: 33.3M cases; 594K deaths

Oregon: 201K cases; 2,681 deaths

Worldwide, cases fell 14%. India still has the highest rate of new cases; but, those were 23% less than last week. There is still a problem getting vaccines to all countries.

View of pincushion top

In the United States, 50.7% of the population has had at
least one dose of the vaccine. 40.7% of the population is fully vaccinated.

In Oregon, 54.5% of the population has had at least one dose of the vaccine. 44.6% of the population is fully vaccinated.