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Saturday, August 22, 2015

Kachina Wall Hanging and the Saga of the Pin Cushions continues...........


"When one door of happiness closes, opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us." -Helen Keller



My sister has always been an inspiration to me.........way back when I was doing my thing with all the different crafts and such.....Irene was cross stitching and embroidering and doing her thing...........One of the projects she finished was a set of 5 Indian Kachinas embroidered with wool yarn back in the early 1980's.............aren't these gorgeous? 

   
She had displayed them on her wall for a few years, then my niece hung them for awhile, and one day I saw she had them stacked to put away and she asked if I wanted them.  I don't have any Southwest décor in my house but I had always loved these stitcheries and an idea to take them out of the frames and sew the blocks together for a quilt of some  sort began to take shape so I picked them up and brought them home. 
  After I took them out of the frames I added a rectangular block with a Machine Embroidered applique at the top and bottom of each block then included two ME Kachinas and finally surrounded each with red and turquoise sashing. I stitched in the ditch of the sashing and added some stippling around the Kachinas.....I included the names of the Kachinas and the date she stitched them underneath each block.  I was really happy with the results but more important.....My Sis loved her "new" wall hanging!


 
And then the pin cushions began calling me again..........I have been stopping in at second hand stores for ideas to make pin cushions and have found lots of possibilities........Two miniature frames became a Southwest pincushion and a pansy delight..........






















Teacups with or without saucers work well........



  I love adding machine embroidery whenever I can.......

I found this idea on Pinterest.....it uses a glasses case covered with your fabric of choice and includes a little pin cushion to make a fabulous traveling sewing kit!







And here is one last pin cushion for you to look at  before this post goes to the birds!........



Stay tuned for more pin cushions.....I am working on a fun idea for you all to join in on my obsession.........lol.......









7 comments:

Helen said...

Gorgeous the embroideries are stunning, love what you did with them. All the pincushion look beautiful looks like you had so much fun with them Ida.

Maria said...

Love the way you have made you sisters embroidery came alive in the gorgeous wall hanging Ida...

Hilachas said...

OMG! I've said it before and I'lll say it again, "You are so creative." I love, love what you've done with the Kachina embroderies. What a treasure, both YOU and the wall hanging. All the pincushions are so pretty. You can tell how much you're enjoying them because they're ll fabulous!

O'Quilts said...

First picture, bottom left..my grandmother made that one. I grew up in Arizona..It is long gone, I am afraid, but your post brought back memories. You did a great job in the wall hanging for your sister..and the pincushions are really fun.

Missy Shay said...

What a great idea! I love the wall hanging!

Needled Mom said...

Irene's wallhanging turned out beautifully. I am sure she loved it. There was so much time put into those when she stitched them and this is the perfect way to update them.

The pincushions are fabulous. It would be hard to pick a favorite, but I love the idea of the glass case.

Pamela said...

I really like the eye glass case sewing kit with pin cushion. I have several empty cases, so maybe I'll try making one.