Chicken Pincushions

I happen to be a pattern collector. If I see a cute pattern, I buy it and stash it away. Sometimes nothing ever comes of the pattern . . . but sometimes an actual "thing" is made from said pattern. I can't quite remember how long this particular pattern has been saved away in my stash, but who can pass up a cute pincushion?

The idea here is to take leftover fabric or quilt blocks or parts of either and make something fun and useful. I can't actually think of a time when I have had extra quilt blocks laying around - I usually only make exactly what I need (I'm a planner that way). But goodness knows that I have more than a few fabric scraps in my craft closet. So I made a couple of simple quilt blocks that are included with the pattern using some coordinating scraps (somehow this didn't seem to even begin to put a dent in my scrap piles). A beak, some tail feathers, and some eyes later . . . and you have a chicken.One new thing that I learned from this pattern is to fill a pincushion with crushed walnuts from the pet store. Perfect weight and easy to fill! And good for my pins and needles too. This pattern is "Pollo Loco" from Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. Thanks Miss Rosie - love 'em!