A good night sleep will do wonders!
. . . . .and thought of the perfect recipient for yesterday's "oops" version. . . .
. . . . .my very own Gail Wilson basic doll Nellie!
I've got myself an order of Yo-Yo pincushions to ship out come Friday and so knowing it would involve a slew of stuffing and stitching over the next couple of days I decided to get a jump start on the endeavour and prep up the rounds first thing this morning.
Fabric combos were selected. . . . . including some tiny choices for a few more scrap bag and pincushion sets for wee dollie friends.
A spell at the sewing machine this afternoon had them stitched up tight.
And then this evening, I put scissors to task and things really began to take shape!
As the stack of prepped rounds grew so did my excitement. . . . . I'd come up with the perfect "made" item for the day. . . . . one of the miniature doll pincushions to be the cherry on top!
In my excitement, however, I apparently sewed ON the line rather than WITHIN the line making my "cherry on top pincushion" too big. Yes that's right. . . . . TOO BIG!!! 
Dismal and gray in our neck of the woods today. Decided to cheer things up and make another happy garden pincushion to replace the one that sold last week. It's always good to have one hanging around to put a smile on your face!
Took a giant step back into my comfort zone today! Decided to whip up a yo-yo flower pincushion and keep to my small scale work preference.
Well, perhaps I went a bit smaller than usual!
No matter, it was so much more fun than yesterday's endeavour that I couldn't stop at just one. 
Having a much better day today! Computer and I have made up, the sun came out of hiding,and the "new" issue of Mollie Makes hit the shelves. I say "new" because here in our neck of the woods we are a month behind. It always does seem to be that way when it comes to the British magazines. Anyway...after spending my January days browsing the pages of a very tattered "Deck the Halls" issue, I am happy to say I now have in my possession the "Dear Diaries" issue, #9!!!!
Of special interest to me was this little snippet concerning year long themes among bloggers. The two examples mentioned (here and here) focus on a new craft creation EVERY day. Although my "Made" project includes items such as making scones, making discoveries, and yes, maybe even making the laundry pile disappear (but don't hold your breath on this one) I thought perhaps it would be fun to track the actual items I craft every day for one month. And since February is the shortest one of the year it seems the the logical choice.
and so. . . . today I made a little bit of summer. . . . . in the form of a cheery little pincushion!
Since the sun decided to come out from behind the clouds today I made the time to take some pictures of the eggcups and get them listed in the shop. I never did pick a favorite and in fact I was ridiculously tormented by the process of attempting to do so! No matter which one I would have kept it would have made me think of how bad I felt about not picking one of the others. Therefore, I decided to release them all to fate. The green one has been spoken for but the other three are now in the shop. 
My first step in the creation of a Pick-a-Lily pincushion doll is almost always to grab a basket. Into this I toss an assortment of fabrics, threads, trims, and baubles that will be the inspiration for the finished piece. Today, however, this basket inspired me with another idea. . . . . . . . . . . .I thought perhaps you might be interested in joining me in the process of making a Lily?!!! I spent some time looking over my notes and it seems as if it could be broken down into about 15 steps. If we did one step a week, we would be done sometime in May. I know it seems an awful long time but I'm not sure how proficient I'll be in the "tutorial" department. And please, if you do decide to join in, let me know if I ever lead you astray.
Step 1 - Fabric Selection (my favorite part!)
In general I suggest you stick with good quality, 100% cotton fabrics. You are going to need a minimum of 3 different prints but having a larger assortment is much more fun. Variety is key so within your color palette include a range of dark and light fabrics. Feel free to mix up the prints into a collection of florals, checks, dots, geometrics, plaids or even solids. And finally, although I have a great fondness of small scale prints, I do always try to pick a few larger ones in the process. Sometimes they help create a bit of contrast but other times I find they contain the perfect element to fussy cut out!
PS -oops! I forgot to mention you might want to run your fabrics through the wash before we start working with them. I find it much easier to work with pre-washed pieces and think you might too!
Finished up the eggcups this afternoon. . . . . without making any mess I might add!
A quick top coat really make the colors shine.
Coordinating cushions were secured in place.
And finally the Bitty Blossom pins from last weekend were planted!
Now all that's left to do is to decide which one's my favorite because I just might really need to have one of these!
There's no more jack-in-the-box shenanigans in the sewing nook this evening!
In fact everyone is all lined up. . . . .
and ready for the next step in their evolution.
The idea was to make up a teenie weenie yo-yo cushion. . . . .
stuff it into one of the eggcups I picked up at a tag sale last summer, 
and voila. . . . .pincushion on a pedestal!
. . . . . and time willing, will also make them my first shop listings of 2012!
