Design details

In a flurry of enthusiasm at the Quilt Exhibition at the VandA, I suggested to Jane, the editor of Popular Patchwork that I should make something inspired by the quilt George III reviewing the Troops; the one with all the circles.  We agreed that a circular pincushion would be a good idea as it would be small and so quick to make and it would be something useful.

Rather than copy one of the circles from the quilt, I started playing around with a compass and drawing various patterns and so ended up with this design.

I was quite happy with it and decided to make it using Oakshott cottons, as they have such lovely rich plain colours.  I am making it by hand, using paper piecing.  However, when I came to cut the pattern pieces last night, I realised that it wasn't practical.  The pieces were too small to get good definition of the shapes and there were hundreds of them, especially as the pin cushion is going to be double-sided.  It makes me realise what enormous skill went into that 18th century quilt.

So there were two options, back to the drawing board to simplify it or enlarge the pattern.  Well, I don't think anyone wants a huge pincushion, so I've made the pattern easier.  The colours aren't so strong on the drawings as they were done quickly to work through the colour options.  So it will look very different when finished.  Imagine it in luscious rich colours and hopefully that is what it is going to look like soon!

I think I'm going for the third option of design (the differences are where the purple and pink are placed as it isn't very clear from these images), but I don't have to make the decision until I've seen the fabric laid out as the piecing is gonig to be the same for all three.