Make Homemade Scrap Fabric Finger Pincushions - Day 321 of 365, Tutorial Tuesday

The first pincushion I ever owned was one of those tomato-y types. I'd used it for 25 or so years and when it got raggedy I started searching for a new one.

I started by purchasing one that looked like an easy chair. It was pretty and all, but wasn't practical to keep close by because it was a bit oversized. I still use it in my sewing room, but for decoration only. The next pincushion I bought was a cute little Mary Engelbreit one that looked like a little purse. Again, a bit too decorative and not all that useful.

Then I started making my own in hopes of finding something that worked well for me. I started with a flower pincushion from a pattern found on the internet. It came out too big. On Day 1 I made some squares ones that fit perfectly in the drawer next to my machine and worked well for my daughter to use in her department at work. Then after a noisy summer of owls and some inspiration from a gal who decorated some owl cookies, I made some owl pincushions on Day 195. Both of those pincushions were given away.

Now here I go again, looking for a perfect pincushion. This time I needed something smaller. Occasionally there are times when I need one for just a few pins when I'm away from the sewing machine. Today's tutorial solved my problem of losing pins on the floor.

I stick them in my finger pincushion.

Now available in my Etsy shop as a digital download with the written directions, step-by-step photos, and link to the tutorial video. Click to get it now!

Looking for more quick and easy projects? Check out these ideas!

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Find the step-by-step how to tutorial for these quick and easy homemade finger pincushions project right here:

Day 320 of 365

I do everything I can to avoid kids.

That may appear to be quite contradictory to my career. I'm going on my 18th year working in the same elementary school. Before that, I ran a preschool and before that I worked in several. That makes 28 years working with kids aged 3-10.

But now I stay away from kids. I still work in that same elementary school, in an office, doing regulatory/compliance and curriculum type of work - with no kid contact. It's not that I don't like kids. It's not that I'm not patient with them, it's not that they get on my nerves.

Kids represent illness. As a teacher, I was sick a lot. Then once I started on these medications for rheumatoid arthritis - medications that purposely destroy the immune system - my periods of sickness lengthened and became much more severe. Even a simple cold can send my entire system into a crisis. Something others can get over in a week can last several months for me and can result in multiple serious infections.

So nowadays I use a lot of antibacterial hand cleaner, Clorox wipes, and Lysol spray. And I have to avoid kids and sick people.

Like today. My husband had to go to the doctor and I sat in the car to avoid sick people in the waiting room. It was a cold morning to be sitting in the car, but it was worth it if I prevented an illness. As a bonus I got a pretty picture as the sun was trying to peek through the clouds.

Day 319 of 365

It was a somber morning around here. Any time you get a phone call at 8 in the morning on a Sunday, you know it can't be good. And it wasn't. The teachers at my husband's school have been calling each other this morning, making sure everyone knew the news.

On Day 27 on this blog I wrote: But as a high school teacher, the number of students my husband has lost is in the double digits. Most of the deaths occurred while the students were in high school or just graduated from high school. And usually from car accidents.

I never imagined when I wrote that way back in March that less than a year later it would happen again. One of my husband's students - one that graduated last year and is a freshman in college - was killed in a car accident last night. She was 18. If you want to learn more about Taylor as a high school student, here's a story the Boise TV station did on her last year when she won their Distinguished Student Award.

As a parent, my heart breaks for what the family is going through.

So other than phone calls, things stayed quiet around here today. I spent my time in the sewing room trying to finish up the Disaster Auction quilt. It'll probably be ready tomorrow, but today I did get my coupon holder done.

Day 318 of 365

My daughter uses words to describe herself like, I was a good girl and I worked hard today.

Both are true about her. She is a good girl. She likes to take care of people. She works very hard at her job. She calls her mom every single day (sometimes several times a day).

Both yesterday and today were several phone call days.  Even though she calls bunches, I still look forward to her calls. She calls me every day on her walk to work, calls me during her dinner break, and sometimes calls me after work. I hear about work, how things are coming along in her new apartment, what she's having for dinner, what she's frustrated with her boyfriend about.

Every time, at every call, I tell her the same thing before I get off the phone. I love you. Be a good girl. Stay out of trouble. Work hard. Wear your seat belt. I'm at the point where I feel like if I don't say those things, I'll jinx something.

Lately before she gets off the phone, she's been giving me a list of things she wants me to bring her way. Every day there is something else she wants added to the list. The list is growing quite long. The kitchen stuff she got for Christmas. A clock. Her full length mirror. Garbage can. A family picture. Dish soap. Cleaning supplies. Grocery sack holder.

While I haven't gathered all the other items up yet, I did get her grocery sack holder made. She chose the fabric from several options I sent her on the cell phone. Plain for my tastes, but just what the good, hardworking, seat belt wearing girl ordered.

Day 317 of 365

Compartmentalize.  

Merriam-Webster defines compartmentalize as to separate into isolated compartments or categories. Example: He compartmentalizes his life by keeping his job and his personal life separate.

Yeah, sure.

When I took this job, I thought I could compartmentalize things. When I was at work I'd think about work. When I was home I'd think about home. It hasn't happened yet.

When I'm at work, I think about work. But when I'm at home, I think about work. It's not like I'm not trying to keep my mind off of work - it's that it just isn't happening. A work-issued Blackberry doesn't help things, either. Seeing that phone with unread e-mails - e-mails addressed to me, e-mails that expect answers - makes me want to read them so I can get caught up. If I don't spend my days off reading and responding (and taking the time to find the information requested in the e-mails), when I get back to work I do nothing but catch up on e-mails. And I don't have that time in my work days for that - I have work to do.

Here's the lesson I'm learning about working part-time. ( I suspect part-time hourly wage folks don't have this issue, but I don't know for sure.) Here's what I do know - when someone is a salaried, yet part-time employee, it becomes difficult to determine what kinds of extras that salaried person is required to do on their days off. As a full-time salaried employee, it's a given that after-work hours can/should be spent on work-related activities. As a part-time salaried employee, it's also a given that after-work hours can/should be spent on work-related activities. But how many hours are enough? And how many are too much?

How many hours are too much? It's too much when I'm spending 2-3 hours on every single day I have off working on "work" things. I went into today thinking I wouldn't again get bogged down in work on a day off, but for the umpteenth time it did. Work came first, home came last. The time I had planned to work on the Disaster Auction quilt didn't happen. Sewing a grocery sack holder for my daughter didn't happen. Making a new coupon envelope for myself didn't happen. Work happened. And I've had enough.

I did squeeze out a few minutes to plant my amaryllis from yesterday's Target trip. Looks like it had been doing some growing while on the store's shelf.