Sweet Strawberries

Here is my newest strawberry. I love it!

I received an order from Connie and she wondered if I ever did dogs. Well, as a painter, I created many pet portraits. These days I think of thread as paint strokes, so why not? I really loved how it turned out. Its plump and sweet and I hope it does her 4 little terriers justice. I love my customers. Without them, I would never find out what I can do.

Here are some of my other favorites strawberries-


Its no secret that I love making these little beauties.


Each berry seems to be a blank canvas. The fabric and customer lead me to new ideas. When ordering, the customer chooses from an assortment of red and pink fabrics. They let me know if they would like them embroidered or beaded and the rest is history. All are filled with emery. A layer of batting gives them a soft look.

Here is a lovely comment I received from Tracey. She's ordered 6 from me this year! "These are just so lovely I have no words. Each one is unique and obviously made with love. Having trouble deciding which to keep and which to give!"
If you want to know why I love making my pincushions- the answer is definitely my customers! They are amazingly wonderful and they give me so many ideas and so much encouragement.

I find these strawberries to be so useful. I have a bunch of them around my working areas. They are so handy. The emery makes sharpening my needles easy. Often, when I buy pin backs they have little burrs on the end. When using the pins on delicate fabrics, a burr would be a disaster. I simply slide the end into a strawberry and move it back and forth. The burr is slowly and gently worn off so the pin glides safely into clothing no matter how delicate the fabric.

I love to play with the whole idea of the strawberry. My grandma had a tomato pincushion stuffed with sawdust. There was this little red strawberry on a cord attached the stem of the tomato. I found this image on Wikipedia. They have a little story about how a tomato on your mantle will bring good luck and how this particular pincushion dates back to the Victorian ages. Wow. I love how all this stuff is as wonderful now as it was a hundred years ago!


I've seen so many versions since then. Martha Stewart even revisited the strawberry and offers an easy pattern and tutorial here. My pattern is a bit different. However, these beauties had been created with Martha's pattern.

I added pretty crystals along the body of the strawberry to make a very elegant strawberry. I then added a rhinestone top with a loop for hanging. I added some pretty matching beads to the jump ring of the loop attachment as well. I can't seem to get the rhinestone top anymore and that makes me sad. This was really a pretty design.

Another of my prettier designs is my deluxe strawberry. It comes beaded or embroidered. Its created from a beautiful rose printed fabric. I have to fussy cut each berry so there is a lot of fabric used for each strawberry. That is why they cost a tad more.



I also created some stawberries with wool roving on top of felted wool. I then stitched and beaded them. I love how rich and bright the colors are. Wool is one of my very favorite materials to play with. I'm always inspired by its versatility.


Here are some wool strawberries with a bit of stumpwork.


Speaking of stumpwork. This needle case with stumpwork strawberries was a fun departure from the others.


Why stop at one size? Here is my super sized strawberry! This was too much fun to create! This image shows 3 sizes. The tiny strawberry was a mere 1/2 inches high. The big guy is over 4 1/2 inches tall.


These strawberries can all be purchased in my Etsy Shop. If you don't see one of these versions available, just drop me a convo. Let me know which one you liked and I'll relist it if the materials are available. If you want the standard cotton version you can buy them one at a time here, or save and purchase 3 strawberries. I show a number of fabric choices.

Give one of these sweeties a try. You can find some emery here, at The Cheswick Company. A few other Etsy shops have it as well. Just be sure not to buy very fine emery. It migrates right through the fabric and you'll have a mess on your hands. Cathy's emery is just right.



I'll be back soon, I just picked up some wonderful new fabrics and I can't wait to play with them. New fabric always inspires me!
See you soon and happy sewing!