When dreams come true....

I dreamt of silk in beautiful, shimmering golds and greens. I dreamt of flowers in shades of purple, lavender and blue. I dreamt of crystals dripping down from graceful wisteria vines. I dreamt of this...


I am a designer than pretty much works from the seat of my pants. Well, I mean that I let the project speak to me... evolve... be. Its usually the fabric and materials before me that lead me to a certain technique or style. When Susan asked me to create something special and gave me a generous budget to play with, well, I knew I had one of those rare opportunities to do a dream project. So I dreamt!

To me, creative freedom is such a beautiful gift. The world of possibilities opens up. I always purchase the best quality materials I can afford, but I can rarely splurge on silk. This time I could. I may buy a few special sparkles, but to go crazy on crystals...what a treat! I tried silk dupioni, silk velvet and lots of pretty Swarvorski crystals.

I had plenty of time to think of what to do while I worked on orders that came in prior to hers. Whenever I was feeling a bit burned out, I kept thinking that all I had to do was to begin her pincushion and I would find that second wind I so desperately needed. Once I got working I found that most dreams take some serious work but the payoff is usually a sense of pride that only hard work can bring.




After struggling with the silk velvet, I had to give it up for this project. The allowances are slim... no room for error without the whole thing going all wonky. I like an organic feel, but there is a limit. I was happy to have purchased enough different silks I was fine with what I had. Thanks to Chad Quilt and SilkFabrics from Etsy for so many lovely choices.

I knew I wanted to try Wisteria for this pear. I love how it seems to drip down like a waterfall of blue satin. I love the shape of the flowers and the long twisting vines that it grows on.

Because of how top heavy it is, with all of those lovely crystals, it is quite a substantial piece of pincushion. It has about 6 ounces of emery to keep it steady. For something so delicate and feminine, it is sturdy and strong... just like a woman.



I am really so very happy with how this turned out. It is one of my very favorites to date. I just put it in the mail today. I can't wait to hear how she likes it!