Chicken pin cushion

THANK YOU ESTELLE!!!!! this is just it!!! [[[happy dance]]]

amy in CNY

In message , amy writes

Try to get in touch with Susie B form Uk. The year I went to Malvern, Susie gave us all a chicken pin cushion that she had made. I am not sure what email address she uses these days.. Shirley

There's an oops in those instructions, methinks. They say to stuff the chicken pincushion with dry rice. I don't think that's such a good idea. If the pincushion is going to be used, a better filling would be real wool - snips of wool, shreds of wool yarn or the real thing if you happen to have a sheep handy. Might not matter much for you Arizona quilters but in a damp climate wool is best. Polly

Another good filling for pincushions is found at pet shops... it is a crushed walnut hull stuff used for lizard bedding. I like to put some sort of soft stuff into the corners, especially the head area, even if stuffing with rice/nut hulls/sawdust/??. Grin.

Pati, > i wondered about rice in it too.

Probably not.....but it will give the chicken some bottom weight so it doesn't fly away.......

Laurie G. in CA

If it's beach sand or any kind of sand from the Great Outdoors ... make sure to either "bake" the sand or bag it up for a while. Otherwise, you might get little visitors ... BTDT. Yeesh (remembering).

Or use playground sand.

-- Connie :)

Now wait. Let us not jump to any rash conclusions. I'm not sure who else is crazy but some of us have been on the list for a long time and we're proud of it. Polly

"nzlstar*" > glad i'm not as crazy as i thot.

yes, i did think about that after reading the instructions. i have to get some sand from the craft store and put it in my sterilizer at work, use that for the weighted bottom. i will probably use fiberfill for the bird part.

thanks gals!! food for thought, eh?

amy in CNY

There is a fella up the hill a ways that has taken to raising llamas and emus. I have thought when going past on the way to visit gramma, that I had ought to stop and ask if I can comb a llama enough to fill a pincushion. Thinking on it, there is a lady on another group that raises llamas. I should ask her if their wool is good for pin cushions before I go startling that fella. Though I seriously doubt that that would be the wierdest question he has ever gotten.

DH says I ought to use cat hair in pincushions. They already think they own all the quilts so they might as well contribute to the process.

NightMist

You can also use small prairie points for the beak and comb instead of felt. (I have one sitting and looking at me at the moment...... it is on top of my computer tower.)

Pati, > yes, i did think about that after reading the instructions. i have to

My chicken pincushion is stuffed with just plain old poly stuffing usually used for stuffing toys and such. That chicken has been roosting by my rack of bobbins for years and I haven't had a problem with the pins or needles rusting - may be a better solution than dry rice. Cat hair sounds good. Polly

A quick Google search confirms that Llama hair has no lanolin ... apparently, for some reason, that's considered a plus by the sites I found - I think because that makes the hair "lighter" than sheep's wool.

-- Connie :)