Are you robin's egg blue or daring chartreuse? Are you gracious floral or neon geometric? Whether mellow and mild or wayward and wild, choose fabrics to match your personality for this quick-to-make pin cushion.

This pin cushion pattern appeared in the May/June 1997 issue of Quiltmaker magazine.

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Step 1 Preparing the Patches

Cut 12 patches for the "petals" (lavender in the diagrams) and 6 patches for the base (blue in the diagrams). Mark the reference dots on the wrong side of each patch.

Cut 12 patches for the "petals" (lavender in the diagrams) and 6 patches for the base (blue in the diagrams). Mark the reference dots on the wrong side of each patch.

Step 2 Sewing the Patches

With short stitches by hand or machine, join 2 petal patches along one side, sewing from dot to dot and backstitching at both ends. Cut a notch in the seam allowance as shown (fig. 2a). Make 5 more petal units like this.

Along the remaining curved edges, sew a base patch to each petal unit (fig. 2b).

To join 2 petal units, sew the base patches together (fig. 2c) and then sew the petal patches together (fig. 2d). Repeat to make 2 more sets.

Join the sets, leaving one base seam unstitched (fig. 2e). Turn the pin cushion right-side out through the opening.

Step 3 Finishing the Pin Cushion

Fill the cushion tightly with polyester stuffing. Ladder stitch the opening closed. Sew a button or other embellishment where the petals meet in the top center.