Casgliadau Arlein

Pin cushion made with printed cottons and stuffed with wool. Made from six triangle shapes, each triangle is made from one piece of fabric which is folded over and sewn along the bottom and side edges, the folded side is outermost. The red and blue triangle is hand sewn along the bottom edge using white cotton thread. The other triangles are machine sewn in white cotton thread. The side edges are hand sewn apart from the red and blue triangle which is machine sewn. The triangles are joined together at the top and bottom with a thick white cotton thread. The patterned fabrics are described as follows: 1. Plain woven cream cotton with a printed wide red and blue stripe with a cream grid over the top. 2. Cream plain woven cotton with floral sprays and paisley print in red, blue, yellow, pink and purple. 3. Blue plain woven cotton with a stylised flower spot motif in dark, light brown and turquoise blue. 4. Cream twill woven cotton with stripes made of stylised floral shapes in red, yellow, ochre and turquoise. 5. Ribbed pale green cotton with a naturalistic printed floral pattern in black with pink, red and blue highlights. 6. Cream twill woven cotton with stripes of pattern featuring blue stylised daisies and red roses with green leaves. The top of the pin cushion is decorated with a pale pink silk satin ribbon which has been arranged in five loops and sewn to the pin cushion in the centre. On top of the ribbon is a length of twisted metallic yarn, it consists of gold, copper and silver thread made from very thin strips of metal which have been manipulated into threads and twisted together. It is gathered into 11 loops and sewn in place with a cream cotton thread.

Decorative patchwork pincushions were very popular during the late 1800s and early 1900s. This example was probably made for decoration rather than for use.