The other pin cushions Merl had in their collection are commemorative, celebrating two births. These are layette pin cushions and served both as a decorative gift and a practical one as before the 1870s regular pins were essential for fastening baby clothes and cloth nappies. 

My heirlooms include the framed embroidery found in my mother-in-law's attic that tells a tale of a worldwide cruise, while my mother has my Grandfather’s WW1 medals who lied about his age to enlist. Two lives bound in thread and heritage, tradition and institutions.

So, what will be my personal treasure? Modern Sweetheart Pin Cushions taking inspiration from my research, a decorative aesthetic from a begone age as well as looking at trends and colour forecasts, whilst celebrating the next generation.

So, now it was on to the designing. I wanted my pin cushion to represent me just like the WW1 cushions represented the injured soldier. I wanted to do three, like a trinity of sorts. The main cushion representing us collectively as a family and the other two smaller ones for my two daughters. On the front of my main pin cushion, I have experimented with embroidery, digital print, embellishment and design. The digitally designed print represents my own heraldic picture; a coat of arms to celebrate my family. Laddie the puppy, (Grandad's new dog) a paint palette to represent my art, a book representing my Librarian husband, a game controller to demonstrate my husband's and girls' love of computer games, and a red kite who often fly over our house making their distinctive cry. Plus, these birds of prey have stolen chicken sandwiches from us not once but twice! I liked to think of them as a home counties version of a seagull. Also, Arte Labore paying homage to being Blackburn Rovers fans. The blue flowers are forget-me-nots associated with remembrance.

Each aspect of my work has been crafted to show my strengths as a designer and maker to create a vision of decorative opulence. I have enjoyed using beads and sequins to add depth, interest, and to create contrast just like my inspiration. I find the process of embroidery and needlework relaxing. A sentiment shared by the Disabled Soldiers Embroidery Industry which was set up to provide financial and therapeutic support to soldiers after WW1. 

The style of floral was influenced by the winter trend found at Premiere Vision another element mentioned in the Hand & Lock brief.  Within this project I experimented with fringe beading which i haven't done before. Within my research I found that some of the pin cushions had beaded trims that pictured florals. Another important element is the use of finger chaining; a technique my father taught me. He in turn was taught this in convalescence recovering from an operation.

The two smaller hearts are of my daughters, a beaded digital portrait on velvet with florals on the back matching their middle names, Rose and Iris.  The words hope and love are featured in the trim; two aspects of life I wish my daughters to have an abundance of.  

Work in progress

Final Piece

And here they all are. For the presentation of these cushions, I wanted the cushions to float so that the viewer can see the underneath part of the cushions and so that the fringing would dangle. The main cushion is held aloft by two wooden hands wearing white archival handling gloves with the smaller cushions being propped up by wooden building blocks covered in white felt. The building blocks of life and a toy used by my two daughters when they were young. The beading connecting the hearts is morse code. The bugle beads represent dashes and seed beads dots. The phrase repeated is “think of me,” a phrase that often appeared in this project. The QR code links the audience to this page. When I was researching, I discovered that museums/organisations are archiving their digital content.