Little Turtle Pin Cushion/Toy

Thought ya'll might enjoy this little turtle pin cushion. Of course, I had to put some crazy quilt seam treatments and a couple of pieces of lace on mine. She (or he) will become a pin cushion probably...for sure, is a gift to a cyber friend that has been kind enough to share some machine embroidery lace with me. AND, she refuses to let me purchase any...just keeps sending it for free. What's a girl to do with a friend like that!...so she gets a little turtle as my thanks (along with my continued friendship of course!).

 The seams are a little tricky to stitch..since they are curved. But, I just did the centers seams of the top shell pieces...and not the final seams. Of course, all of them could be done...I just didn't think that was needed. And, I wanted to leave some room for actual straight pins. Ha! The instructions are really pretty simple. STEP ONE (cutting): Cut out all of the pieces. STEP TWO (sewing top shell parts): Sew bottom shell seam...leaving an opening in the center to use in stuffing the turtle. Sew four pairs of upper shell pieces together. 

 Embroidery the center seam (optional)...don't recommend this if you're making a baby toy. Then, sew these shell pieces to each other to get pairs...then again to finish the top shell. STEP THREE (sewing other body parts): Sew the other feet, head, tail as indicated on the pattern...right sides together...then turn. STEP FOUR (assembly): Pin the head and tail to opposite seams on the Shell Top. Pin the feet to seams nearest the head/tail pieces. (This leaves two seams not having any pieces matched to them...and they are across from the head/tail seams). 

 Match bottom of shell to shell top and pin...using the two "empty seams". STEP FIVE: (Assembly) Stitch around the bottom shell. (Be careful to make sure all of the pinned parts stay where they should...so that they are caught in the seam). 

 (Note: I like to sew around twice...just to make it secure). STEP SIX: (finishing) Turn right side out. Stuff until you can't get any more polyfill into the middle. Hand stitch the opening at the bottom of the shell closed. You're done! Here is the Little Turtle Pattern pdf file.