According to the woman who wrote to me, the small textiles were made mainly by British and French soldiers from 1907-1918. Another online source states that the word "pincushion" seems to be a misnomer. These objects seem to patriotic in nature and not objects that would necessarily be intended to hold pins. They often say, "The King's Own."
Today I found several other blogs with information about the sweetheart pincushions. One is:
darlasbitsandpieces.blogspot.com/2012/06/sweetheart-pin-cushions.html
Another link is www.kingsownmuseum.plus.com/sweetheart01.htm which features photos of pincushions as well as 10 pages of various "sweetheart cards" from World War I.
I have collected a few of the cards but have none of the sweetheart pincushions. I would love to hear from other readers who have collected either sweetheart pincushions or postcards from World War I. The pincushions all appear to have been beaded and the beads are held in place via a straight pin inserted into the heart-shaped pincushion. It is always fun to learn new things! I appreciate readers' mail!
Christine Cassidy has sent a link to a collection of images she has posted to a Pinterest page:
http://pinterest.com/ccassidyinspire/sweetheart-pin-cushions-art-project
Patricia L.Cummings
Quilter's Muse Publications - Don't forget to sign my new "guest book" on the front page! Thanks! I hope you enjoy all of the recently-added information and files!
