Bird Gravel for Pincushions
 

Has anyone used bird gravel for filling pincushions? Several of us intend to fill our pincushions with this material and when we bought it we were surprised that it had pieces of shells in it, too. To those of you who have used this material, did you strain out the shells and bigger gravel? Was there anything special that you did with the gravel before filling the pincushions, like washing the gravel to get the extra dust off it? Are there any other tips or tricks that you can offer us?

I was at an international quilt show last year and I purchased a number of pincushions that were Very heavy and really cute. I asked the vender what was in them and she replied "with bird gravel". She said that they help to keep your needles and pins very sharp. I had never heard of this. The ladies that I gifted the pincushions to were also amazed with the filling. Two of us decided that we wanted to make more pincushions and purchased bird gravel; so we bought 25 pounds of it. Now, don't laugh, as I know that is a lot of gravel. However, to buy a small amount was rather expensive for that small amount and we figured after we made a couple that others would want some gravel and we could share it. If all else fails, we do have friends with birds.

I know that I use walnut shell's which does sharpen my pins but never heard of anyone using bird gravel. You will have to let the rest of us know if it does work. Regarding cleaning the gravel and removing the bigger pieces I think personally I would make one straight out of the package if it didn't work then I would take out the pieces. Good luck!

I am assuming when you say shells you mean like seashells? It is not uncommon to give birds ground up oyster shells. The birds eat and peck at the gravel and ingest bits of it for their gizzard to grind up their foods. Bird breeders want the oyster shell because they need the calcium to form egg shells. We often offer ground up oyster shell to our flock of laying hens.

Why don't you make a couple of pin cushion samples and put the unstrained gravel into them and see if they have the same heft as the cushions you picked up at the show. I really see no reason to strain out the bigger bits and pieces of shell if the gravel works as is.

In the 'old'(55 yrs) days pincushions were filled with sand and I was told that it helped keep the needles and pins sharp.

I personally don't trust that anything keeps pins and needles sharp, because the people that say that are trying to sell the pincushions, and apparently everything they can think of to stuff the pincushions with will sharpen the pins.

Honestly, I stuffed the one pincushion I made with leftover poly batting and am happy with it. The occasional needle will sometimes go all the way in, it's easy to get back out by carefully and gently squeezing the pin cushion until it pokes out the other side. If I need sharp pins and needles, I go out and buy them; they're quite affordable.

I'm with Peckish. I think anything that scrapes the pins enough to sharpen them will also quickly rub off the nickel coating. I recently made my first pincushion, and it's 100% felted wool inside and out. That reminds me, I need to post a pic here...)

I would strain out the larger pieces since I think those are not right for a filling. But, why not use the sand? I usually use the emery, but, it is very costly. You girls are smart to buy in bulk.

I use the weighted round beads for pincushion stuffing. The pins don't penetrate the beads so stick in air. That's my thinking.

we use the litter mix (sand and ground walnut shells) that you get at pet stores for lizard cages. One thing we've found is that if you don't use a small stitch it sometimes will work through seams, so we do use an inner liner of muslin.

I make a smaller bag (or a separate pocket) with double thickness fabric and fill it with sand then stitch it closed for weight. By putting the sand in a separate pouch it contains the sand and there is no leakage. That, then goes in the bottom. The rest of the pincushion I fill with crushed corn cob media - much cheaper than walnuts and it works great for me. Corn cob media is readily available as it is used in many crafts, rock tumbling and brass tumbling.