Extreme Makeover - Pincushion Edition

I wrote a long, LONG missive about a pincushion that my mother had when I was a child.  I lost that pincushion, by my calculations, about 56 years ago. As I wrote out the story, and wrote and wrote..., I realized that no one really wanted to read my long sad story of how I had lost my mother's pincushion.  So I decided to abbreviate it all and just give you the down and dirty details in order to set up my Extreme Makover Story. Here is the abbreviated version.

• My Mom was given a rocking chair pincushion.
• She loved it.

• I took it to school in the First Grade for Show-and-Tell and lost it.

• MOM WAS MAD !...

• I recently found another Rocking Chair Pincushion at an Estate Sale. 

• It was totally ugly.

• I bought it for $2.00.  Probably overpaid...

• Decided to give it an EXTREME  MAKEOVER.

Here is the Pincushion in it's BEFORE state.  You can see the incredibly dated fabric 

and just how dirty the thing is. Totally not my style.

 Bleccchhhhh!!!!!

But it does have a cute little drawer under the seat that held some old buttons and a measuring tape.  AND, it has a slot at the top of the back of the chair to hold a pair of scissors.  

I removed the little cushions and pulled the fabric off.  I scrubbed it clean and spray painted the wood with my new favorite color, that vintage aqua green.  One of my friends calls it "Martha Stewart Green"...  I made new little patchwork pinwheel cushions.

My newly revamped pincushion rocker now sits on my sewing table. Each and every time I look at it, I think of my mom, who passed 15 years ago.  It's a sweet little reminder of her and of our shared love of sewing.  I guess that I did not overpay for my sad old pincushion, because these memories of mine are priceless!