Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Crushed Walnut Shells

I have had a few emails questioning my use of Crushed Walnut Shells and I thought I would try to explain a bit about them.
In the Blackbird Book With Needle and Thread, Blackbirds designers Barb and Alma, list Crushed Walnut shells as the filling for their Pincushions. I did a little research online and the only info I could find on them was that this was Bird litter used in the bottom of bird cages to make cleanup easier. So off I went to the pet store and found a bag of it, its called KayTee Walnut litter, made of natural walnut shells. I am not sure if this is the same brand that they used but I purchased it and found it to be wonderful, I like the way it feels in the pincushion and the weight it gives. To be sure it was the same ingredients of the Blackbirds pincushions, I called the store they had listed which I should have done in the first place. DUH!! I spoke to a really nice lady and she said yes the crushed walnut shells are indeed Bird litter. They use them for filling for all pincushions because they are natural, they give them weight and have a wonderful oil in them that helps maintain your needle life. Keeping it sharp and clean.
Since I have a large 7lb bag of this stuff, if anyone would like a sample of it to try it out, please email me your address. I will send some free of charge to the first 7 people who request some.
email me at sharonlt42@aol.com
Happy Stitching

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your work is such a lovely finish.
I will sure have to give this a try.Thanks for the offer.

Judy

Irene said...

I'm going to give this a try. I have 2 love birds and could use it for them as well.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for that information, Sharon! It confounded me for sure. I love your finish. :o)

Pumpkin said...

Well isn't that neat! The stuff you learn :o) I'll have to check that out the next time I go to the pet store. I don't expect you to mail it to Canada so that's why I'm not requesting a sample :o) Thanks for the explaination Sharon!

Anonymous said...

Sharon, you are becoming the expert finisher!! You do such beautiful work. Love the new look on your blog, too!

Andrea said...

Thanks for the great information...I'd wondered about it when I saw it in the book.
I'd like to take you up on your offer if it's not too late or if I'm not the 8th person :)
Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I have also seen Vanilla Bean Mulch added to the pin cushions- so it not only keeps your needle sharp- but it smells wonderful!!

Kimberly

Carol R said...

I googles 'crushed walnut shells' and amongst the list was your blog. How come I've never found you before? I will be back!

I live in the UK and cannot find crushed walnut shells except on US ebay as 'lizard litter' so I suppose that means an enormous bag and an horrendous mailing charge? And I missed your kind offer too!

Off to read the rest of your blog - have a great weekend

Janessa Taylor said...

I just found the crushed walnut shells at Petco...a nice big bag for $10. I would hope that most pet stores carry it? Just made my first pincushions with them and I LOVE it!!

Anonymous said...

Hi, They are pet and people safe.Better for the environment:)
Emery is toxic.

Hannah said...

Thanks so much for posting this! I had heard of people using crushed walnut shells for pincushion filling, so I Googled where to buy it, since I had no idea. I never would have guessed a pet store was the right place to look!