Stash Happy Patchwork by Cynthia Shaffer

Stash Happy Patchworkby Cynthia Shaffer is a project sewing book with some really ugly sewing projects.

1 out of 10 stars. I found 2 projects of the 25 that I would consider sewing, but the others are pretty ugly. In a book with only 25 sewing projects it seems dreadfully wasteful to spend so many pages on “Cupcake Flags”. Who uses Cupcake Flags???

So let’s talk about the projects one by one and their many flaws:

Dress decoration: This is a decoration, not an actual dress, so it is not functional. Cute, but who hangs a dress on their walls?
Chair cushion: This is designed for a folding chair. Does anyone still use folding chairs?
Panda pillow: This is a cute pillow, however the cover is not removable to wash.
Honeycomb linens: These are appliques attached to linens, not a full project and unattractive at that.
Fabric cones: Cute but what would you ever use these for?
Cactus pincushion: This is eye catching until you see that it does not hold up well. It droops the way it is designed which makes for a very poor quality pincushion.
Patchy wrap skirt: This is one of the two projects I would be tempted to try, however the sizing is very small, girl sized, so it would have to be significantly altered and honestly I could’ve figured that out on my own.
French bistro napkins: These are really ugly and then again, who uses cloth napkins with slots for silverware? Nobody. They’re tacky except for picnics.
Bento box: This is a fabric box. While I like the concept of fabric boxes, they don’t hold up well at all.
Candle cozy: Eyelets look pretty in everything, but these are frivolous. I would never use these if they were gifted to me, so why would I sew them?
Sweetheart dress: This is a cute dress at a glance, but it’s ill-fitting because it’s a pillowcase dress. You can see from the model wearing it that it’s not constructed right. The straps are too far toward the arms, the bodice is too short, and there’s no shape to the body.
Fabric bowls: More fabric bowls.
Retro apron: I’ve never been fond of half aprons, but if you are, this one is cute enough, but only has one pocket. Nothing special.
Sofa arm cover and cushion: These are ugly. I have cuter pillow patterns from Joanns.
Scarf hoodie: This is okay, but taken directly from a Simplicity pattern. I already have that pattern and it’s much cuter.
Log cabin bucket: This is my favorite project from this book and one of only two I would ever try. My problem is with the instructions which are incomplete. Such a shame.
Dog collar: I’d never put this on a pet; it would rip the hair off and leave a naked skin spot.
Dresden plate rug: I didn’t like this rug either.
Clothespin caddy: This should have been less square so it would hang properly.
Sewing kit: Odd shape for a sewing kit, which should be portable.
Cupcake flags: Who uses cupcake flags?
Child vest: This is a cute vest if vests for your sons are your thing. I would never force my kid to wear this. He’d be beat up on the playground in a nano-second.
Cottage lap quilt: This is a lap quilt with little house appliques, cute but I prefer the lap quilts I already have.
Hobo bag: A really ugly bag.
Headband: A really ugly headband.