Does anyone remember the blizzard of ’78? I was a freshman in high school and that blizzard shut down Northeastern Ohio for at least a week. We lost power and my folks did their best to keep our house somewhat warm by using the gas oven in the kitchen and the wood burning fireplace in the family room. We all slept in the family room in front of the fire. It was so cold! There was over 3 feet of snow and roads were shut down for days while people tried their best to dig out. 

Fast forward to now ...

I felt antsy. Nothing has peaked my interest or seemed really fun to work on lately. Has that ever happened to you? Oh sure…..I have lots of projects-in-progress (in the quilting world, we call those UFO’s — or unfinished objects.) But I was really looking for a challenge. 

with Danielle Ross

Before I moved to Australia a few months ago, my friend, Danielle, and I had cut out all the bits and pieces to create a Tumbleweed Toiletry Tote from Blue Calla Patterns with the intention of making it into a hobby or sewing tote. (You can read about ...

Cheeto popping in to say hello!

It’s been awhile since my last post so I thought I’d take time to share some photos and provide an update. Let’s start with some new quilted wall art I made:

Last Christmas, Kent sent me four aboriginal-inspired fabric art panels he found here in town. At first I wasn’t sure how to use them but I quickly decided to hand embroider blocks of Australian animals I might meet on our travels using variegated floss. I used Solid-ish fabric strips to sash the blocks to the panels. I just love ...

The 2022 BOM Blitz II quilt-along has begun!

This is a FREE program and if you follow along, you’ll have the quilt top finished by early December! I hope you’ll join me on this fun-filled, skill building journey. It’s absolutely not too late to join, and you can work in the comfort of your own sewing space — at your own pace — while I walk you through construction process, step by step!

What you’ll need:

The supplies you need are simple. You’ll need 3 yards of one background fabric (includes the binding), one Jelly Roll with ...

Another update

Normally, I have all the household goods unpacked and pretty much settled within 3 – 4 weeks of moving in to a new home. I forgot everything takes longer when you live overseas. And everything takes extra long here! This town is so remote and so small that if they don’t have what you are looking for or need here in town, it typically takes about 3 – 4 weeks to have something shipped. Being a “git ‘er-done-now” sort of gal, this has been a true lesson in patience for me. I’ve been a bit frustrated with hitting ...

A quick selfie with Danielle (c) and Anne (r) to kick off our “Janome Girls’ Sewing Retreat!”

Last week, I experienced the restorative power of friendship and laughter with two dear friends who came for a sewing retreat here in my mountain studio. Words are simply inadequate to express how much this gift of time and the safe space to open up, be silly, creative, and truly authentic meant to me. We talked, we laughed, we sewed, and we visited the quilt show, Road2CA for a day in nearby Ontario, CA. 

In the booth at Road2CA, Sam Fung showed off ...

Pour yourself a cup of tea and settle in for a newsy update…

Many of you have been following our newest big adventure I first wrote about last summer. (In case you missed it, CLICK HERE.) Admittedly, my blog posts were rather sparse during the last quarter of 2021 because we put our plan into motion and my husband actually made the big transition and moved down under in early November. We spent the holidays apart for the first time in 34 years, but we chose to make the season merry despite our circumstances. As for my poor husband’s ...

NOTE: For those folks who came here looking for the Hometown Heritage story about the Canal Fulton quilt, simply click HERE to read it. 

I can say without a doubt the past 24 hours have been some of the most angst-filled I have ever endured. At this moment as I write, Southern California, in particular the San Bernadino mountains where our cabin is located, has been pummeled by a fierce winter storm with very high sustained winds and torrential rains. Considering the severe drought the area has been going through for months, I fear these rains will cause major damage ...

I’ve been away from posting on my blog and and I’ve missed sharing updates. But there has been a good reason for my absence: we’ve been making some life-changing decisions about our future. 

Four years ago, my sweet husband was offered the opportunity to take on a new challenge with a large defense contractor and we moved from Northern Virginia to Southern California. At the time, we hoped we might be able to stay here until it would be time for him to retire (8 years from now) from his full-time career as an IT specialist. We ...

Cheeto (aka, Janome Cat) joined our family almost three years ago when he came to us through an amazing foster family through CARE Rescue LA. This sweet, young couple is very involved in rescuing pets in need to help them find their furr-ever homes.

Cheeto with his three siblings when they were found with their Mama at about three or four days old. (Cheeto is on the far right.) Mama was a very large cat….and the kittens all grew up to be big kitties, too.

Cheeto’s foster Mom, Kelly, and I have stayed in touch through texting and ...

The 2021 CHEETO’S WORLD calendars have been ordered and will ship in early December! Don’t wait — there is a very limited number and now is the time to order yours!

We want to support two awesome pet rescue organizations this holiday season! So proceeds from the 2021 CHEETO’S WORLD calendar will be evenly divided and donated to CARE Rescue LA (the rescue where we found our beloved Cheeto!) and A Pawsitive Approach in Anaheim, CA, (where we found our sweet Dodger and more recently, Remy and Tater!) The good folks who rescue and foster these kittens, cats ...

Our family has grown again.

As hard as it was to lose our beloved little Dodger, we knew we would adopt a kitten again.  Everyone felt the void left when Dodger passed away; most especially Cheeto. The foster moms at A Pawsitive Approach were so helpful and understanding about our desire to find the right kitten to join our family. We visited several foster parents and their foster kittens but it wasn’t until we visited with Teresa and Sherrie (Dodger’s sweet foster Mama) that we found the perfect new addition. 

Meet Remy.

We brought Remy home because he ...

Dodger  (June – October 2020)

I have heartbreaking news to share with you. Our sweet little bundle of kitten cuteness, Dodger, passed away suddenly in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. 

We were awakened to strange sounds and when we found him, it became quickly apparent something was terribly wrong. In the 90 seconds it took Kent to throw on some clothes to take Dodger to the emergency animal hospital, and while I was frantically calling them, Dodger stopped breathing. We tried to clear his airway but it all happened so quickly and our sweet kitten was gone — even before we ...

Snowflake Stars by Kimberly Einmo. Quilted by Birgit Schueller

I was privileged to virtually teach an enthusiastic group of quilters this past Saturday on the ZOOM platform. It was an amazing day with so much learning, sharing and interacting across the miles!

There were attendees from all across the USA, including two students joining from Alaska, one from Tenerife, and one from Ireland! There were two sisters in attendance who live over 2000 miles away from each other who took the class to spend time quilting together — all without having to leave their respective homes. There was a sweet young ...

I have wanted to write a complete and thorough review about Janome’s newest sewing machine, the Continental M7, for many months. I was first introduced to this machine before the official launch during the summer of 2019 and then a new M7 arrived in my studio last November. I’m glad I waited to formulate my thoughts and put them in writing until now for many reasons. The main reason is that while I’ve been at home during the pandemic, I’ve had large chunks of uninterrupted time to dive deep and really get to explore and learn ...

Many of you have been following along on the Janome Facebook pages these past several months where the talented Janome educators and I have been presenting LIVE events, demos, tutorials and classes. If you haven’t been watching, well…..oh my goodness — what are you waiting for? Since the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve collectively created a supportive and encouraging community of sewing enthusiasts (whether or not they are Janome machine owners) from all walks of life and around the globe which is now almost 100k strong! This feat alone has taken dedication and forward thinking. No ...

The definition of cogitate is: “To think deeply about something; meditate or reflect.” 
I’ve been cogitating.

It’s hard to believe the last time I wrote a blog post was in May. The Covid-19 pandemic, turmoil, social unrest, and changes in our world have been truly mind-boggling in the past several months. I must admit, I’ve had to really take time (all while working harder than ever at home to meet deadlines and commitments) to really look inward and think about many things. I’ve challenged myself to examine old beliefs in new ways with a fresh perspective ...

I’ve been in the planning process for this Facebook Live event for a couple of weeks. While I love teaching classes or sharing tips and techniques on camera, going LIVE brought with it a whole different set of things for which to plan and prepare. And I was quite nervous leading up to the event. But once we got started, it was truly so much fun and I loved the interaction with all of you watching from across the country and around the world!

Janome initiated these Facebook LIVE events last week. They will appear on Facebook every Monday ...

I’m back after a brief hiatus! I took a few days last week to work on some creative projects and it was a wonderfully refreshing, productive time. Now I’ve got some really fun and clever things to share with you all in the coming days. Starting with……

I’m personally inviting you to join me on Monday, April 6th at 3pm Eastern Standard Time for my first-ever, FACEBOOK LIVE Event! You’ll be able to find this on the Janome Sewing Machines page on Facebook. If you can’t join me for the LIVE EVENT, it will be ...

UPDATE! My PERFECT PINES pattern is now available as a download on my website! My Precision Flying Geese Ruler is required to make this pattern (you’ll need it to squeeze out cutting the little triangles from the leftover bits to make the pieced border trees!)

I’m excited to share a brand new quilt with you! I was inspired to make this quilt by this woodsy, mountain lodge themed fabric and my original Perfect Pines pattern. The blocks are pieced from 10″ x  10″ squares (these fabrics are from a Layer Cake by Deb Strain called Holiday Lodge and ...