I hinted I had a new quilt in the works back in February. As I pieced the blocks, I posted a few sneak peeks.

After I finished the quilt top, I shared a picture of it in my rearranged studio during the early weeks of the pandemic. 

Then I sent the quilt top to my very talented friend, Birgit Schuller, and she frosted it with her exquisite machine quilting! It was wonderful to work with her again on a quilt (thank you so much, Birgit!) When I received the quilt back from her, I was thrilled; but I still needed ...

UPDATE: Mom’s pie crust recipe at the bottom!

How’s that title for alliteration? 

My mother, who was a good cook and decent baker, taught me many of her kitchen skills. I learned to cook fairly well before I wed, and in the past fifteen years or so, I have become a better-than-average cook. As for baking? Mom could make delicious cookies, spectacular home made fudge and tasty cakes (although in fairness…we always teased that her cakes never looked pretty  because typically, they would crack down the middle.)

Nina Lee Wallace (my Mom) left, and her sister, Virginia ...

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 ...

The Sewing Arts Center famous ‘blue wall.” This is an iconic photo spot! My new Stitchin’ Babes Roadies: from left, Pat, Marie, and Melanie

Every gal needs a group of cronies where she can ‘belong’ and I’m no exception. Thankfully, I have found my gang and we’re calling ourselves the Stitchin’ Babes Roadies. (Cue: giggles.)

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I hosted the kit cutting party here at my house? (If you missed it, you can read about it by CLICKING HERE.) My friend, Melanie was there and I was asking about local quilt shops in ...

I’m not one who likes to ask for help. But recently, I found myself facing a task which seemed was so monumental I decided I needed to send out an SOS for help. And I’m so happy a small army of quilters armed with rotary cutters came to my rescue!

I’ll be teaching at Charlotte Angotti’s Biloxi Escape in a few weeks. The format for this retreat is for students to have three Progressive Mystery Classes taught by Charlotte, Karen K Stone, and myself. We each have designed a mystery quilt comprised of the equivalent of ...

…for Christmas!

I can’t believe I started this festive and fun quilt just a couple of weeks ago. I never dreamed it would be completely finished (with three days left to spare) before Christmas! The design is a variation of my Arrowheads quilt pattern that I debuted in my classes this year. When I taught the class at the Vermont Quilt Festival this past summer, one of my clever students had the idea to turn the arrowheads upside down to make Christmas trees. It was a brilliant idea!

I took the idea one step further and modified the pattern ...

The Christmas Season is Heating Up!

The tree is up, presents are bought, plans are mostly laid. The weather outside is variable; this week it is stinking hot, until it’s not. It’s going to be 44C by Friday. For those of you not familiar with Celcius to Farenheit, 44C is about 111F. Then Saturday will have a maximum of 25C….. that will be one heck of a cool change when it blows through. It’s starting to feel a lot like Christmas!

Although 44C is not the hottest we’ve ever had (46.6C in Jan 2019), it ...

The Soul of the Party at Love with a Twist…..

You know that intolerable squeaky noise that balloons make when they are twisted and folded into shapes? Well, did you know, that’s actually the trapped soul of a departed parrot? The screeching balloon is passing on the parrot’s desire to party one last time before he heads off to wreak havoc in the afterlife. True! read more

And it’s time for a bit of fun. I’m driving through upstate New York visiting several of my quilt shops before heading off to Quilt Market. I’m enjoying the glorious riot of color. Yesterday I drove to Crazy Moose in Inlet NY right in the middle of Adirondack Park. The sunrise indescribable. The fun? While… Continue reading Autumn is falling

I’ve been on the road teaching for guilds and at industry events a lot lately. One of the benefits of my busy travel schedule is it affords me the unique opportunity to visit Janome dealers around the country, sometimes unexpectedly! Just last week we flew into Dulles airport outside of Washington, DC on our way to visit our sons at their university. I had heard about this incredibly stylish store and that it’s located not far from the airport. so Mr. Kim and I dropped in to visit Precious Lopez at Sew Magarbo in Ashburn, Virginia.

To say ...