What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

The Sew Steady table is the perfect addition to any quilters machine. It is custom fit to your machine and extends the work area around your machine.

If your machine came with a standard table – you’ll want to take a look at the sew steady table for more working space. You won’t be sorry!

This table sits directly on your sewing machine table – so it works no matter where you sew. On your dining table, counter top or custom sewing machine table.

They come in different sizes, allowing you really to customize it to what you are needing ...

The Sewtites Hangstand is a wonderful thing to have in your sewing room and to help you keep your magnetic pins and notions all in one place.

Organizing your sewing room can be a little tricky when it comes to your Sewtites collection! They magnet themselves to everything and sometimes to places you really don’t want them to be or go.

The Sew ‘n Store Hangstand is heavy duty, sits on any counter you’d like and keeps all your magnetic odds and ends in one place.

Think of it as a pincushion for your sewtites magnets.

Sewtites Hangstand ...

Mrs Quilty Delivers 16 pieces of classic/modern fabrics (100% cotton), keeps you inspired with a magazine with unique projects and templates and surprises you with a special gift every month!

Looking for a fun quilt subscription box? Mrs Quilty is one that you may want to check out. With a large, easy to read magazine including a full project and fabric for additional quilt blocks plus a notion – this a great box to explore and subscribe to.

Let’s take a look inside at what’s included in the box that I received.

My thoughts…

I did find that ...

We’ll often think about the weight on our back but not on our feet, and some lightweight kicks can really make a difference in the right circumstances

Walking shoes are ideal for hiking when you want to feel lighter, more agile and cooler in warm weather. There’s also the energy-saving side of things; you seen, the average weight of a pair of walking shoes is around 750g whereas the average weight of a pair of boots is around 1200g, and carrying less on your feet can really make a difference over long distances. OK, hiking boots offer ankle ...

I thought it would be fun to teach some basic garment sewing techniques using a simple “T” top in woven fabric as the platform, tossing in a few special lessons along the way. This isn’t a class in how to make a blouse–rather it is a way to teach several techniques that are useful in garment making and home dec across the board.  There will be 9 posts total that will publish on Tuesday and Friday through March 21. As they go live, I will update a list at the bottom of each ...

Awhile back, I received a couple of Oliso irons to use. At the time, I was actually in need of a new iron.

Not only did I receive the large version of the iron, they surprised me with the little travel iron as well, and previously, I had not ever owned a little travel iron — simply because I could not find one I liked well enough to spend the money on.

Oh, I had sampled a couple — one of them was very lightweight and had a cord so heavy that the cord kept pulling the iron off the table! Another ...

My BQF (Best Quilty Friend) Heather Black of Quiltachusetts just wrote her 2nd book, Design, Make, Quilt Modern and I enjoyed reading it from cover to cover!

The book includes wonderful explanations of her design process including how the quilting can affect the look of the quilt, plus so much more useful info, especially if you enjoy designing your own quilts.

As a bonus, the book also includes 4 modern quilt patterns for you to make. They are:

#1 Grounded – I love how Heather explains her reasoning on why this quilt only has borders on 3 sides. At first you ...

For Christmas, I wrote out an ultimate gift list of items, I thought I would enjoy. There is a mix of bought gifts and hand made options in the list. I tried to buy local or small shop owners or directly from the artist. I actually used this in a 12 Days of Christmas activity. I think any one of these gifts would be a great gift for someone that has interest in quilting or arts and crafts.

Printed Material/ Reference

Quilting with Liberty (Book)
Essex Fabric Color Card (Reference guide)
Half Baked Harvest Cookbook (my favorite cookbook at the ...

I was so surprised to open this present at Christmas

While recovering from Covid, I had a lot of reading and resting time. Finished the entire thing.

And learned a lot.

Somehow I thought that most old quilts weren’t very big. False. There are many quilts more than 200 years old that are more than 100-inches square.

Somehow I thought that handquilting in the past was mostly utilitarian. False. Handquilting has been decorative and elaborate in patterns that rival the most adept contemporary longarm designs.

Somehow I thought that old quilts were all handmade. False. They used machines whenever ...

This project came from the book Reinvention, which I borrowed from the local library.

I was so excited to give it a try. I still have a lot of my father’s old jeans that my mother saved for years.  And, I am happy with the results.

BUT, it was not without trial.  I don’t know about the rest of the patterns in the book, but this one had numerous errors.  The measurements were off both in cutting directions and finished sizes of components in at least 4 places.

That is too bad, because it is a great idea ...

Hi Everyone, it’s been a really interesting year thus far in 2020. Things happening that I never imagined in my lifetime are happening and it brings not only great sadness but depression to many people affected by what is happening in the world today. It makes it hard to get things done but the one thing we all have in common is sewing and quilting. So, let’s pick ourselves up and start a new project. Smile even when you don’t feel like doing so, say hi, and pray for peace in the world again. June was a ...

Today I’m excited to tell you about a fabulous new book, from my friend Lilo Bowman.

Lilo Bowman

Love Your Creative Space: A Visual Guide to Creating an Inspiring & Organized Studio Without Breaking the Bank is Lilo’s new title from C&T Publishing. It’s full of ideas, solutions, and creative ways to set aside and love your personal space for making.

Click here to buy Love Your Creative Space on Amazon. 

So backing up a little, I first met Lilo when I was a guest on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. She’s ...

Magnetic seam guides are super handy tool for keeping your fabric aligned to help make perfectly straight seams.

Typically, sewing patterns mention a seam allowance that should be used for the project. Quilting patterns often use a quarter inch seam allowance while fashion projects often use three eights of an inch or maybe half an inch. Lining up these standard seam allowances with a custom sewing machine foot or the lines on the sewing machine make it fairly easy to get a consistent seam. However, if it’s a non-standard seam allowance, it may be more difficult to keep your ...

How to Thread the Singer 6215C Sewing Machine

According to the manual, the Singer 6215C sewing machine is from 1984, so it was one of the newest sewing machines in my vintage collection. According to the International Sewing Machine Collectors’ Society, the Singer 6215 models were produced in Brazil between 1985 and 1989. It features the free arm sewing machine bed option, 8 built-in stitches, buttonholes, and a drop in bobbin.

I won this item in an auction for 1 whole Canadian dollar – approximately $0.70 US.  I couldn’t resist when no one bid on it. It was described ...

Most of the sewing machine information I’ve been sharing on this blog are more “traditional” vintage sewing machines – gorgeous, all metal machines. However, this machine has grown on me, and I’ve come to choose it out of all my machines when I’m looking to do a decorative stitch.

This is my first Husqvarna sewing machine, although I did share a Husqvarna serger with my mother when I was younger.

I purchased this machine from the thrift store for $20, and over the years, I’ve invested in a new foot pedal, new standard feet and 1/4 ...

If you ever only buy one quilting book in your life, this should be it!

I bought one back in the early 1990s, and the information within its covers is still as relevant today as it was back when I first bought mine. My copy has also had a lot of use — it’s pretty beat up.

So I stole a photo of it from the Iowa Quilt Museum‘s site to show you:

It’s been reprinted recently, and they have it available for sale on their site HERE. And you can get yours autographed by the authors!

It ...

Charleston Pavement is the first big finish for the year.  YAY!

I love the pattern and am already planning a second quilt using it.

This one (and the next one) is a wedding quilt for a colleague.  She is getting married the first week of April.

I am so pleased at how it turned out.  Thank you, Shelly, for a great design.

About 9 years ago I took a chance on a “different” rotary cutter:  Martinelli’s.

It has served me well and faithfully, but, after who-knows-how-many-tens-of-thousands-of-cuts, it was just worn out.  I might have been able to get a replacement kit.

But, then I saw the new ones—BLUE!

And, that is how I got a new rotary cutter.

I love having talented friends and am pleased as punch when they do amazing things! Well today I want to tell you about this brad new book written by two of my friends, Heather Black and Daisy Aschehoug. It’s called Modern Curves and Bold Stripes, published by C&T publishing.

Click here to get a copy of Modern Curves and Bold Stripes.

The premise of the book is 15 fabulous modern designs featuring stripes and curves. Heather designed 8 of them and Daisy designed 7. And let me tell you – they are all so fab!! And one of the ...

I was put on “house arrest” last week as weeks of messing around with a cold-sinus infection-laryngitis-cough evolved into pneumonia.  Again.  Sometimes it is hard to be grateful for circumstances.

But, on the bright side, between resting and napping and doing nothing, I did get a lot of sewing time.  I tidied my sewing room and evaluated projects.

Over a year ago, I won the Charleston Pavement pattern from Shelly at Prairie Moon Quilts.  (She is the same one who sponsors the 350 block project.) There was a handy pile of inherited scraps as a starting point.  There WERE a ...