What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

What’s the Project? Looking for an easy way to decorate for summer? These summer pillow sewing patterns are a quick way to add fresh colors, fun prints, and a seasonal touch to your living room, porch, bedroom, or patio. They’re beginner-friendly projects that are perfect for using fabric from your stash.

One of the fastest ways to give your home a fresh look is by changing out your throw pillows. You don’t have to redecorate an entire room—a few handmade pillows in cheerful summer fabrics can completely change the feel of ...

So, I hope we all went crazy embellishing the stockings from yesterday. How many did you end up with? I have nine.

Now, pull out your larger beads in all kinds of sizes and materials. I have glass ones, plastic ones in all kinds of colors and sizes, bits from broken jewelry, wood and metal beads. Decide the order in which you want to string your stockings. Note that the openings have not been stitched closed. Leave them open for now.

Begin the string at the bottom of the stocking you want on the bottom end. You can use two ...

I was looking at the Prosperity Sewing Hens I made a few weeks ago, and mulling over the Christmas in July event I wanted to do. I briefly considered making hens out of Christmas fabrics, when another idea hit me. What about Stockings instead? A wish for abundance at the holiday time with family and friends, an abundance of food and maybe even a few gifts. Maybe you can see me rubbing my hands together with glee, what an opportunity to embellish!!

Start by downloading the pattern – Abundance Stockings

For each print, cut one piece of fabric 4-inches x 9-inches ...

One of the bittersweet milestones of grandparenting is realizing that little ones eventually outgrow the baby quilts that once seemed so enormous. When our youngest granddaughters reached that stage, I knew it was time to create something new—quilts they could … Continue reading →

What’s the Project? Keep your notebook protected and easy to spot with this vinyl notebook cover sewing tutorial. This simple project combines fabric and clear vinyl to create a durable cover that’s perfect for school, journaling, meeting notes, quilt planning, or everyday use. It’s an easy sewing project that’s suitable for confident beginners and can be customized with your favorite fabrics.

Learn how to sew a vinyl notebook cover that’s both practical and fun to personalize. Whether you’re carrying a notebook in your purse, keeping track of quilt projects, writing in a journal, or ...

Our oldest granddaughter and her husband are expecting their second child, and the nursery theme is an old-fashioned blue-and-white gingham with teddy bears and warm wood tones. When I think of classic baby quilts, the Double Irish Chain is always … Continue reading →

I recently finished two patriotic quilts that I’m excited to share as I say, “Happy Birthday, America!”

This first one is called Positive Vibes and is a remake of a pattern I first had published in a magazine nearly 10 years ago. That was before I became a fabric designer and I always knew I wanted to remake using red, white and blue scraps of my own fabrics.

I quilted it with Red, Aqua, Navy and Gold Metallic threads. In each of the aqua, red and navy rows of plus blocks, I quilted straight lines to represent stars. In ...

In the stash was a gorgeous piece of rayon challis that I wanted to turn into a lounge wear set. I love the Asian style print of the flowers on a dark background. I wanted something cool for summer, and in a fabric that was not knit. It is irritating that everything these days is knit fabrics in leisure wear. I don’t care for knits as they are too hot. I much prefer woven cotton or very light weight synthetics. Anyway, this fabric was perfect. It is lightweight, drapes beautifully, cool and comfortable. I got out my patterns and ...

 The sneaky artist strikes again.

I first heard of prosperity hens almost 2 years ago, when reader Becky mentioned them in a comment, then sent me a photo of hers. Prosperity Hens originated in India where having a flock of chickens could make a difference for a poverty stricken family. They are meant to bring prosperity to a home and are generally hung near a doorway or window. I kept her photo, and the project stayed in the back of my mind. When the longarm went down again, and I found I had time on my hands, it seemed a perfect time to finally make ...

First I tried straw, then I teased out wire scourers to apply as mulch, splitting open the end of my thumb but NOTHING seems to stop the pesky slugs that are trashing my strawberries. I have been out at dusk with a trowel, waging war against the slimy pests. My next strategy is to put out beer traps, otherwise I will not be able to eat a single homegrown strawberry without biting into something vile and squelchy. 

It was all-systems-go at work with customer quilts. I think 4 different ones were on the frames this week ranging from brightly coloured ...

I have a crafty swap event coming up at the end of the month and I need to make 12 of something. I haven’t made my mind up yet but I’m considering making little rope bowls so I started making bowls with my scrap pieces of 3/16” cotton rope and the tiny bowl came out so cute I thought I would share it with you!

Tune in for tips and a how-to on making this tiny rope bowl. It’s perfect for holdings rings, crystals and other small objects.

I have a full 3-project online video course ...

 Good evening, friends. It's been a while. How are you? We are doing well here in the northern most part of Ohio. I have gardening and quilting on the brain, and so that's what I've been doing a lot of.

I am still working, but a little closer to home these days. Not that this has given me much more free time, I do have teenagers and small children after all. But it has made the drive home shorter and allowed me to sleep in just a little bit longer in the mornings. 

I have decided to ...

The gift gallery at the show was really spectacular with well over 1000 items to choose from. Isn’t shopping fun! But, I put in way too much, with over 100 items. Granted, 40 of them were fabric stars that were displayed on one mug rack and 30 were handmade cards in a basket, but I still had much too much left over. The small room had every wall covered plus three tables in the middle covered with items, along with several quilt racks, and more outside the door.

Some of what I made for the show were items any ...

Ever made a bag that just won’t stand up the way you want it to? That’s usually where box corners come in. This simple sewing technique is what gives bags, pouches, and bins that flat bottom so they actually hold their shape and work the way they should.

The good news is there’s more than one way to do it—and none of them are hard. In this tutorial, you’ll learn 3 easy methods for sewing box corners, so you can pick the one that makes the most sense for how you like to sew. Once ...

When we left off last time, the front and back of the tote were complete and ready for assembly. If you missed the first part with the cutting directions and initial construction, click on Sew Pretty Tote.

Because I want to work on this while it is flat as long as possible, the first thing to do for assembly is to sew the front and back together on bottom seam. I use clips instead of pins for this due to the bulk.

Lay the piece out, and hard press the seam open. Then press from the top side to set ...