One of my friends made me a sewing pouch last Summer. These sewing pouches are perfect for storing thread spools, needles, small scissors, and other notions. I usually carry in it what I need for hand quilting, and take it with me to Sue's house on Wednesdays. A few of my friends asked me to make them so they could give them as gifts.  I had a lot of fun choosing the fabrics for each one... My plan is to open an Etsy store and sell them there (how many times have you heard me say … [Read more...] about Sewing Pouch

This month marks the first anniversary of this blog!!! One year and 220 posts later, I am enjoying every minute of it... I have 'met' so many wonderful people from the world over through this blog! Thank you for following my quilting adventures, for your words of encouragement, and for sharing your opinions and comments. I reply to every single comment I receive. If you haven't heard from me you may be a no-reply blogger (read this post by Sew at Home Mummy to learn how to change that quickly … [Read more...] about This blog’s first anniversary

Hello, everyone! Thank you for participating on my monthly giveaway! I had a great time visiting with all of you, making new friends, and reading your comments. The winner will receive 3 1/2 yards of this beautiful fabric: Cambridge Common by Free Spirit. Without further ado, here is January's winner: 1 Set of 1 Unique Numbers Per Set Range: From 1 to 221 -- Unsorted Set #1: 110 Stephanie said... 110-I would love to learn FMQ! I tried it a tad last year and well I would … [Read more...] about Winner of January Giveaway

As you may have already noticed, I like to learn from books. I can learn when it is convenient for me, at my own pace, and can refer back to the instructions later. I am particularly grateful to authors who invest their time (and money) to publish books with content which helps us achieve desired results but with simplified and clever methods. With that in mind, did you know you could make a tumbling block quilt using strip-piecing instead of Y-seams?  Had I seen a couple of years ago the … [Read more...] about How to easily sew the tumbling block

Arabian Nights II ©pieced brain This is my second design using the Drunkard's Path block. The first one was red and white (see it here). I chose Blueberry Crumb Cake by Blackbird Designs for Moda, along with off-white for contrast. As before, I used Quiltsmart interface for the Drunkard's Path blocks (did not feel like sewing curves...). The blocks come together nicely, and are finished off with a tiny zigzag stitch around the edges, hardly noticeable because it is done with … [Read more...] about Arabian Nights II

My cutting table is full of fabric rectangles of many colors. Surprisingly, these shades of green, purple, and yellow in plaid, checkers, herringbone designs go well together. I am somewhat relieved, as scrappy quilts disorient me with their multitude of colors and textures. This quilt will be another example of the “Turning Twenty” pattern. Life was wild when I was twenty…  Is it how it got its moniker? As I thoughtfully lay out each piece on my design wall, I see how quilts resemble our … [Read more...] about Life as a Quilt