On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of antique quilt hunting at the Famous Brimfield Antiques Market with my friend, Diana Annis! With Diana by my side, we had a fabulous […] Read More
Blog
Washing Quilts…New or Antique, Your Quilts Deserve Special Care!
Have you ever washed a quilt in the bathtub? That is how I was taught to wash an antique quilt, but it is a little difficult to handle a heavy, […] Read More
5 Reasons Why Applique is Easier than Piecing a Quilt…
Applique is now easier than piecing, even for beginners. If you find that statement hard to believe, you are not doing applique MY WAY! Now, wait a minute. Before […] Read More
Applique is not a Curse Word!
When I am out speaking to quilt guilds, I always ask, “WHO LOVES TO MAKE APPLIQUE QUILTS?” A few uncertain hands raise slowly, sometimes wavering or giving me the metza/metza […] Read More
Clamshell Quilts and a New England Clam Boil
New England’s Textile Heritage, and what that has to do with ClamBoils! What do Portuguese cooking and quilting have in common? I was raised in Rhode Island, on Narragansett Bay. […] Read More
How to Get Started with Fusible Applique…Eat the Frog!
I just love watching the frogs in my green slimy frog pond in the middle of my backyard garden! The pond is filled with little black tadpoles this year. It […] Read More
Make a Quilt Block Design Board and Explore your Creativity!
The Kaffe Design walls that I made for my sewing room are perfect for me to use when teaching or taking Zoom workshops! I use one wall to pin up […] Read More
Making Dinner with Hearts & More Applique Templates!
On Wednesday, I used Hearts and More for two different uses. First, I taught a class on making the Drunkard’s Path quilt, then I made dinner with Hearts and More! […] Read More
Life’s Lessons from My Mother
I am so fortunate to still have both of my parents living in Texas! Now that we are all vaccinated, it was time to go visit “the folks”. My siblings […] Read More
Kaffe Design Wall for Auditioning Applique Fabrics
When designing an applique quilt or reproducing an applique pattern it is very helpful to tack the blocks and borders up to a wall. Sit back and ponder your applique […] Read More
Pros and Cons of Three Different Applique Cutting Systems
When I first started making applique quilts, I did everything by hand. Over the years, I have tried many methods of hand and fusible applique. While I love hand applique, […] Read More
Designing Applique Quilts in EQ, Part 4 Choosing Colors and Fabric
The primary reason I use EQ to design my applique quilts is that I can quickly recolor any quilt by swapping out colors with the When coloring an applique quilt […] Read More
Designing Applique Quilts in EQ, Part 3: Three Steps to Resize Applique Blocks
When you want to resize an applique block in Electric Quilt, there is an easy way to do it…if you know the secret! Once you have an applique block drawn […] Read More
Applique Borders: Designing Applique Quilts in EQ, Part 2
This quilt was designed in an applique block design workshop with my guild. I drew each block in EQ by taking a photo of each block, importing the photo into […] Read More
Designing Applique Quilts in EQ, Part 1
Designing Applique blocks and borders in EQ When you tackle a quilt like this spring flowers quilt, the first step is to design the basic quilt structure in Electric Quilt. […] Read More
Let Go of Perfection to Achieve Perfection!
Let go of perfection to achieve perfection! This is the advice I have been giving the members of “Ahead of the Curve” this week. They are learning to free-motion quilt […] Read More
Feathering your Nest
Many of us have had the experience of “Nesting” while expecting a child. Nesting is the female’s natural instinct to clean, organize and prepare the “Nest” for Baby’s arrival. Lord […] Read More
Saving Grace
Since I picked my word of the year, Grace, I have noticed how many times people say that word! One of the most common phrases is “Saving Grace”. Vocabulary.com says: A saving grace is […] Read More
THE SEWING ROOM BLUES: Organizing a Small Sewing Room
DO YOU EVER GET THE SEWING ROOM BLUES? If you have a magazine-ready sewing room, count your blessings! If you suffer from the “Small Sewing Room Blues”, I feel your […] Read More
Instagram, and the IG Quiltfest 2021 CONTEST
I have joined the 2021 Instagram QuiltFest! For the rest of March, I’m going to post one photo a day that relates to a list of writing prompts. I love […] Read More
Fusible Flaws: When Fusible Applique is NOT the Best Option
Fusible applique is the method I use for MOST of my applique quilts. There are times when fusible applique may not be the best method FOR YOU. Nine years ago, […] Read More
Cultivating Culture
When Netflix gets old…there are some wonderful lectures and presentations from the International Quilt Museum. To get to all the museum’s online resources, go to the website: internationalquiltmuseum.org, then follow the Visit […] Read More
Podcasts and Love Letters
Are you into Podcasts? I love listening to podcasts while I sew! One of my favorite podcasts is “Happier”, with Gretchen Rubin and her sister Elizabeth Craft. Liz and Gretchen challenge us to […] Read More
GRACE
Last week I celebrated my 55th birthday, and I want to thank everyone for the e-mails, cards and personal messages on Facebook and Instagram. I am feeling loved! This morning I got […] Read More
BIG Daddy Clam Shells
Big Daddy Clam Shells is finished and quilted! I just love what Pam at the Quilted Seahorse did with this quilt! The quilting pattern is perfect. Big Daddy uses […] Read More
