Santa Photo

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It’s time again for our list of gifts and/or gadgets to make our sewing lives easier or more enjoyable.  You can see our posts from previous years by clicking on these links:  2018, 2019 (Part 1), 2019 (Part 2), 2020 (Part 1), 2020 (Part 2).  All the links in the articles still seem to work, which is saying something! Submitted by Liz M. Hello all! I am sharing some items I have in my quilting space that I find very useful! I have learned I am not a “gadget” person and that I prefer tools that produce good results when I use them. As youRead More →

Book Stack

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Submitted by Liz M. Hello! We are heading into the holiday season for many of us. Dianne and I will be posting our annual blogs about gift ideas in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, we thought we would share our favorite book with you and ask for readers to comment with their favorites! Please include the author, name of the book and a sentence or two about the subject or reason you recommend it. My current favorite book is “The New Quick and Easy Block Tool” published by C & T. It includes patterns for 110 blocks with multiple sizes for eachRead More →

Sewing Supplies

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Submitted by Liz M. One of the basics of quilting is the 1/4” seam allowance. After many years of sewing and quilting, I still struggle with achieving this. The smaller the block, the more important the correct seam allowance becomes. The more pieces in a block, the more difference a slightly larger (or smaller) seam makes. Many things factor into a quilter’s success: the thread, the fabric, correct cutting and ironing. Here is a link to a blog post that discusses The Mystery of the 1/4” Seam. It explains clearly the scant 1/4” and how to adjust your stitching to make it happen. What areRead More →

Quilted Quilt

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There are many, many long-arm quilters out there and I have heard the term “quilting by checkbook” cleverly used by those quilters that hire long-arm quilters to do the quilting on their projects. But how many of us have never used a long-arm quilter?  I suspect there are quite a few.  As for me, I had been quilting for many years before I finally decided to have someone else do the quilting for me.  Part of it was a trust issue; but it was mostly not knowing how to go about hiring a long-arm quilter in the first place.  Did I need to do somethingRead More →

Road Sign

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What would you think if you saw this star on a road sign?  As a quilter, my first thought was, “Hey, that’s a LeMoyne Star.”  And then my quilt-shop antenna shot up so fast, it made my head hurt!  However, when you are in Iceland and see that sign, it means there is a Wool (or Handicraft) Center coming up.  (The other two signs indicate an information center and a place of interest.) Icelandic wool is unique.  That’s because Icelandic sheep are unique.  You can see by the photo, they are big and fluffy.  Their outside hair is long, and the fluffy warm stuff isRead More →