Category Archives: Quilting

Are You With Me??

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Want to join my bandwagon??

I jumped on one a week or two ago …What kind of bandwagon you might wonder.  One to tackle THIS…


To some of you, it might look like garbage.  Not to me!!

This is a couple of years of collecting.  I’ve been collecting yellow and blue shirts with the hope of designing and make a yellow and blue quilt made from shirts.  I have LOTS of my plate as far as sewing goes right now and that’s okay but…I am so sick of this mess sitting in my upstairs hallway.

Yes, it’s true confession time.  These bags have been sitting there for about two years.  I add a shirt or two from time to time but I never process the shirts.  UGH.

Here’s another confession.  There previously was another bag of shirts there but, with the new year, I made a plan to get the shirts tackled.  So…that bag is now fabric.  YAHOO!!

See?? Continue reading →

Paint Quilt Blocks

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I needed some Christmas presents for people in my life who are quilty and I tried to think of something that would be quilty to give them.  About that same time, I was cleaning the sewing room and saw some wooden blocks that Kramer had cut for me before he passed away.  I had intended on making these a few years ago and never got around to it even though Kramer had cut the blocks.

See the block on the right…I was hoping to replicate that.  I had bought it five years ago and thought it was really cute and a good thing to gift.  So I sat down and decided to make some.

It looks easy…and it isn’t hard, but it is tedious.


I had two blocks that I was trying to replicate…the above one, and the one below.


My blocks were cut so they are 3″ x 3″.  The quilt block I painted on the inside is 2″ x 2″.

To make them cut the boards…sand them and then draw out your design.  For me, I drew out a 4 x 4 grid with all of the squares in the block being 1/2″ square.

After I drew out the block, I used Frog Painters Tape.  This brand is the best and I recommend it.  Find it HERE on Amazon.


Then I taped off an area as shown below.

Then I painted that section.  I used Waverly paint in small individual bottles that I got at Walmart.


When painting, I recommend dabbing not brushing.

A minute after painting, carefully remove the tape.


They should look like this… Continue reading →

Book Review: Everyday Embroidery for Modern Stitchers

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When I got an email from C&T Publishing showing their newly released books, I had to smile.

I was a product of the 70s.  Embroidery was big back then and oh my, did I ever love doing it.  I had a jean jacket that I was constantly adding a new embroidery motif to.  I just loved that jean jacket.

This isn’t my actual jacket but mine looked something like this…

Vintage 1970s Hand Embroidered Denim Jacket | Embroidered denim jacket, Embroidered denim jacket vintage, Vintage denim jacketMine had a row of flowers across the back near the bottom.  I LOVED stitching on it.  Back then McCalls and Simplicity had iron-on motifs and I was always wanting more motifs to iron on and stitch.

This is the pattern that I had…I did some Googling to find it.  Oh my, I got more than the 65 cents worth out of the pattern.

Simplicity 6597 Vintage 1970s Embroidery Transfer Yellow for Denim
My dream was to have my jean jacket look just like the gal’s that is in the picture.  I wish I still had it to show you all.  It was so fun.

So, imagine my joy when I saw the book that C&T is publishing…Embroidery.  Notice the big yellow flower on the back of the jean jacket?


My 12-year-old self is coveting it.  It would have been a great addition to my jean jacket.

The book is Everyday Embroidery for Modern Stitchers written by Megan Eckman and is full of fun motifs.

The book shows how to make several different projects and then lets you mix and match motifs to projects.


Here is a little more info from C&T about it.

“Get started with embroidery! Sew 15 fun projects that are approachable, practical, and awesome

Go retro, mystical, or botanical with 50 themed embroidery ideas to iron on or download and print

Mix and match motifs to choose your own adventure—even embroider your own apparel“

Embroidery projects you can finish in a day or a weekend Stitch something awesome today! From the creative mind of Megan Eckman come 15 edgy and fun embroidered projects to sew. Just choose your designs, iron them on, and stitch along the lines. Mix and match 50 on-trend designs like crystals and succulents to decorate accessories and home decor—even personalizing the things you already wear and love like denim jackets and canvas shoes. Download the simple embroidery pattern outlines to print as many times as you want, or use the included iron-on transfers. Just dipping your toes into embroidery? With handy stitch guides and practical advice, even beginners will be able to start a project today and finish by the weekend! Get started with embroidery! Sew 15 fun projects that are approachable, practical, and awesome Go retro, mystical, or botanical with 50 themed embroidery ideas to iron on or download and print Mix and match motifs to choose your own adventure—even embroider your own apparel

There were lots of cute things.


As I said, my 12-year-old self really wanted this book.

But, alas.  I turned 55 and jean jackets with cool embroidery aren’t the thing and now I’m into cross-stitching.  It was a cute book though…and if you have a 12-year-old in your life.  Buy a jean jacket and a book like this along with embroidery supplies might be just the thing.  Who knows…maybe 43 years later she’ll be writing a blog post and feeling nostalgic about her 12-year-old self and her mad embroidery skills.

You can find the book HERE at C&T Publishing.
You can also find it HERE on Amazon.

Dirty Dozen for January

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I really did poorly with my December Dirty Dozen UFO challenge…really poorly.  I did finish these quilts…


These were considered two projects.  Some of you might think that was great but the truth is, they were finished in November except for the binding.  In December all I did was bind them and write a blog post about them.

It seems that most of you liked the one on the far left best.  I’m so happy as that is the one that I sent off to my niece’s new little baby girl.  I just didn’t know which to send.  You can read the full post about the quilts HERE.  You can get the free pattern to make this baby quilt HERE.

The other two quilts are here on reserve for the next time I need a baby quilt.  I really wish I had a couple of boy ones done and on reserve too…but that will wait.

I also finished this…
This #4.  I need to stitch the stems and make this into a pincushion.  That wouldn’t take long at all…and I actually did it!!

Here it is all finished…  All I had to do was the stem stitch and make it into a pillow.

As for the new number for the Dirty Dozen Challenge, it’s number 12.

I have two #12s.  This… Continue reading →