On my website, in my Etsy shop, I have been adding State Blocks. These blocks are paper pieced. I am definitely going to do all 50 states. Of course, Wisconsin was first. It was inspired by my Row-by-Row Block. There are so many different things that you can do with these blocks. You can make throw pillows, placemats, table runners, and of course quilts. You could put them in a

So you’ve all heard about the ruffle fabric in my various posts. I love it. There is so much to love about it. One of the best things is that it requires no hemming. Yes, that’s right. If you make a skirt out of it you don’t need to hem it. Wait, wait. Back up a bit. What is ruffle fabric? Okay. A few years ago at Quilt Market, I

I love this fabric and I had to make a skirt using it. It screamed summer skirt! My daughter probably could use one. Hmmm….I made it for her and then decided that I have to make another one for myself. It is just such great fabric. The fabric is by Luke for Moda fabrics and we have it in the shop. There are a lot of different ways to make

Being an author can be lonely business. While everyone is posting their Saturday afternoon sewing projects on instagram, I am sewing in complete seclusion. When you’re making something for a book, you can’t be flashing it all over the internet, because what publisher will want you to do that? This time it was my daughter. She’s a working mom–a managing attorney for the firm she works for and she also

I think it’s wonderful that all these young people are learning to sew. Unfortunately so many schools have dropped their home ec courses. It leaves a lot of young people high and dry when it comes to sewing skills. I have seen many young quilters that are self taught making a lot of mistakes that can be prevented with some basic sewing knowledge. It is up to us older quilters

Emma was so excited to learn to sew. Her Grandma brought her in for lessons. She’s a 4-H member, and needed help to finish her sewing project before the Winnebago County Fair. She’s making a pillowcase. She picked out some cat fabric by Ink and Arrow for Quilting Treasures. She did the first part of it, and next week when she comes back she will finish the band. Her Grandma

I have been trying to pound out these blocks. I have made a whole bunch of them, but only have them sketched and the instructions done. I have to sew each one before I publish it and try and sell it. The reason for that is I want to make sure that it is free of mistakes or glitches. So, today I finished the State of Oklahoma. There is no

My original love is garment sewing. I started sewing in 4-H. In fact, this time of year always reminds me of crunch time. We were always hurrying to get our fair items done. We would sew all winter long, but it never failed. As soon as it was getting close to fair time there was a flurry of sewing. I still love to go through the 4-H buildings at the

Well I can’t believe that my book was selected for the Fresh Picks section of McCall’s Quilting Magazine. It’s the July/August edition 2016. After the book came out I was just waiting to see if it would make it into any magazines, and it’s already been in many different ones. It has been in Pretty Patches Magazine, it’s been in Modern Patchwork, reviewed in “Good Reads” in that one, it’s

So many people vacation in Florida. Especially snowbirds! People in Wisconsin and many northern states go to Florida for the entire winter, so they are probably looking for home dec ideas. I, personally, would die if I had to miss all the snow and the beautiful winter days. The snow just sparkles when it’s new on the ground. But, I digress. I made a paper pieced version of Florida. It