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Happy December Sewing
This time of the year - I love it. The cold, the early darkness, the winter sun. Our December is a reasonable one with just the right amount of activities sprinkled in. The busyness of Christmas...
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All Quilt Projects, Great and Small
The end of the year means two things: wrapping up current projects and planning projects for 2024. Sew Powerful purses are at the top of the 2024 list. But I cannot stop myself from starting new...
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Stopping and Restarting
We’re leaving town this week - John wants to go on another jazz cruise, I should be happy about this but that means a break in my rhythm. What is so hard about stopping is then the resuming of that...
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Jazz Cruise Quilt
I panicked as we were about to leave on the Jazz Cruise in late January. Not only were we going to hot places (never my favorite), there would be over 100 jazz musicians on the ship. To make myself...
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Retreat Sewing and Quilts
Quilting retreats are so much fun for so many different reasons, but it is always a challenge deciding what to work on. You want something fun. And interesting! But it can’t be difficult or tricky...
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Purses and Trips Around the World
Preface: As the rhythm of my life changes, so do my blogging habits. I am sewing more than ever but apparently only doing a blog post a month. Sometimes I get so caught up in quilting projects that...
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Quilted Presents
My granddaughter Nikki is getting married in June, and her bridal shower is coming up. Working with Nikki's colors and some wonderful fabrics by Seth Apter, here is her quilt. Of course I hand...
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Hexagons, Grief, and Jazz
We went on a jazz cruise in January, obviously John’s. I would like points for not taking my sewing machine. However, I did take along a stack of big hexagons, some left from previous projects and...
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Houston, we have a problem…
These are all recently-finished quilt tops. And I want to hand quilt each of them. But it’s getting warm - not the time of the year to be sitting under quilts as I stitch. This old yellow and black...
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Fabric Crushes
I have had four distinct fabric crushes, and I’m always surprised when I find something I love so much. The first was from a Bonnie .Christine AGF line, “Hello, Bear.” The second was fabrics from...
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Scraps, Purses, New/Old Projects
So much sewing. But space has been limited. The studio has been housing some overnight guests, one for two weeks, but all is back to normal again. Because space was limited I worked with what I...
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A New Fika Tote
Is this bag sweet or what? It is a Fika Tote by Noodlehead. It's 18' wide and 15' deep. One side has two patch pockets. The other side has a large zippered pocket, perfect for a notebook or papers....
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An Ending and a Beginning - with some purses and some meanwhiles
Sometimes the backs of my quilts are as pretty as the fronts. As I put the last of the hand quilting stitches into my Seth Apter quilt, I marveled at how much I enjoyed working on this quilt, both...
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What’s amusing me…
Is this gorgeous or what? The quilt top above was such a fun one to put together. And it was a free pattern from Art Gallery Studios - Pacifica. I used my current fabric line crush from Seth Apter...
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Ch-ch-ch-changes…
Scraps! Outliving my stash! What was I thinking? A color shift!I do have so many scraps. And they get to me. I’ve got to use them. The above quilt? All leftovers from some precut...
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75th Birthday Gratitude and What Makes Me Happy
Today I am 75. This morning’s 4 mile walk was great. The weather is gorgeous - we’re heading into my favorite time of the year. Next week we’re taking a river cruise out of NYC up the Hudson River....
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Hudson River Cruise - a Quilting Diversion
Our Fall Foliage Hudson River cruise was pretty terrific. We did indeed hit peak color on a lovely small ship with mostly nice people. John’s smile pretty much says it all....
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Projects in Process
Why do I think I need an even number of purses to mail to Sew Powerful? I have 18 completed and think I need two more before mailing. But I’ve been distracted by the lure of other projects....
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Changing gears again - a finish, a start, and the germ of an idea
At the risk of sounding dorkier than I usually do, this quilt has been a joy to work on. AGF has free patterns, and this one is Pacific. And look - I still have some Seth Apter fabrics! I love these...
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Incoming: a new baby and a dancer with too many shoes
My former neighbor and valued dear friend Cristina is having her second baby boy. At her request I used the same palette for this quilt as I did for her son Enzo. See it here. But I made too many...
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The Winter Season - and John
Last year I prayed for one more winter, one more Christmas, and my prayer has been answered. My prayer will be the same this year. And Christmas with John? There is nothing like it. This man loves...
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2024: The Year of Seth Apter
It doesn’t happen often - in fact, this is the third time - that I have fallen in love with a fabric designer. The first was Marcia Derse back in 2014. The second was with an Art Gallery fabric,...
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In Love With Every Aspect of This Glam Clam Quilt
This quilt is such a departure from what I usually do. These colors and fabrics are a part of my new favorite palette. And there are no straight lines. These clams all had to be cut by hand, not by...
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Changing up my dining room
For several years this quilt has been on my dining room wall. It’s the absolute last of. Janet Clare line of fabrics called Wordsmith, and none of it is available any more. I had just enough left to...
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Enlarging A Favorite Quilt for a Favorite Grandson
Grandson Sam is renting a house in Lombard along with his brother Jack and a third roommate. Just because they are living close to us doesn’t mean we will see them with greater frequency. Sam went...
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