When I had the Milwaukee shop, I met these two ladies. They drove up to Ripon to take the Umbrella Class. Marie did the Packer umbrella and Wilma did the Black and White one. These umbrellas have been such a hit. I just sent 2 of them all the way to New Zealand! These ladies only had to come from Milwaukee. It makes the trip to Milwaukee seem like nothing

Connie Wahoske lives in Ripon. She is a really great quilter. She is also a member of our discount club. She got all the fabrics for this quilt as a member. It is the fabric from Moda’s “Little Black Dress” collection by Basic Grey. She pieced in all of the curves by machine, but what is really remarkable is the hand quilting. I don’t do hand quilting and so I

Amanda Shaffer is not from here. She was a Ripon College student and she was from Indiana. She popped in to the Bungalow because she loves fiber art. I saw her and instantly recognized that she had a sense of style. Since her first visit, she has made a few skirts using Bungalow fabrics. This skirt that she has on is from the Natural History Collection by Lizzy House for

Okay. This has so been my soapbox for a while now. People are hesitant to sew with other textures, ones other than cotton. But remember cotton comes in many textures too. There are cotton knits, even cotton velveteens. I love to embark on the adventure of sewing with other fibers. Silk is my personal fav, but has some limitations, especially cost. But, you only need a little in certain applications.

This is one of the first things that Abby has sewn. We are so excited for her. Her mom, Cindy Cody, works in the shop. She is my go to girl along with Kim Bates for making bags. Some of us actually enjoy making bags. I however, do not. So, because Cindy is so good at it and does it all the time, Abby is picking it up. She made

Ellen Sorenson recently became a grandmother. Ellen is a smart business woman. She has held many important positions, but I think the knitting grandmother is her most important role. She’s smart and knitting savvy. She bought this bulky brown yarn in anticipation of this little guy’s arrival. She turned him into a little football. You gotta dress those babies up before they can protest. Yes, that’s the best time to

Here’s Piper James. She just sewed her first skirt. This is the first sewing class she has ever had. She knew what to do with her summer vacation. I love the fabric that she picked for this skirt. It’s a piece by Red Rooster Fabrics. It is perfect for a skirt. It flows well, but would be equally as awesome in a quilt. I love fabrics like that. More and

So, it’s finally here. I am being featured in this month’s AQS Magazine. It arrived 2 days ago in my mailbox at the shop. How did this all happen? Well, I was at the AQS show in Lancaster Pennsylvania when the Editor-in-Chief for AQS Magazine saw and fell in love with, none other than, my umbrellas. Now, obtaining those umbrellas was no easy feat. For weeks I called people, talked