Instead of waiting for good news, let’s create some. Last year, Cathy Roeder and I took quilts down to the border for the refugee camps. There are still hundreds of people living on the border in some very sad conditions. You could make a family very happy and warm this Christmas by making some whole cloth, or very near whole cloth quilts. All you need to do is get the

I like to mix it up on the back of my quilts. I often have large pieces of fabric that I decide to use on the back of a quilt instead of using new fabrics. Sometimes, often times, I combine them with seriously fun fabrics and just make the back an improvisational piece. Sometimes the quilt backings are only a couple of inches larger around the edges than the actual

Sometimes the simplest things in life are, well, the simplest. I really liked this idea. When my daughter asked me to make her a throw pillow with linen and concentric circles, this was my interpretation. It didn’t take much time. I simply cut out my linen square to the size of my pillow insert, plus 1 inch for my 1/2 inch seam allowances around the edges. I traced a circle

I can’t think of a better name for this…when I looked at it, I thought I would name this “Paved with Gold” because of the bars going different directions. This quilt is not exactly original. I have seen variations on this design from other quilters. I once made one using a layer cake that was very similar. This quilt uses all sparkle fabric. By that, I mean that each block

There’s nothing so luxurious as a new set of pajamas. I don’t understand why people don’t make these for wedding shower gifts. Most people give the same old things at wedding showers. I have never been one to buy from a wedding registry. I like to make something for a new bride or expectant mother. In fact, I forbid my girls from even having registries. Of course, their weddings were

Sewing with kids can be an either or. It can be super fun, laughable, and enlightening for both the student and the teacher. Or, it can be a chore that is onerous. My online dictionary defines onerous as (of a task, duty, or responsibility) involving an amount of effort and difficulty that is oppressively burdensome. Well, we don’t want it to be that do we! But it can be. It

This dress is now complete! It is made out of cotton lawn that is light as a feather and perfect for summer. The dress is a wrap dress, and Judy has the pattern in her shop, along with several colors of the lawn print. Want to know more about lawn so you can work with it easier? By definition it is a fine plain weave textile, chiefly of cotton. It

I went to the hospital today. I am not going to say which one. Suffice it to say it’s one of the larger ones in the Fox Cities. I am not sick. Quite the contrary. I am going to go back as a temp when the crisis hits Northeast Wisconsin. I’ve been an ICU nurse for 30+ years, and those of us that are well and able to help just