Looking for a sewing challenge? Check out the Pincushion Challenge. How much fun is this?! And, how about some handy tutorials from Sew Mama Sew? The tote handle variation is great, and so is the lining tutorial. Try this awesome water bottle pattern from Pink Chalk Studio and use up some [...]
Entries from July 2007
July 26, 2007
Adorable Ideas
If you’ve been searching for some terrific lace designs, look no further than John Deer’s Adorable Ideas! Available individually or in packs or even whole collections, they are beautiful. There are also many other wonderful embroidery designs you can purchase from Adorable Ideas; I love the “Mature Borders”. That lingerie border is way too cute [...]
July 24, 2007
No trick, only a treat!
I had to post the link for the upcoming adorable Halloween CD from Babylock! Those of you who love anything Halloween will simply flip for this cute new design set called Pumpkin Pals. The other new set for August is called Leisure Sports and it is another winner, with both male and female [...]
July 23, 2007
Stepping outside the box
We’ve all heard this expression before, and it’s true in sewing projects, as well. We look to inspiration in all sources, and should interpret sewing and quilting patterns in our own style. There’s a wonderful book and pattern in the store from Whistlepig Creek Productions. My Economy Baby Chic bag, was created [...]
July 19, 2007
Wedding Bells and Other Musings
Tomorrow is the big day for Barb’s daughter, Melanie, so we will all be attending the festivities. Planning the fall class schedule for the store has been put on hold these last two weeks while she irons out the details of votive candles and centerpieces. And since we have so many class ideas spinning in [...]
July 17, 2007
Carpetbaggers
A few things in life really get me going (well, maybe more than a few, but a few come to mind easily) – bad baseball, bad manners, incorrectly using “myself” instead of “me” and those traveling sewing machine sales operations. Particularly in the summer, those truckload sales of so-called school machine overstocks [...]
July 11, 2007
Instant Makeover!
I thought we needed a facelift on the website, so here it is! I’ll be changing the photo periodically, so don’t think you’ve got the wrong page. You see Brenna, who is Barb’s great-niece (& a “great” kid, too!) Brenna has grown up with sewing machines, and has photos of herself at [...]
July 11, 2007
No Longer UFOs
How long has it been since our Illinois Block of the Month group completed block 12? I was inspired last week to finish, when my husband spied yet another stack of fabric, and finally, after all these years of me buying random fabric, he had the nerve to ask me, “What are you going [...]
July 5, 2007
More New Designs
You might have seen a really cool top in the latest issue of Designs in Machine Embroidery magazine. I have a similar top that I really enjoy wearing (mine is also beaded and purchased at a local department store), and since I purchased it, I have envisioned replicating it myself with my embroidery [...]
July 3, 2007
Break Time
I’ve been working feverishly today to assemble another class sample (Betty Cotton’s Cotton Theory Quilting) and it’s been way too much fun. Her method is terrific and I can’t wait to teach this reversible placemat this fall. I’ll give lots of great additional tips and tricks not covered in her book, too, so you’ll want [...]
