With temperatures well in the 90s for part of this week, it has occurred to me binding quilts might be better suited for cooler weather–I know I could do the binding by machine, but I find the hand-sewn part relaxing. That being said, progress continues on the small mound of quilts that have been on […]

For the last few weeks, I’ve been on a quilting rampage. This project, made from twelve AfterFLOCK block kits and from the Big Day Pattern was third in line in a group of four quilt tops that were ready to be quilted.   Each of the twelve pieced bird blocks is framed in dark brown and […]

It has been non-stop quilting during my daily sewing sessions each week-day morning for the last few weeks. Two weeks, two quilts quilted!  These two are ready to be bound. This week, I turned my attention to my sample for The Big Day pattern. It has been waiting for quite some time for its turn […]

Last week I shared that I’m in the midst of a quilting blitz.  For months, I’ve been on a piecing binge, leaving me with several finished tops that are anxious to become finished quilts. I like using line quilting, alternating straight and serpentine lines to secure the layers. The technique is fast, efficient, and effective.  […]

I sew and quilt every weekday morning. It seems like a big effort to switch from piecing to quilting (it’s not really, but it *seems* that way).  So I have a habit of going on a long binge of piecing and quilt-top making, then I switch gears as the unfinished tops start accumulating.  I’m one […]

For years now, I’ve been slowly chipping away at the contents found on this storage shelf in my work room. From my days of traveling and teaching quilting, I prepared ‘step-outs’ or in-progress elements of various quilt projects for workshops. All of these bins contain parts and semi-constructed pieces for various quilts organized by project, […]

Things have gotten out of hand in the sewing studio. Little piles of strips left over from one project or another have been accumulating. Little piles become bigger piles – only temporarily – until ‘temporary’ becomes months and the piles are filled with forgotten treasures.  I’ve been using a lot of scrap fabrics lately with […]

So . . . you may be aware that I’m headed out on a cruise to Iceland in just a few short weeks. The time is flying by and July will be here before we know it. It’s exciting, but there are still a few details to be handled, and all that is coming along […]

Last year about this time, I was reporting back from a Stitchy-Retreat at a location near Hamilton, New York, a lovely small town in central New York and the home of Colgate University. Unfortunately the retreat center near Hamilton changed hands, causing an abrupt pivot and search for a new retreat location for the retreat […]

As I mentioned in last week’s article, I packed up my sewing machine, a few changes of clothing and headed west to Silver Lake, NY for a four-day weekend quilting retreat with friends. The weather outside was actually perfect for indoor activities . . . Like sewing! Not so great for being outside. (That’s the […]

Lately, I’ve been fielding incoming idea spurts during my morning sewing sessions.  Maybe that’s because a couple of the ongoing quilts I’ve been working on are getting finished, leaving space for new ideas. Someone should tell my brain, there is no more space available in there, plus I still have quite a few quilts nearing […]

I’ve been on an extensive ‘tear’ with piecing for the last few months, but I finally put piecing on hold for a little bit while I sandwich and quilt a couple projects. I love each step of the quilting process; even so, it’s hard to switch from piecing (which I find very relaxing and motivating […]

  Some people call this a seam ripper, others name it after a 19th century Whitechapel serial killer, but I prefer a more positive spin for my seam ripper! It’s my Magic Wand! I feel that reverse sewing is all part of the process. If you don’t like something, the ‘magic wand’ makes it easy […]

  The Iceland cruise is coming up quickly. We leave from Rotterdam in The Netherlands in early July. Therefore, it’s time to gather the supplies we’ll need on board for the wool applique project (the supply list was sent within the last week to the lucky sailors). One item that would be very helpful to […]

Last week, I ended with a pressing dilemma. I have been creating tons of four-patches from leftover 1-1/2″ squares. I created two postage stamp style blocks, a nine-patch made from four-patches and a four-patch made from four-patches. I then added a border around the four-patch block so the two blocks matched in size. (Important point: […]

Continuing from last week, since I was lamenting my stack of 1-1/2″ scrap squares, I decided to make four-patches – lots and lots of them. From the four-patches, I’m making four-patch four-patches and four-patch nine-patches. When I have many multiples of these two blocks, they’ll become a quilt, donated likely to the local chapter of […]

As I mentioned last week, I have somehow managed to accumulate a decent collection of little squares – each 1-1/2″ square. I have been using these for Pick-up Sticks blocks. This was making a dent in the stack, but not quickly enough for my satifaction. I needed another project to rattle through the stack. An […]

After a shift in focus from slow progress on several projects at once, to moving into high gear to focus on and finish up two of the quilts, this week, I’m happy to add to last week’s finish with a second completed quilt top. The main fabric prints for the now-complete child-sized quilt top feature […]

For the past few weeks, I’ve been discussing how I’m making slow, but steady progress on a small handful of projects, one chain-pieced element at a time. This weekend, my patience reached a breaking point. Time to get serious and put a couple nearly-done items to bed. I started with Five projects in the chain-piecing, […]

I’ve been making slow and steady progress on four quilt projects on my table lately. During my morning sewing sessions, the stack of blocks for each project is growing, one step at a time during my daily early morning sewing sessions. This week, I added one more project to the progression. For months, I’ve been […]

Old habits are hard to break. I’ve told this story before: When Dave and I go for a walk in the park, or in particular, along the beach, we bring an empty tote bag with us to pick up trash to keep a beautiful spot beautiful. It’s just what we do. Inspired (not in a […]

Pretty sure I’ve mentioned before that I start each weekday with 1-2 hours at the sewing machine. I’ve been doing this for years. For me, this is my way to start the day off on a good, positive path. If I miss a morning sewing session or if I’m distracted from forward progress on the […]

Now that the wedding quilt gift is finished, I felt like I really needed and wanted to have a fresh start with a new project. I’ve been working on several on-going projects for a while now, but I just needed a fresh start on something. I’ve had this really cute Dalmation puppy fabric for years […]

Today’s article is about near finishes and opportunities that present themselves on the way to finish-land. In contrast, Linda, an AfterFLOCK member, posted this spectacular *finished* king-sized quilt online over the holiday break. She made it from 36 FLOCK blocks using the Big Day Quilt pattern for the big finish. She appears not to have […]

This time of year, I think we’re all pretty focused on the special packages that magically arrive at the front door. Whether it’s that last-minute gift that you’ve been waiting for to place it under the tree. Or a little surprise arriving just for you. Or those very special deliveries that arrive mysteriously on Christmas […]

When I first started quilting, I mused that it would be really great to set up my sewing studio with an L-shaped sewing cabinet–with a sewing machine on each arm of the cabinet. Then, I could work on piecing on one machine at the same time that I could quilt on the other machine. Then […]

A couple weeks ago, the number three was the subject of my musing over the number of projects was ‘just right’ to bring along to a weekend quilt retreat. Over this past long holiday weekend, I took advantage of some quiet time to advance some quilt tops to the finishing stage, and the number three […]

The scrappy purple Pick-up Sticks blocks I’ve been working on fairly diligently for the past month or two are finally complete. A stack of 170 (give or take) blocks in all variations of purple prints and solids.   My design wall isn’t big enough for all these blocks, so row by row, I arranged the […]

I headed out of town to western New York for a stitching retreat with friends. Of course, some of the usual mascots came along. The happy monkey stood guard all weekend long over the trimmings pile. The weekend theme was “The Day of the Dead” and Monkey got a new hat! The retreat organizer is […]

In a corner of my basement work room, I’ve got a couple shelves full of partially-started quilts. A few years back when I was on the road a lot, these parts and bits were my demonstration models for several different quilt work shops. Each project is stored away in its own storage box (like what […]

When we first moved into the neighborhood where we live now, it seemed like every other house had young kids of trick-or-treating age. A lot of those kids have grown up and now have little kids of their own (it’s a little startling to make that statement!). I’ve never been much of a collector of […]

Yesterday, I had my phone handy and in camera mode during my morning sewing session. I was rather surprised when I took a step back and really looked at the left side (the side I use to stage my current project(s). It looked like my sewing table was divided up into little ‘zones’ or communities […]

Ugh. I’m going no where fast in my sewing studio! However, if I look hard enough, I can find little mounds of hope right in front of me! (Spoiler alert: progress is better than I think!) During my weekday morning sewing sessions (a couple of hours each day), I am chain piecing three projects at […]

Last week I lamented over the number of in-progress things I have been working on, none of which seem close to completion. For a ‘finisher’ like me (or more accurately, like I used to be), that can be a source of major cray-cray. You would think this eye-opening moment would be a good time to […]

  Things continue to slog along on the scrappy batik ‘rail fence’ I mentioned last week. During my morning sewing session every day, I’m determined to sew blocks into a row or to sew a seam between two rows, so the quilt is progressing at least one little step each day.   Meanwhile, in the […]

Somehow I ended up with a very short stack of pale/pastel batik fabrics in my stash. Not enough for a project and not enough to make the effort to store them in a sensible place. There were, maybe, a dozen partial fat quarters. To use them up, I decided to pull out some more stash […]

  At the beginning of any of our vacations, after all the planning, packing, arranging, organizing, stressing, and improvising, this photo opportunity is always one of my favorites. All the work and angst is behind us (assuming flights go as scheduled), and we’re at the airport with enough time to grab a quick beverage and […]

A funny thing happened when I went to order some Skacel Rocket Squared knitting needles online this week. I started out with the usual google search and, of course, the first links that came up were several entries from Amazon. Since I’m not a fan of ordering anything from Amazon (I don’t even have an […]

I don’t usually do a lot of projects just for me, but earlier this year when I learned about a new cross stitch series featuring whimsical houses (I have always enjoyed stitching architecture!) from the local stitchery shop, I couldn’t resist. It’s now late July, and I confess, I’m a bit behind!     I’m […]

My sewing machine has been having some indigestion, particularly when I am quilting, so, several quilt tops started stacking up including another twin-sized scrappy version of the Pick-up Sticks pattern (pictured below). The quilt top has been done for a while, but the sewing machine has been skipping stitches. After a little visit to the […]

Earlier this year, I took a bunch of citrus-themed fabrics to a quilting retreat and ended up with two very citrusy quilt tops made from a messy pile of citrus on my storage shelves. Also, in my stash, I found this perfectly coordinated stripe that is was meant to be the binding for these two […]

Not quite every year for the past few years Dave and I have run away for a long weekend to Block Island, Rhode Island. We love the New England coast, and during the pandemic, it felt like we needed to find a spot that was very outdoorsy where we could plan our own activities and […]

Back in April during the quilting retreat I attended in western New York, my table mate and I made a point of venturing out into the nearby town each day to check out the local shops, and pick up a few snacks and beverages. One of the shops we visited had a large display of […]

Last week, I mentioned that my sewing mojo seems to be on a little break. I think I have figured out at least part of the problem. My sewing machine, I think I mentioned before, is in need of a deep cleaning and perhaps a replacement part. Later this morning, I’m headed to the dealer […]

My sewing mojo seems to have flown the coop and I am struggling to get excited about very much on my ‘stitching’ plate right now. Perhaps my funk has something to do with finally packing up my sewing machine for a long-overdue spa day for some repairs. While it’s out of the cabinet, but not […]

  Last week, I traveled to Chicago, Illinois for the H+H Americas trade show. Vendors from a variety of craft-based industries had all their newest merchandise on display. When the local quilt shop owner (Janet Lutz of Calico Gals, in the front) and two of her staff members, Jolene, and Jenifer (on my left) had […]

Since I’m on the run this week, I have a quick update on what’s happening in the sewing studio. The Citrus Stars projects that were started from a pile of messy citrus-themed prints and solids are on to the home stretch. The first of the two projects is now a completed quilt top and the […]

As the finish of a project approaches, without even thinking about it, I start counting the number of seams that are left to complete the top or the number of blocks yet to be quilted before I can call it done. This motivates me to keep going! This week, the counting started on the first […]

  Last week, I was about to embark on a weekend quilting retreat and I had three projects gathered, packed, and ready to go. While I had *hopes* to finish all three, deep down I knew that probably wasn’t going to be realistic. A quick re-cap of the weekend’s activities follows. Thursday lunch was not […]

  Things are consolidating in clumps of three this week. For example, I finished three projects (tops) from stash fabrics. First, this is the second “Pick-up Sticks” twin that will go to Sleep in Heavenly Peace when it’s finished.     This is the second quilt top finish for this week. It’s a variation of […]