Uncategorized478 Videos

August Block of the Month

The August block is another simple block. We’re just making a few half square triangles and then putting it together in rows of four with some squares. The complicated look that makes this quilt look difficult comes when we assemble all the different blocks at the end of the year. Also, if you’re running low […]

Stephanie Soebbing

3 August, 2015

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Bella and the batting

Years ago a very good friend of mine and I were both working at our local newspaper. In addition to our reporting duties, she wrote a mommy blog and I wrote a dog blog. Whenever either of us had a story to tell that involved poop, it was wickedly popular. Here’s your warning. If you […]

Stephanie Soebbing

26 July, 2015

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Rainbow & Calico Things, Williamsburg, Iowa

I’ve been shopping at Rainbow & Calico Things for years, but I’ve never actually been to the their rural location on a farm in Williamsburg, Iowa. The owner is a member of my quilt guild, so I’ve shopped from boxes she’s brought to quilt retreats and her booth at our quilt show. I have loved […]

Stephanie Soebbing

20 July, 2015

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Virtual Shop Hop: Fern Hill Gifts and Quilts, South Amana, Iowa

Fern Hill Gifts and Quilts is one of two quilt shops located in the historic Amana Colonies in Iowa, not far from I-80. At first we thought this stop was a bust. The first floor is filled with gifts and tchotchkes, the kind of thing you buy on vacation or for an older relative who […]

Stephanie Soebbing

20 July, 2015

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Virtual Shop Hop: Cotton Creek Mill, West Branch, Iowa

If I ever opened a quilt shop, I would want it to be like Cotton Creek Mill. Located on a historic main street in West Branch, Iowa, the quilt shop has character you often find. There are original hardwood floors, stained wood shelves, painted wood trim facade. Every detail about the building is beautiful. And […]

Stephanie Soebbing

20 July, 2015

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Virtual Shop Hop: Expressions in Threads, LeClaire, Iowa

I call the Quad-Cities home. It is a metropolitan area made up of five cities bordering the Mississippi River in Iowa and Illinois. I know you just read “Quad-Cities” and then “five cities.” It’s weird, we know it. But in addition to the cities that make up the Quad-Cities proper, there are several smaller communities just outside […]

Stephanie Soebbing

20 July, 2015

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Next Gen Quilters go on a Shop Hop

My sit-n-sew tends to be a lot of talk. And for years we’ve talked about going on a shop hop. It’s been so long that the group has gone from being for quilters in their 20s and 30s to quilters in their 30s and 40s. The membership didn’t change. We just got older. So we […]

Stephanie Soebbing

15 July, 2015

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What was I thinking? Fabric giveaway!

Over the weekend I organized my fabric stash, a daunting task. As I picked through nearly a decade of fabric purchases, I came across a coordinated set of chickens and maroon chicken wire fabric. I thought it was hideous and shared the photo on Instagram and Facebook. Well it turns out taste is relative because […]

Stephanie Soebbing

13 July, 2015

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My Quilt Box giveaway winner!

Congratulations to Joyce Corbin, the winner of the one-month subscription to My Quilt Box, a subscription service that sends a package filled with quilting goodies to your door each month. I got the July My Quilt Box package and it was filled with some truly scrumptious treats. There were eight absolutely beautiful fat quarters from […]

Stephanie Soebbing

11 July, 2015

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2016 BOM fabric swatch sneak peak

I’m starting to plan the 2016 BOM quilt pattern. I’ve got a layout planned out and am in the process of selecting fabrics. One of the fabric lines I’m considering is from Majestic Batiks, which makes hand-crafted batiks using Indonesia’s centuries-old method of hand dyeing fabric. There is a beautiful selection of fabrics available, but these are the […]

Stephanie Soebbing

9 July, 2015

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