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The Block a Day Challenge January winner is…

Hlberg! Hlberg was one of the first participants to join the Block a Day Challenge. In January she completed 33 blocks, 2 quilt tops and one quilt. She won three spools of variegated quilting thread. The prize for February is a copy of “Free-Motion Quilting Made Easy” by Eva A. Larkin. The book teaches you […]

Block a Day Challenge roundup – Week 10

We have some new members this week that I’d like to welcome. And if you’re thinking about joining, but don’t think you can catch up, don’t worry. The entries start over at zero each month so everyone has a good chance to win. Plus, it’s like the lottery. The winner is chosen at random so […]

A knitting affair

I’ve been having an affair with knitting. It’s all started when I got a copy of “All Wound Up: The Yarn Harlot Writes for a Spin,” by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. The book is a collection of essays about knitting, mothering, living in an old house with two closets and a big stash (knitters have stashes too) […]

My love of fall decorations

I love, love, love fall decorations. I have a set of fall placemats spread out around my own house with my collection of ceramic pumpkins and a few fall floral arrangements. And in the shop I have some fall decor as well. There are two table toppers that would look best on a small table […]

I’m going through quilt retreat withdrawal

I spent last Thursday through Sunday at quilt retreat and now I miss it. I look forward to the semi-annual retreat for months. It’s a great opportunity to make a lot of progress on quilts. I finished 10 blocks on my New York Beauty Christmas quilt, finished piecing the top for the class sample for my […]

Preserving memories with a T-shirt quilt

I’ve been working a lot on T-shirt quilts recently. I had a bunch of shirts from my sorority days in college that I don’t wear anymore. I didn’t want to toss them, but I also don’t have the space to store them all, so I decided re-purposing them as a quilt was the best option. […]

Best laid plans

Plans are made to be broken and that’s exactly what happened last weekend. I went to visit my parents for the weekend so my husband could paint the nursery to match the crib quilt I made. But Saturday morning he woke up with the flu. The huddle under five quilts, only get up to go […]

Children’s quilts tell the stories of our lives

Quilts are important because they tell the stories of our lives, and that’s the message I’m trying to get across with the Children’s Quilts exhibit at the Quad-City Botanical Center which I curated for the Misssissippi Valley Quilters Guild. The quilt show features more than 20 quilts with a mix of modern, antique and not […]

I’m snowed in my sewing room

OK, clearly it isn’t actually snowing in my sewing room, but my blue and white snowball quilt is starting to come together. I’ve had the snowball blocks done since I started the quilt in the middle of a heat wave last summer. But I’ve been taking my time on the 6-inch nine patches that will […]