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SAQA exhibit celebrates Marie Webster

Marie Webster. Never heard that name before? Well quilters today owe a lot to her. In 1909, she broke with traditional Victorian quilt patterns and created her first applique quilt that was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement. Her designs, featuring a center medallion typically of flowers, and strong borders caught the eye of […]

Washing machine, the final quilting step

  I feel like a quilt isn’t really complete until it’s been through the wash. Hang in with me for a second those of you who think putting the final stitch in the binding is the time to celebrate. For my batting I go back and forth between Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 cotton-poly blend and Quilters Dream […]

Barn quilts of Shawano County

I’ve been vacationing in Shawano County Wisconsin since I was a little girl. My family owns a cabin on Lake Shawano and some of my best memories were made there. But now every time I drive up there, I have to have my camera with me. The farmers around the county have erected more 200 […]

Use found objects, kitchen materials to make your own fabric

You don’t need fancy equipment, expensive resists and printmaking stencils to create your own beautiful fabrics at home. That’s the lesson of “Fabric Printing at Home” by Julie Booth, an artist and experience fabric designer. In the 127-page full-color book filled with photo illustrations of the steps and techniques, Booth teaches readers how to create one-of-a-kind […]

Quilting with Marti Michell

I took quilting celebrity Marti Michell’s Fat Quarter Log Cabin class last weekend. As I got ready, my husband predicted I would be a bad student, and he was right. I completely blew up the pattern. We were supposed to cut a 3-inch square for the center and then add 1-inch strips until the block […]

I heart Craigslist

I’ve got an Craiglist alert set up for any posts that include “sewing” in the Quad-Cities where I live. I know, I may have a problem. So a couple weeks ago an alert popped up on my phone for an antique treadle sewing machine. The top was in bad shape, I learned later a fish […]