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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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

My new favorite way to finish seams

  I’ve been sewing more garments since I had Angela and finishing seams is always a challenge. I don’t have a serger to bind off the edges and keep the fabric from fraying. But to be honest, even though serging is the fastest way to finish a seam, I don’t really like the look of […]