Christmas present reveal

Last Christmas I made three quilts for gifts. I believe I was suffering from a bout of temporary insanity when I decided that would be a good idea. I got about five hours of sleep in the two days before Christmas to finish the quilts. The first was a queen-sized quilt for my parents that […]

Stunning Christmas tree skirt in batiks

I LOVE batiks. I can’t get enough of them. So I was in heaven when the benefactor for the Mississippi Valley Quilt Guild suggested buying fabric from SewBatik.com to make Judy Niemeyer’s Christmas Celebration Tree Skirt. The benefactor business, Quilting By-You in Bettendorf, Iowa, is purchasing the fabric and donating the quilting for the tree […]

Dare to DIY: Deck the halls

I had a sewing marathon last weekend. I spent most of the time working on Christmas presents and my Christmas fabric exchange quilt. I still haven’t started the Christmas stockings for my family. So I’ll share photos of the paper-pieced tree skirt I made for the Mississippi Valley Quilters Guild tree at the Festival of […]

It’s a Christmas miracle

It’s Christmas Eve and I don’t have any last minute sewing to do … It’s a Christmas miracle. Normally about this time I’m freaking out about how exactly I’m going to finish everything and get it wrapped in time. Honestly, it doesn’t really even feel like Christmas if I’m not still up at 5 a.m. […]

After quilt retreat: Batik tree skirt

I spent 25 hours working on the batik tree skirt for the Mississippi Valley Quilters Guild’s tree in the Festival of Trees fundraiser next month. The first seven were spent cutting the fabric. The pattern and templates were all on paper. I had one chance to cut the templates right so I had to take […]

On a UFO mission

This year is the year of the UFO. I’ve been trying to wrap up all my unfinished projects. So far I’ve finished seven quilts, but only two are on my list of five major UFO projects I would like to finish this year. But after this weekend I should be much closer to finishing a […]

Christmas fabric exchange reveal, sorta

Way back in 2011 (I know 2012 is only 25 days old, but it seems longer) I participated in a holiday fabric exchange hosted by Quilting Under the Influence. My quilt still isn’t finished, but the top is pretty much put together, which is saying something for me and my tendency to move from one […]

January quilting goals

Transforming my sewing room into a nursery means I’ve got to get some of big projects out of the way before the baby arrives. And that means I have a lot of sewing to do in the next 20 weeks, give or take depending on whether the little guy or girl decides to come early […]

It’s Christmas in my mailbox again

I’m participating in my first fabric exchange hosted by Quilting Under the Influence. I exchanged 5-inch squares of Christmas fabric with Kelly Goheen and Linda Lewis Ezuka from QUTI, Deanna Pavay from Dizzy Little Kingdom, Marta Preusser, Dawn Nichols from Dawns Quilt Corner, Lizzie Marie from Wandering Stars, Jan Peoples from Sew Sowin Love, and […]