Cottage Mama Dainty Darling Blog Tour I’m so tickled to be part of the Cottage Mama’s Dainty Darling fabric tour! When Lindsay told me last year that she had a new fabric collection coming out with Riley Blake Designs, I knew I’d love it at first sight – everything Lindsay does is just so pretty […]

It’s been so much fun participating in Baby Lock’s Love of Sewing Challenge this week. Miss Destiny and I have had a wonderful time making beautiful borders! I hope you try it out and see for yourself just how quickly the Destiny II can make this seemingly complicated task SO simple. No more guesswork; just […]

Are you ready to finish your project? Yes, of course you are. Let’s do it! 🙂 The first step to finishing up a cutwork border design is trimming the tails and removing the stabilizer. So, first things first, let’s get that done. Use your little snips with curved blades or the snips with a crook on the […]

Let’s make a continuous border using that super-cool Connect Tool feature on your Baby Lock Destiny II. It’s so easy! Easier than catching a toddler, that’s for sure! Hopefully you have already had a chance to watch me demo this project in video. If not, you can find that HERE.   This is what you will […]

Wow! This has been such a fun adventure with Baby Lock! I’ve so enjoyed seeing the wonderful features of Miss Destiny detailed with such fun projects by each sewist so far, and I’m really excited to see the rest – how about you? It’s my very great honor to be this week’s Love of Sewing […]

I love cutwork, don’t you? Especially when my embroidery machine is doing most of the work! Here’s a fun project if you’d like to follow along – let’s make a winged pillow! I used my new “Winged” cutwork designs for the flap on this pretty pillow. Click HERE to see that set. However, you could use any […]

There’s a forest in my foyer! A very nicely behaving one too – NO shedding needles and no leaves to rake, just lots of pretty stitches! Want to make a forest for your house? Read on! You will need: Let’s get started!                   Download and print the pattern; it’s free! Cut out the pattern pieces on […]

Have you noticed how babies make a bee-line for any shiny, soft bits of fabric hanging off things? That’s probably why taggie blankets are so popular. Well, Baby Kate needed a taggie blanket, but not just ANY fabric would do for my little princess, ha! Luckily, I had a stash of silk velvet truly fit […]

I fell totally in love with this super sweet T-shirt. It says “just sew everything” on the front and since I totally believe in THAT, you know I needed this shirt! Classic Sewing magazine has them in their online boutique, so go get yours! There are other sewing motifs too, all cute as buttons. I might be starting a collection, ha! […]

I’ve got scraps, have you got scraps? Uh-huh, I bet you do… and I bet you wonder why you’re saving them too, just like me! Turns out I was saving them for my granddaughter! During a recent visit I whipped up a fabric headband for Baby Kate just for the fun of it. She looked SO […]

I just fell in love with The Cottage Mama’s Tulip Petal Sun Hat pattern, and since Baby Kate was heading to the beach for the first time, of course she needed Gramma to make her one! I had trouble deciding which cute Riley Blake print to use for the outside, so I decided to make my Tulip Petal hat […]

Have you got an almost new onesie your little one has gotten too tall for and you just hate to part with it because it’s so cute or barely worn? Well, my own sweet grand daughter just outstretched a whole set of onesies that were brand new. No worries! I’m turning them into dresses and you can too! Here’s how… […]

I’m still in a double gauze mood – LOVE this stuff for baby things. Right now I’m busy hemming blankets for my house. Gramma needs blankies for baby visits too, right? (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Riley Blake Designs just came out with a beautiful line of double gauze solids and prints. I am […]

How cute is this fabric from Riley Blake Designs! I love pretty much everything they come out with, but this Wheels 2 print by Deena Rutter just fired up my imagination. Of course it meant I had to make car designs… and not just sew-them-on-something designs, but play-with-me designs! Check out this little set of made-in-the-hoop […]

Awaiting baby is making this Gramma antsy. I’m finding it best to keep busy, and best part of being busy is there’s a pile of pretties for this baby-to-be stacking up quickly! I’ve discovered the delight of stitching heirloom worthy burp cloths from organic double gauze. (Gramma’s are crazy like that.) After making several 36” […]

I love lined things, don’t you? Lining just makes the difference between a nice project and a really LOVELY project! I love little lined dresses, lined purses, lined totes and even lined Santa stockings like these. But lining things can be challenging. For one thing, they don’t always like to stay in place. Have you ever had trouble […]

I’ve been amazed at how easy it is to stitch up quick and uniquely pretty projects with my new Baby lock Destiny! With quite literally a few simple clicks I can create in-the-hoop happiness from scratch! Follow along with me and let’s make a classic, fun hot mat to nest a hot pot come dinner […]

Monogrammed pots! I’ve been saving these beautiful pots for just the right project and today, after knocking all the sewing stuff off my table for the fifth time, decided they had a much needed task to do – organize my cutting table! I don’t know about you, but when I’m working on something I tend […]

Make a fabric-covered flower headband and give it to a sweet little girl (or two) – who wouldn’t want a fancy topper for their noggin? Even not-so-little girls can enjoy these pretties! 😀 I used my Pretty Posy design set to create the flowers for the headbands shown here; however, you don’t have to have an embroidery machine to make […]

Once upon a time there were two little girls… Who loved to giggle and loved to twirl! One of my best remembered pleasures of childhood was having a twirly skirt to twirl in, how about you? Thanks to the terrific talent of two of my Baby Lock educator friends – Sue Kostroski and Missy Billingsley – I […]

Make your appliqué designs POP! Fearlessly appliqué those beautiful, bold prints in your stash… and feel free to use white, sheer or lighter colored fabrics over dark and high contrast fabrics. YES, you can! So what happens when your appliqué fabric is white and your background fabric is dark or rather brilliant? Yep. You get […]

I had the pleasure of meeting the dynamic duo behind the awesome Riley Blake Fabrics line last year and I was blown away with their down-to-earth niceness. Since I have been a Riley Blake fan since their beginning it was so cool to meet them and to find out they really are as special as their fabric […]

Let’s finish it up! Up to this point you have pieced, appliqued, quilted and joined together the lining and tote bag pieces with the straps. Right? Okay, now we’re going to subdue those fat seams, box the corners and make a sturdy bag bottom insert. I love byAnnie’s Soft and Stable. LOVE, love it! But just like any […]

Let’s make straps for your tote! Everyone has their favorite way to make straps, and I vary them according to my project. I decided to go with an old standby for this one because I wanted to put Sashiko stitching on my straps. (Show off that sweet stitch you know, ha!) This meant I wanted […]