I am quilting this small table runner to show as a sample in the new tutorial.  I have received comments from some of the people I have designated as my "editors." It is so interesting. Each person notices something different. All the comments I have received and been very good. Some are corrections about my grammar, some are suggestions about better photographs and sometimes I get suggestions to reorder my logic. In each case the suggestions or comments strengthened my overall concept. It's a lot of work, and a lot of thinking. It's challenging, but I know it's worth it. Way, W ..read more

 While I haven't got a specific retirement date in mind yet, it's coming. I've spent the last few months training Ben, a lovely young man, who will be taking over for me. I've pretty much taught him everything. Now I get to watch while he does the work. We all work in our own way, and there's nothing wrong with that. Except. In my very first job when I was sixteen, I worked in an office, and my job that summer was to be the backup for when all the gals in the office went on vacation. So I got to do a lot of different things. One day I had to stuff envelopes. But there were like 10 differe ..read more

  I'm working on the Seminole bands for the new tutorial. I'll sew these into a small wall hanging. I'm pretty sure I've got all my sewing done ..read more

We're supposed to have snow her in New Hampshire today and tomorrow, but it's sunny in California. This is my DGD with the quilt I made for her as a baby. I gift my California family with a membership to the South Botanic Garden each year. These pictures were taken there. How cool is this? Then again, this is pretty cool too.  Pink and Green, one of those perfect combinations. Quilt and Granddaughter, nice pair also.   ..read more

  Woo hoo! March is over. I have put green pillows and the Greensleeves quilt over the back of the couch. I put a green quilt on the table, and the fruit in a green bowl on the table. I also replaced the cover on the little pillow on the red chair. I have been keeping up with the Covid vaccines, and got the latest one on Saturday. It really knocked me out. I spent most of Sunday sacked out on the couch. Which was really annoying, because I was looking forward to be a bit more active. In the last couple of months one of my medications changed and I had been wrestling with the side ..read more

I added extra fabric to the sides of the Yakkety Yak quilt to square it up. I have a tiny bit of tinkering to this and it will be ready to send it to be quilted.   ..read more

 My least favorite part of making a quilt is getting the backing ready. I don't often use the large 108" wide fabric sold for quilt backings. I bought some for the Awash in a Sea of Blue quilt, but then also bought a panel to fit into the backing. If you've ever worked with one of these panels you know they aren't square (all corners are 90 degrees) and the sides aren't straight. Look at the right edge of the panel above, you can see how much it bows out. The first thing I had to do was figure out where the panel would fit in the backing piece, and what size pieces of the background di ..read more

 The backing and binding fabrics for the blue Scrap Slab Triangle quilt, Awash in a Sea of Blue, have arrived. This will be the majority of the backing. I had placed this in my shopping cart, and then went hunting for the binding. This swirly blue will be the binding fabric. I was ironing it (because you know EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF FABRIC that comes into my house gets a trip through the washer and dryer before I bring it into the studio) and I figured, might as well cut the strips for the binding at the same time.  I didn't really NEED anything else, but I decided to browse throug ..read more

  Look, I know it isn't very exciting, but last night I wound 25 bobbins* with my favorite light gray thread. It's Presencia 60w, and I order it in large spools.  I know it isn't particularly exciting, but, hey, that's what I did last night. That and set up my Elsa machine back in the studio. It had been taking a vacation while I sewed up the Awash in a Sea of Blue quilt. The backing fabric is being shipped and I should have it to work on this weekend. *Yes, I know this is 23 bobbins. One is in the machine and the other is still in the bobbin winding gizmo. And yes, I know I can bu ..read more

  Sewing the blocks together is a kind of a precise thing. I start at the right side of the quilt, and then place the right side triangle over the blue one, and then set it down. Then I move to the next block, and do the same thing. All the way to the end of the row. My stack looks like this. Next I pin the two pieces together, keeping the sequence the same. Then I sew them, stack them, and then press them in that same sequence. Then I square them up, and pin them together (same sequence), being careful not to flip the blocks over. Then I press them, seams open. After I have two ..read more