Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here in the states! It’s been a long day that began with the sounds of a broken water pipe. I think things like that happen just to remind us how nice neighbors and strangers can be. Filling lots of pots with water before the main was shut off made cooking the…
Snow in the Northwest is just plain weird. It only snows a couple of times a year and it always seems to take everyone by surprise. A headline from the Sunday Seattle Times read: Get Out the Parka But Not The Snow Shovel. The flakes started falling Monday morning. Our cute snow storm turned into…
I cut little squares out of the interfacing when making things with corners. Any little bit of bulk you can get rid of in the corner helps. When you do this, the part trimmed away should extend past the seam allowance some. Finally, rather than trimming once diagonally across each corner, I trim twice to…
I absolutely LOVE the way sewing fosters community, goodwill and personal achievement. Here’s a sprinkling of interesting e-mails I received this month that remind me how sewing really does make the world go ’round: Victoria sent me an update on the Bumble Beans Quilt Gather project. Photos from the project’s recent distribution day say it…
Woohoo! The Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush Voiles have arrived and they’re spectacular! Like over the top, amazingly spectacular. One very cool thing about this collection is that each of the different base cloths feature some different designs and colorways of the same design. All go together. The Voile (very silky and similar to a…
I always tie a scrap of fabric to my cutting tools. Not only does it identify my items at a class (and help students keep their things separate) but around the house it ensures that the children & the hubbs know fabric scissors will have fabric on them. Thank you to this week’s ChalkTalk tip…
The good thing about not being realistic about how much work it is to launch a new idea is that I do it quite often. If I was brutally honest with myself about every wacky idea that pops into my brain I wouldn’t get anything done. The flip side: I have an e-mail queue that’s…
Thank you to everyone who left such incredibly thoughtful comments on all the giveaway posts. Very useful observations. And the special dish comments on the final post! OMG, I totally did not expect to be so charmed with your writing and made to laugh so hard. The comfort and meaning of holiday food and the…
Kate Spain‘s designs grace a lot of different products in the market. Lucky for us, those designs also appear on fabric for Moda. The excitement and passion she has for her work was just plain joyful to soak in. No one left her booth without a huge smile on their face. Kind, gracious, and extremely…
Book signings are big at Quilt Market. The image above shows Amie Plumley and Andria Lisle in the Notions Marketing booth. The publisher brings in the books and a schedule of when each author will be signing books is posted in the booth. Usually a one hour window. The books are free on a first…
