Month: June 2014

  • DIY growth chart for the grandbabies

    DIY growth chart for the grandbabies

    I love chasing rabbit trails, especially ones that involve internet exploration and research. I recently saw a growth chart on Pinterest, which made me realize I wanted to get one so we could record our grandchildren over the coming years. I thought that it might be a fun activity to do with the grandkids each…

  • Product review: Mat Smoother

    Product review: Mat Smoother

    I’ve had my big rotary cutting mat for about three years now, and I’ve noticed that it was getting rather scarred, probably because I don’t change my blades often enough. There are certain spots that get more than their share of attention, too. For instance, right around the 36″ line. I think that is because…

  • Happy Father’s Day

    Happy Father’s Day

    Happy Father’s Day to a few of the men in my life. To my sweet hubby, despite having no good human role model in your life, you looked to your Heavenly Father as your example of what a real father should be and, because of that, you are a terrific dad! No doubt, you’ll be…

  • Play date with George

    Play date with George

    I had a play date with George on Friday, and I invited two of my friends to come over and play, too. Beth Schillig is so knowledgeable and such a good teacher! She used to sell Berninas. Once she retired, she thought she would do something completely different, but thankfully she gravitated towards quilting. She…

  • Altered shoes

    Altered shoes

    In 2011, I used Shiva Paintstiks to color my boring beige Birkenstocks a fabulous iridescent blue. I loved those sandals, but they were already four years old when I painted them the first time. Last summer I realized that I might need to eventually replace them. During the winter, I found a pair of deeply…

  • 33 years

    33 years

    Happy anniversary to my sweet hubby. Marrying him was just about the best decision I’ve ever made. I can truly say I’m a better person because of him. And look, he just loves being a grandpa! That earns him extra brownie points!!! But then, how could he possibly resist? Isn’t she fabulous?

  • Value study: Dancing Glow Sticks

    Value study: Dancing Glow Sticks

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    I thought you might enjoy seeing a value study that I made one day during my little quilt retreat. I’m very interested in how colors change based on what color they are placed next to. In this study, the background is done in a very narrow range of dark, navy blues and the stripes in…

  • Improving my foot pedal, Part 2

    Improving my foot pedal, Part 2

    A couple weeks ago I told you how I tried to improve my sewing machine’s foot pedal by adding some self-adhesive, rubbery feet. Unfortunately, this didn’t last very long. I must put a lot of hard, forward pressure on my foot pedal because the rubbery feet all slid off. I realized I needed to find…

  • Tutorial: custom pressing table

    Tutorial: custom pressing table

    Yesterday I talked about my experience trying out Steady Betty, a foam pressing surface that is ideal for pressing pieced quilt blocks and tops. I like how the foam grips the fabric so it doesn’t slide around when pressing the block, and I also like how flat the seams are afterwards. After trying it out…

  • Product Review: Steady Betty

    Product Review: Steady Betty

    I haven’t mentioned it on my blog, but I’ve been testing out a new-to-me product for six months or more now. It’s called Steady Betty, and it is a special pressing surface. It is especially good for pressing lots of seams after piecing blocks. It sort of grabs the fabric so it can’t slip around…