A wooden box with hinged lid. The box is divided into eight small sections, intended for tea bags, but it is full of packages of needles. The lid has a sort of large pin cushion custom fitted into it, marked with a grid for various types and sizes of partially-used needles.

A solution!

There are times when a sewist uses a machine needle for a very short time and then has to change types. What to do with the partially-used (but not used up) needle? I’ve always simply put them back into their little plastic boxes, making sure they were as far to […]

A set of four embroidered ornaments -- two in gold metallic thread and two in silver metallic thread: two embossed hearts and two doves in flight.

More ornaments

My husband and I give our grandchildren a Christmas ornament each year. To give a bit of background, we had no Christmas ornaments when we married, so I made a point of giving each of our daughters an ornament each year so they’d have a little supply when they began their own […]

Back of the same bag in dark grey cork with multicolored trim and a zippered pocket.

iCases bag

If you’ve read this blog in the past, you’ll know that I like many of the various bag patterns from https://byannie.com. A few days ago, one of our grandsons stopped by with his iPad Mini, and I was horrified to see that it was “naked”! What if he dropped it? […]

Detail of a green heart block and a double nine-patch block in white and grey-blue. The nine-patch is quilted with small curves and straight lines.

Quilting finished!

In a huge bit of progress for this particular quilt, I’ve finished both the free motion and the ruler work quilting! That means that I’ve been able to collapse my sewing cabinet so that I can actually walk into my room, rather than climbing over things to get in. LOL! […]

Slightly overhead view of a quilt, mostly blue-grey and white with pops of greens and oranges, under the needle of a Bernina 790PRO sewing machine for quilting. Small scissors are on top of the machine, oriented for a left-handed person.

Onward!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about this quilt that I’m making as a gift. I did most of the piecing  during sewing days with my group, and then I got sidetracked. First of all, of course, there was the major problem with my Bernina 790PRO, which sort of […]

Folded and closed travel bag made in purple/green dinosaur print with purple trim.

Travel Essentials

I mentioned in a previous post that I was participating in a “Slow Along” — a slow-paced series of video steps toward making (in this case) a travel toiletries bag called Travel Essentials. We began about eight weeks ago, and the last step was released yesterday, giving everyone lots of […]