The CraftSanity Magazine Issue 8 Preorder Sale is on! Preorder your copy by Wednesday (11/14/12) and save a dollar off the cover price! You can also sign up for a CraftSanity Magazine subscription and have the next 4 issues automatically mailed to your home. Here’s a preview of the fun projects, stories and recipes featured [...]

Finishing this quilt project came down to the wire as expected, but boy am I happy to be done. Crossing the finish line was very unceremonious and that was expected, too. I just left the quilts in a pile on a table at the David D. Hunting YMCA and went home. If I had not [...]

Doodle, doodle almost done. I love scribbling on fabric with thread. I machine quilted panels four and five of my charity ArtPrize quilts late Wednesday. High five, everyone! Later today I’ll be picking out fabric for the binding and weaving in thread tails. I can’t quite believe I’ve been working on this project every day for [...]

This is what my ArtPrize quilt looked like yesterday morning. It was a box of 127 hand-stitched, paper-pieced hexagon blooms organized by color. (Note that navy blue dominates this box of blooms created using ties donated by prominent men in West Michigan.) I stitched the last 14 blooms at 35,000 feet flying to Seattle and [...]

Hi. I’m back from an excellent trip to Seattle and busy catching up on all my projects. I spent the day stitching my ArtPrize entry yesterday and will resume work on the project today after a much needed workout at the Y. I will tell you all about my Seattle adventure soon, but for now [...]

Finally updated with video Oh my word, I’m so tired! I’ve been stitching like mad lately and wanted to give you folks an update on the ArtPrize charity quilt project I’ve been working on. Check back here in a bit for today’s “Take Five” TV segment for an update on how things are progressing. And all [...]

This bloom was made with a necktie that once belonged to Lewis William Seidman. It was sent to me by his niece, Allison Aller, who happens to be a very talented quilter. She heard about the project through a friend and thought her “Uncle Bill” would have been pleased to have his power tie in [...]

I spent Friday afternoon and evening deconstructing neckties and making more hexagon kits for my ArtPrize entry. This is the part of the charity quilt project that I’d skip if I could. But it has to be done to get to the good part – the stitching of the blooms. I LOVE that part. There’s [...]

NO DIVING – that I can handle. But -NO SWIMMING – well, that’s a bit more of a problem. My favorite YMCA lap pool is closed for more than a month for regrouting and and I’m itching to swim in it RIGHT NOW. Tomorrow I’m going to try to test out the local high school [...]

It’s official. I entered ArtPrize 2010, the international art competition based here in Grand Rapids. I’m working on a hexagon quilt called “Power Ties in Bloom” made out of neckties that will be displayed at the David D. Huntington YMCA in Grand Rapids Sept. 22 – Oct. 10.  The ties were collected by Safe Haven [...]

My oh my. I’m insanely busy and kind of loving it. I’m exhausted and I don’t really know what day it is, but, wow, am I having fun! I’m very excited to report that awesome apron designs have been submitted to the first-ever CraftSanity Apron Show to benefit Safe Haven Ministries. Thank you to those [...]

The latest issue of Petite Purls went live today and includes a couple of my paper-pieced ornament projects. There’s still time to make the flower ornament pictured above, and a related festive wreath ornament, too. So head over to Petite Purls for the directions. This issue is packed with great patterns including fun crochet “Foamies” [...]

Hi folks. Here’s the video clip from my latest “Take Five & Company” craft segment. If you’re local, I hope to see you at the “Stitch N’ Pitch” event at the West Michigan White caps game Aug. 2. This is a fun way to watch a game and hang out with a group of like-minded [...]

I’ve had a great time working with Jennifer Paganelli’s Flower Power prints this week. English paper piecing is a fantastic vacation craft. I’ll be stitching some more on the plane ride home today. I think it will take 12,000 more vacations to get enough flowers to make a whole quilt. I don’t really have time [...]

We spent a lot of time traveling in the car today and I happily used that time to do some paper piecing. My nephew was sitting next to me and asked if he could stitch, too. I wasted no time hooking him up with a needle and thread. He stitched quietly for a while after [...]