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Card Tricks
The River Rats TOGA, virtual this year, is coming up September 18-20 with lots of workshops, gathering times for show-and-tell, and the annual quilt block exchange. I'm all signed up for most of the...
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Rainy Days
As the days grow shorter, cooler, and more rain days arrive, I decided I needed to make a raincoat. Actually, I bought a raincoat pattern and just wanted to try it out:Amy Butler Rainy Days raincoat...
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Block Exchange Tote Bag
Every year I look forward to spending a day or more with sewing friends that I have made through the Treadleon group of treadle and hand crank sewing machine enthusiasts. In the past we have met in...
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Getting Ready and Making Do
It's been a great week of warm weather but we know it won't last so I've been getting the last of the cabinets finished up and posted for sale. The garage needs to be cleared out to get both cars in...
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Let's Makea Deal: trade offs
Here we are in the third week of October and are in the midst of our third snowfall. Seriously. Like inches of snow, on the ground, not melting. I say it's the perfect time of the year to get...
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The Girl Next Door
Winter is here in the frozen north, even if they think we might have a few 50 degree days ahead. The snow pack is very real and now we hunker down and get sewing! I need to get a few more sewing...
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Girlfriends
I enjoy a wide variety of friends: neighbors, work, church, sewing, quilting, crafting, friends of friends. This week it was my turn to reach out to a friend who needed a hug (but we can't do that...
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Free Motion Quilting...on a treadle
At the last in-person River Rats TOGA, September 2019, I picked up a variety of quilting projects that were UFO's. That's right, they were UnFinished Objects and I love to take something someone else...
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A Prize Inside
Remember the boxes of Cracker Jacks, a peanut and caramel corn mix in a box "with a prize inside"? Despite the trivial nature of the prize, I always got sucked into their advertising in the hope of...
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Convertables
Trying my best to balance crafting with sewing machine repair, crafting has won these past weeks because of Christmas. Back in the early fall, I decided I could knit each grandkid a pair of slippers....
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Getting Creative
With the best of intentions, I brought home a bag of "minky" scraps that were from a production of pillowcases. The factory cut the pillowcase fabric to size and it left long runs of 13" wide fabric....
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Tablecloth Magic
I would love to be able to pull a tablecloth out from under a full setting of dishes but I'm no magician. Instead, I've been busy with vintage tablecloths and finding new life for them as pillows....
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More Vintage Linen
Picking up on the last post about using tablecloths, I seem to be on a roll and can't stop sewing up those vintage linens. I went into a huge storage container at the bottom of the pile to see all of...
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Refashioning
I've become frustrated with a few sewing machines, only stitching backwards, won't stitch in fabric but makes perfect patterning on cam settings, sticky dials and insides, so after a few days of that...
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Jelly Roll Rugs without the Jelly
It has been another busy week with sewing machines and sewing projects. You never know which sewing machines are going to be sought after until you run an ad and the phone rings off the hook....
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New and Old Loves
Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy. For example, I answered an ad for sweater mitten supplies. Sounds innocent enough, but I didn't get my questions answered, such as how many mittens are cut out...
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Cheaper By The Dozen
Editiors note: sorry for the long delay in finishing up this post. I always want to include more photos but while I'm thinking about it I'm cleaning up and putting them away. I'll try harder "next...
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She's Not Blue
Today is the day I've been waiting for: the quilt I made for my sister Sue is being delivered. This quilt was truly a labor of love: love for my sister and love for quilting. Last spring, during shut...
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Chenille Quilting
More quilting has been going on, the machines are piling up, and we are heading into a warm season. You know what that means: everyone is outdoors and not thinking about sewing. I guess I need to find...
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Queen for a Day
When I was a small tyke, my mom used to plunk me down in front of the 12" TV and turn on a favorite show to keep me busy. We hadn't heard about limiting screen time back then! One show I remember was...
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Are You Ready?
It's been a busy time here, getting ready for a garage sale as well as buying and restoring sewing machines (and sewing). Although I've had sewing machine garage sales where I put out thirty to forty...
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Growing Older with Sewing Machines
Many people ask where I find my sewing machines and I usually tell them I troll Craigslist, resell shops, trade-in, and new friends in sewing. Lately I've been the recipient of machines and sewing...
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Panel Quilting
I love it when a concept in my head actually turns out better than expected and there are days when this seems to be the exception rather than the rule. I have been browsing around to find ideas for...
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Cabinets and Miniatures
It's that time of year again where I need to clear out the cabinets from the garage so we can get both cars in before it snows. When I peek into the garage I see two cabinets with sewing machines that...
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With a Little Help From Our Friends
I'm back. I didn't go anywhere, I just needed a break from my usual fair and, unfortunately, I left my readers behind. It was a long, tough winter and spring seems so have eluded us in Minnesota, but...
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