Rock the Needle, Soothe a Soul
A few months back, an article was circulating on social media about a veteran soldier who turned to making quilts for other veterans as a way to manage his PTSD*. It got me to thinking [...]
FREE Tutorial: How to Adapt a Cross-Stitch Pattern for Quilting
This is a tutorial for adapting a printed cross-stitch pattern into a quilt top. This year, I made a couple of cute Star Wars themed quilts using cross-stitch patterns from Jacqueline of Wee Little Stitches. If [...]
The Joy of a Slow Project
I'm capable of working quite quickly, fast enough that my friends invented a hashtag for it, #sewingatthespeedofsam. Yes, I get through a lot of projects - remember, I design and sew for a living! - [...]
WASWI: “But I don’t need the money”
It's exciting to see the topic of selling handcrafted items for decent money rise up in the consciousness of our industry. I believe that the more we talk about it, the better it will be for [...]
In praise of counting, even when you don’t plan to sell
How many of us hit the first weekend of February, completely aghast that January was already history? One tenth of the year is done, and I'd be lying if I said I'm cool with that [...]
WASWI Resources – Snappy and Sassy Comebacks!
To make hand-crafted things is to be the target of blunt questions and statements that disparage what it takes to make art, and leave you smarting a bit. I'm not always fast on the draw [...]
WASWI – Molli Breaks it Down
I wrote the original We Are $ew Worth It post almost two years ago, and have been thrilled to see it take laps around the world. When it went viral, it reached our cousins in [...]
WASWI – Where Should You Buy a Quilt Book?
One of my readers, Rebecca R., kindly wrote me last week, concerned, regarding the price of my book on Amazon. As she put it, "Amazon is price gouging you." Yep, pretty much. As I say [...]
Hedgie Pincushion
I don't like to dispose of sharp metal in the trash - I'm always worried that it might hurt someone - so I've been putting my dead machine needles into an old pincushion for a [...]
Making a Quick Buck
Well! It seems that my last post about quilting patterns touched a couple of nerves... it seems that any of us who have designed quilt patterns got a bit prickly about the comment that we [...]