This is my archive of projects and thoughts along the way.
When you see a fabric labeled “yarn-dyed,” the manufacturer dyed the yarns individually before weaving the yarns into a pattern. Some sewists prefer this method because the color doesn’t fade as quickly as piece-dyed fabric. Yarn-dyed fabric in stripes and plaids is easily spotted because the weave (plaid or stripe design) is visible on both sides as opposed to printed …
Dianne Sews & More offers a wide variety of gorgeous 108″-wide quilt backing fabrics. Our wide-back quilting fabrics allow you to properly back your quilts with one seamless piece of premium-quality, 100% cotton fabric, eliminating the need for seams on the back of your quilt(s). What Are the Advantages of Wide Quilt Backing? You may want to use wide quilt …
Today (May 30, 2023) is the pattern release for Kimberly Forman Creative’s King’s Daughter quilt pattern. I am happy to be chosen as a pattern tester for this project. The instructions were super easy to understand, and I made the 48″ x 48″ baby/toddler size. The King’s Daughter is a quilt pattern for confident beginners and up. It features interwoven …
The Different Types of Fabric First, “fabric” is a material made by entwining fibers together. Generally, a fabric is named after the fiber user to manufacture it; some fabrics will even blend different fibers. The fabric is then named depending on the fiber(s) used, its pattern and texture and the production process implemented. Some fabrics also consider where the fibers …
I’m participating in the Quilt Fiction Club’s QAL! Straight from the pages of Friendship Album: Forget-Me-Not, a contemporary quilt along with a decidedly mid-century vibe. I’ve joined Patty Dudek of Elm Street Quilts and a huge Quilt Fiction community on Facebook for a fun and fabulous Quilt-Along. “Loves Me, Loves Me Not” features six unique blocks based on Quilt Fiction’s …
Custom-designed, embroidered pillows are now my go-to baby gift! Like the other 20×20 pillows, I used Embrilliance embroidery software to edit a birth announcement file purchased from Designs by JuJu. After completing the machine embroidery, I quilted it using ruler and free-motion quilting before adding the backing fabric and binding. The pillow’s border is made from Tula Pink’s purple “Hexie …
When my friend (and chiropractor) had her baby, Tiffany, she asked me to make 20″ x 20″pillows for her other two children because she loved the gift. Like the Tiffany pillow, I used Embrilliance embroidery software to edit a birth announcement file for Jason that was purchased from Designs by JuJu. After completing the machine embroidery, I quilted it using …
When my friend (and chiropractor) had her baby, Tiffany, she asked me to make pillows for her other two children because she loved the gift so much. Like the Tiffany pillow, I used Embrilliance embroidery software to edit a birth announcement file for Annabelle that was purchased from Designs by JuJu. After completing the machine embroidery, I quilted it using ruler …
This Autumn Harvest machine embroidered wall hanging was so fun to make. It measures 10″ x 10″ and is attached to a wooden base with string to hang it. The embroidery design was purchased from Embroidery Library and then I bought the wooden background at Hobby Lobby and attached it using Heat N Bond Ultra. The background fabric is from …
I had my knee replaced last December and was assigned to a physical therapist, Mari, who happened to be pregnant and due the exact same day as my chiropractor’s baby was due. It also turned out that I’ve known and worked with my physical therapist’s mom for about 25 years. It’s such a small world. Since I had a birth …
My chiropractor, Denise, recently gave birth to her third child, Tiffany Marie. When thinking about what I should give her as a baby gift, I remembered that quite a while back, I had purchased a few birth announcement embroidery templates from Designs by JuJu that I’ve not yet used. Instead of buying a gift, I decided to make her a …
For many of us, sewing is as important as breathing. The satisfaction in making, creating, learning and growing is so powerful. Whether you’re new to sewing or have been sewing for many years there’s always something more to learn and the feeling of accomplishment can be indescribable. It doesn’t matter whether we’re hemming a pair of pants (we’ve all done …
This project was commissioned by a friend in Nixa for her grandson. Her hubby has always had John Deere tractors and he loves giving his grandson rides so a John Deere-themed baby quilt was going to be a hit. The fabric started out with what is referred to as a “cheater fabric” meaning the blocks and sashing were already printed. …
The Golden Thimble Award is an annual award voted on by the membership and given by the Ozark Piecemakers Quilt Guild to recognize a member who has given extraordinary service to the guild during the last fiscal year. The 2021 award was presented to me at the June 2021 general membership meeting! I have donated many hours and expended a …
I recently completed and donated this quilt to OPQG who’ll in turn pass it on to our local chapter of Newborns in Need. This the first of several, simple 36″ baby quilts I’m making in order to practice and learn a new skill, ruler quilting. I’m thinking whatever baby receives this will not care that part of the quilting is …
Whether you love precuts for the fabric variety, the convenience of not having to cut every piece of fabric, or the speed and ease of piecing quilts, precuts have a lot to offer! Simply put, precuts let you skip a lot of cutting and jump right into sewing. Some people prefer the long, lanky strips or the super-efficient five and …
My sewing room reorganization project is coming along nicely. About 90% of my fabrics, between fat quarter size and just under two yards, are now on comic book boards and organized by color or theme. For example, all patriotic fabrics are together, Christmas fabrics are together, the baby prints are together, etc. Anything two yds., and over are still on …
I’m so happy I got to make Raelynn’s cake for her 5th birthday party. The white confetti cake has bright blue buttercream between the layers and is covered with varying shades of swirling blue buttercream to create an ocean look. We had a very happy birthday girl and the cake was moist and yummy. I used Wilton’s Sea Life silicone …
This baby quilt is part one of a two-quilt set. This bear paw pattern baby quilt using bear fabrics measures approximately 36″ square and was made for our soon-to-be new family member. My great-niece is expecting her first child in March and his initials spell the name Mac. I’m almost done with a larger, matching companion quilt that measures about …
My grandson, Nolan, is five years old and a huge fan of the Transformers. His favorite character is Optimus Prime. This is a navy blue hoodie (Christmas gift) that I customized with machine embroidery. I purchased the Optimus Prime transformer embroidery file online and then I added the text using Embrillance Essentials. The font I used was purchased from Designs …
Starting just after Thanksgiving 2020 and ending just prior to Christmas, I embarked on a no-sew, “quilted” (actually folded) ornaments project for friends and family. I learned how to create these by watching a video on YouTube from Shabby Fabrics. This was a great way to utilize scraps of fabric from previous projects. Each ornament is made from a 3″ …
In the fall of 2018, I promised each of our daughters and daughter-in-law that I’d be making them a custom Christmas tree skirt. In 2018, two of them were completed and it wasn’t until the Christmas of 2020 that I got around to completing the other two. Here is the whitetail and mule deer quilted and appliqued tree skirt made …
In 2017, I made two large, sofa-style pillows using premium metallic quilting cotton and the “cathedral window” quilt pattern. These pillows were gifts for two of our daughters at Christmastime. For the two larger pillows, I pieced the backs with holiday fabric with fabric leftover from other projects (see photos in the gallery). Many of the patterned fabrics had metallic …
The pastor of our church is of Scottish descent. He has a navy blue tartan wool stole he wears over his robe each season of Advent. Someone made it for him many years ago. It’s a wool tartan design that belongs to his McIntyre clan in Scotland. I felt very honored when he asked me to embroider Nativity stars on …