And Sew It Goes

Category: Uncategorized

  • Homespun Goodness

    This post is a part of the Stash Stories, a series about fabric, creativity, and the stories behind what we save. Each post explores a piece of my fabric stash- where it came from, why it matters, and what it’s teaching me about making, memory, and possibility. I’m collecting homespun for projects not yet named.…

  • Stash Stories

    Fabric has a way of finding us. Sometimes we buy it for a specific purpose; sometimes simply because it’s beautiful and it has to come home with us. We may use it right away (in which case it doesn’t add to the fabric stash but the finished project stash instead), save it for the right…

  • Fiber Arts & Social Justice

    25 Million Stitches As I thought about the stitches my machine sewed over the past year – two million of them — I was reminded of a powerful exhibit I saw at the WIsconsin museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts: 25 Million Stitches. I visited it two years ago, yet it has stayed with me.…

  • Two Million Stitches

    What My Sewing Machine Taught Me This Year Because I am naïve. Because I don’t concern myself with such things. Because, because, because. I took my sewing machine in for servicing over the holiday. It seemed like the perfect time for its yearly tune-up. A week later, I received a message: my machine was ready…

  • A Year’s Learning in Review

    This year, I spent a good deal of time sewing, quilting, and learning. I love to learn and made a point of trying a few new things. I’m not much of a directions person, so I often set them aside and figure things out on my own. I return to the instructions only after making…

  • Quilting Memories

    That same old quilt—though only a throw—still had a lot of life left in it. I repurposed it by adapting a quilt design I’d seen at a quilt show and made a handmade throw for my daughter and her husband. As you can see, the design reflects their love of Paris.  The quilt is a…

  • Upcycling: From Old Quilts to New Ornaments 

    I have one of my parents’  well-worn quilts. Although my mother bought it rather than sewed it, it holds memories of their home and their lives. I studied it carefully, wondering how best to honor both the quilt and them. I had two choices: let it end up in a landfill as it continued to…

  • Learning to Sew Again

    When I found myself staring down the throat of my “golden” years, I decided to start sewing again. I’d always enjoyed it but rarely had the time—working life took over. I bought a new machine since my old one, nearly forty years old, needed servicing every time I tried to use it. I began teaching…

  • Keep Learning

    As I listened to a podcast this week, one idea made me sit up and pay attention: you can’t stay young unless you challenge yourself to keep learning. We arrive in this world knowing nothing, and we learn everything—every single thing—through trial and error: talking, crawling, walking, hopping, drawing, writing, reading, and on and on.…

  • The Hands, Auguste Rodin Sometimes inspiration doesn’t arrive with fanfare—it returns quietly, inviting us to notice what we’ve set aside or forgotten. Lately, I’ve found myself returning to familiar ideas, projects, and long-loved practices.  “I invent nothing, I rediscover.” – Auguste Rodin I am in a period of discovery and rediscovery. I like to think…