A couple weeks ago our older kitty and supervisor, Ms. Spooky Boo, passed away. She had recently been diagnosed with cancer and then went downhill very quickly. She was 13 years old.
My son, Parker, was Ms. Boo's person. When he was little she would not allow him to take a bath without her supervision. She would howl outside the bathroom door if she got left out. She supervised his every move (which is why we called her The Supervisor) and he was with her when she passed.
I don't know where this item came from, but Parker had collected a little bit of Ms. Boo's fur and asked me to slit the seam and tuck it inside then stitch up the seam. I had a better idea.
I broke out my hand-dyed silk velvet and got to work.
I made a heart applique from the velvet and placed it on the back side of the stuffy. Before I completed the applique I slipped the little bits of fur underneath the heart.
Her boy was very happy with the result. He is keeping it on his bed in "her spot" which makes me happy.
I'm just glad I got right on this project and didn't let it linger, as I am prone to do. I think Ms. Boo would approve, even though I had to complete this project without The Supervisor.
I am slowly going through my older tutorials and turning them into downloadable PDF patterns. I am listing them for "sale" on my website although so far the price for them is $0.00 - FREE.
I picked my Wonder Clip Pin Cushion Tutorial for this month. If you want to go to the tutorial then click the link in the previous sentence. The tutorial is not written in a form that is downloadable.
If you would like a copy of the pattern please click the link and get it for yourself. If you have friends who would like a copy too, please ask them to go get a copy of the pattern themselves from my website rather than downloading it and sharing it. The pattern is free after all. What I get out of offering it for free is traffic on my website. If you just get one copy of the pattern and then email it to all your friends then I lose all of that traffic on my website I should have gotten.
You can also get your friends a copy of the pattern by checking out as your friend and giving their email address at checkout so that they will receive the download link email.
Fabrics are $5.99 per yard. I've got panels at 50% off and books, patterns and such are 25% off.
I made a short video of the fabrics included in the event. It's a Facebook live video so I can't embed the video here. If you click the link below it will take you to the video on my shop's Facebook page.
I don't think you need to have a Facebook account to watch the video. If you do have a Facebook account and you would like to help out a shop owner for free, you could like & follow my shop Facebook page, if you don't already like or follow my page.
I recently purchased a BERNINA Q24 long arm with Q-matic (computer program) for my shop. My favorite local long arm quilter recently moved away. I knew I would need to find another way to get my shop samples quilted and so would all of her other customers. So I decided to go into the long arm quilting business myself.
The machine arrived about two weeks ago. I've been watching the video class I purchased from BERNINA as well as reading through the workbooks I received trying to learn as much as I can as fast as I can. I know all about the machine itself. Loading quilts onto a frame is a little different than basting them but the video class about loading a quilt was very good. It only took a couple times and I'm comfortable with loading a quilt on the frames.
The Q-matic computer program is a bit more daunting. I have used a couple of computerized quilting programs in the past - all of them were not user friendly. I'm happy to say that the Q-matic is pretty user friendly. I only needed to quilt two practice pieces before feeling comfortable enough to try a "real" project. I have a bunch of digital quilt tops I've collected over the years from various fabric companies. I'm starting with those to practice on. I'll bind them and sell them during the month of November when my shop sells finished items (old shop samples) to support local charities.
Below is a short video I did of my first practice piece.
If the embedded video doesn't work for you, you can watch it on YouTube: Q-matic Practice Video
Below is the first digital sample I quilted.
Here is a close up shot so you can see the quilting design better.
Is the quilting perfect? No. Do I care? No. I'm learning. For this one I intentionally ran out of bobbin thread so that I would have to learn what to do when that happens. Spoiler: the Q-matic makes this super easy! I had to resize the design, flip it over, and shift it around. All of this is pretty easy to do with Q-matic once you learn how. So now I'm just trying to practice these steps so that I can do them without having to refer back to a video or the workbook.
When I started my second project I decided that I would not allow myself to watch or read for help. I want to try to figure it all out by myself. So far, so good!
Right now I am only using the designs that came with my computer system. Once I get better with it I'll probably need to purchase a few more designs. There were several that my previous long arm quilter used that I would really like to own too. But for now, I've got plenty to play with.
I've got another fun, easy and fast project for you. I'm calling it the Circle Wallet because it's made from two circles of fabric and some snaps.
The video tutorial from my shop's YouTube channel is embedded above but if you want to watch it on YouTube instead then here is the direct link to the video: Circle Wallet Video
I also wrote some basic instructions that you can download. The instructions are free - no discount code required, just free. This is the link to the pattern: Circle Wallet Pattern
You don't need the pattern as the video contains all of the instructions you'll need. But I know lots of folks like to have something you can print out or save to your device to read so that you don't have to go find a video.
I had a chance to film and edit the second "class" in my binding series. In this video I show how to sew the binding on a project completely by machine. First sewing the binding to the front of the quilt and then stitching in the ditch along the edge of the binding on the front to catch the binding on the back side of the project.
As I mentioned in the video, this is just ONE way to attach binding completely by machine. There are several other methods and in time I plan to film them all.
If you are looking for an excellent book about binding The Quilt Binding Bible is fabulous! The book covers 25 ways to bind something. Some of the methods involve hand sewing others are done completely by machine. It's full of great information with good written instructions and lots of full color photographs. Want to learn how to bind with prairie points? It's in the book. Want to add a ruffle as binding? It's in the book. Want to do a facing, this technically isn't binding but, it's covered in the book. Got something with weird angles along the outside edge? The book goes over several ways to finish those edges. Want to just wrap the backing fabric around to the front and have it look nice? Those corners can be tricky but it's in the book. Do you need to cut your binding on the bias or will straight grain be fine? All that is covered in the book. Can you tell I really like this book?
I ordered quite a few copies of this book but they are selling rapidly. I've already ordered more so if you click the link and it says "sold out" - I've got more ordered. You can contact me and I'll hold a copy for you then let you know when your copy is here.
Did you sew along with my shop or one of the other Mystery Five-0 retailers on March 29th to make a Star Bright quilt? If yes or no, keep reading!
Below is the version of Star Bright that I made.
If you would like to get a FREE copy of the pattern you need act quickly. I am only allowed to offer it for FREE for 48 hours - April 5, 2025 at 8am through April 7, 2025 at 8am Mountain Time USA. Use the coupon code W4RTV5VAQYVW at checkout. You will receive an email after you place your order with a download link. If you miss the deadline to get a copy of the pattern for free, you can purchase a copy for $5.99 using the same link below.
But, if you join my private Mystery Five-0 Facebook group, the pattern will remain free in the group as long as the group is active, which will be years. Just look in the FILES section of the Facebook group.
There is another Free mini mystery coming up on May 31, 2025. Join my private Facebook group so you can get in on the fun! Be sure to answer all three questions and agree to the group rules so that I can let you into the group.
You could also like/follow my business Facebook page to keep up with all the fun things we have going in the shop. Information about programs, clubs, customer show and tell and new products are shared daily on the business Facebook page.
