Learn how to sew hand warmers in the shape of hearts! Use felted wool and rice to sew up this quick project. Great for any season and sewing ability!

I have been using a few hand warmers lately to help with the chilly weather. The heater is on, but it’s still freezy! That’s how I feel!

I had a cute pair, but they were cooked too many times and no longer worked. It was time to make me some new ones.

For these hand warmers I used felted wool sweaters. I keep a little pile in the sewing ...

Reading this past month or two has been a mixed bag. Two books were meh, one not my cup of tea but others may enjoy it, and only one to recommend. Links are provided for some to Amazon so you can read the full synopsis.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley – This book was recommended by an employee at our local used book store, and she was so effusive in her praise I decided to get it without checking out the reviews. In my quest to find stories to read that are unusual, the book jacket synopsis seemed to ...

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday week last week, and that the fun continues this week. Once Christmas arrived, things definitely slowed down here. It has been a welcome respite from all the hustle and bustle of the season. I’ve had time to slow down, work on a couple of ideas, enjoy the lights on the tree, and watch the birds. They have been busy this week eating all the seed they can stuff into their beaks. Here, the red bellied woodpecker shares the bounty with a bluebird and a nuthatch. Colder weather and several days of rain ...

This week, as we pause to reflect on the blessings in our lives, I hope that everyone is spending the holiday in a manner that is joyful, with people they love. I am aware of a fellow blogger that lost her husband suddenly without warning last week. Even though she lives in a country that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, it is still a hard time of year with the holidays to come. Another blogger buddy has opted not to go see her extended family as gatherings have become contentious with disagreements rather than celebrations of togetherness. Holiday stress of entertaining ...

This year, we’ve put together something extra magical for all of our quilty friends (and the people who have them on their gift list)! Whether you’re shopping for yourself or someone else, the 2024 Holiday Gift Guide is your one-stop shop for finding something special this holiday season. To make your browsing (and sharing) a bit easier, use the links below to jump to the category you’re interested in!

Stocking Stuffers

Tis the season to surprise your favorite quilter with unique and useful stocking stuffers! Add ...

This Nativity pattern is 27″ wide x by 33″ high and uses 3 reds, 5 blues, 5 browns and one near-white. The Paypal link lets you use any charge card for payment. You’ll immediately be given a download link for files to store on your computer. Ideally print the pattern pages (which are already mirrored) on sheets of freezer paper to be taped together. There are general instructions, specific sequence instructions, a color chart, and some single sheets ...

A chill is in the air and there are howls on the wind, calling in all the Halloween freebies for a spooktacular roundup. Thirteen free Halloween projects and three free Halloween Quilt and Stitch Alongs await you. Keep reading… if you dare! The urge to make something is all but guaranteed to strike.

Home Decor

Creep your home looking spooky and cute this Halloween with one of these free projects! Which one will bewitch you this spooky season?

Spooky Bat Bunting

The Spooky Bat Bunting works up in two flaps of a bat’s wing and is frightening fun for ...

Hope you had a good holiday celebration!

I have some good news and I promise I will get to it. But please let me whine first. After all, if I don't do it here, where can I?

In Yorktown

Paul and I decided to visit Colonial Williamsburg so we made hotel reservations a few weeks in advance. The plan was to spend July 4th in Yorktown, July 5th in Williamsburg, and July 6th in Jamestown.

I booked us a sailboat cruise (6:30 - 8:30) on the York river, after which we could watch the fireworks. As we drove ...

This weekend, we pause to count our blessings and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom. To help you celebrate, here are a few of my posts with patriotic theme projects, food and tablescapes.

I made this Patriotic Table Runner some time ago, and it is the foundation of most of my patriotic tablescapes.  The complete tutorial on how to make the tri-rec star blocks and put it together including putting borders on points, and binding non-90-degree angles HERE.  It is easy and fast, you could have one made in time for the July 4th ...

No stitching to show off today.  We're eclipsing. Fingers crossed we get some clearing around noon so we can enjoy the show. If not, I'm going to have one very disappointed My Guy. 

Do you have Easter Egg hunts planned for today?  That was such a big deal with my mother in law when she was alive.  The grand kids always looked forward too the hunt after lunch.  Now our chick is way to big for egg hunts, but she still really likes those marshmallow bunnies and chicks.

As far as the stitching week, I managed to make it to the sewing room every day. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Mar = 30/30 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 90/90 days
• Success rate = 100%

This 72″ tall by 32″ wide Folded-Freezer-Paper-Piecing pattern is based on a famous painting by Polish artist Eugeniusz_Kazimirowski of a depiction of a 1931 vision described by Polish nun Faustina Kowalska.

Order this $23.75 pattern from Peggy Aare.

See previous post for more pattern details.

Click here for previous post

— Peggy Aare

This 72″ tall by 32″ wide Folded-Freezer-Paper-Piecing pattern is based on a famous painting by Polish artist Eugeniusz_Kazimirowski of a depiction of a 1931 vision described by Polish nun Faustina Kowalska.

Order this $23.75 pattern from Peggy Aare.

It comes with a color chart for the 27 colors (specified Kona solid colors, though certainly you need not restrict yourself to one line of fabric), an exploded assembly diagram, and pages to print on freezer paper, plus general ...

I'm just back from a lovely family holiday in Nelson.  It's such a pretty place with beautiful beaches and bays. We stayed in an Airbnb overlooking Tasman Bay and I loved watching the ebb and flow of the tide and the sea changing colour throughout the day. 

It is 2024, and I am happy to turn the calendar over to a new page. I am looking forward to this new year in the hopes that the issues of the past couple of months are resolved enough to go smoothly now, at least for a while. I thought it was a good sign when more than 2 dozen robins showed up in the front yard and meadow. They are hard to pick out in the photo below, but you can see a bunch of them between the rails of the veranda.

The birds were all over the front ...