If you're like me, sometimes when you sit down to sew a new project, you're just not sure which needle would be best. There's a vast array of choices out there these days, so I thought a little needle-cation might be in order. I turned to our ...

Here's a tip for those of you who need to make a quick costume but don't have access to a sewing machine. This Cave Woman costume is not sewn together! The seams are all fused with paper-backed fusible tape.

The pattern is Simplicity #2518, an easy to sew ...

Here's a "vintage" Tuesday Tip from our previous blog. It's a useful, timeless tip worth repeating. Hope you enjoy it! ~Annette

I picked up this great tip for making the corners of your binding square at a Sew Expo class, taught by Kaye Woods. (If you haven't ...

I love crafting! Creating things by hand gives me a feeling of accomplishment and pride. I have only recently embraced technology in crafting and I have found it helps me to get more time for the hobby I love.

This month at Creative U, I am having so much fun ...

I am demonstrating at the Evergreen State Fair this week showing new quilting gadgets and some “quick quilting” techniques. I was very surprised to hear many of the people I talked to had never heard of Fusible Fleece.

This is an iron-on batting that I fuse to my quilt backing ...

This week I am having so much fun with a new tool!

It's called the Leaves Galore Ruler by Sue Pelland Designs. It has curved sides and comes in three sizes for cutting shapes for fusible applique. You can cut leaves, feathers and petal shapes in various sizes with ...

I love being able to walk into my sewing studio, look through my fabrics and start designing without having to leave the house. This is only possible, of course, if I continually feed my fabric stash!

Here are my 5 hints for keeping a "well-fed" stash:

1. When you see ...

I made a quilt from a new pattern called No Sew Pie to Go by Pie Plate Patterns. This is a “raggy quilt” where all the block edges are left unfinished creating a raggy effect after washing.

Instead of sewing all of the quilt block pieces together, the instructions have ...

Earlier this month, I had a chance to try Frixion Gel Pens from Pilot. I used them to mark the quilting lines in a project that I was machine quilting. They wrote so smoothly and clearly!

After I was done quilting instead of washing or rubbing with a damp cloth ...

Crafty Chris has morphed into Chris Claus for Christmas in July this month and she's very busy corraling elves, so I thought I'd do a tip for you today. It's pretty simple - go to one of our Christmas in July events, plan your gifts and start making ...

Hope you had a great Fourth of July! It made our tip a day late, but I learned something really cool while I was working on a project over the weekend. So I guess it's good that I had an extra day!

The project I was working on (you ...

Many of my inspirations come from fabric. I LOVE fabric - good thing I work in a fabric store! I am always looking for reasons to buy some new print that I've fallen in love with and lately my eye has been drawn to the repeating stripes often featured in ...

Many years ago I worked for a fabric store that sold sewing machines and our most common complaint was: "My thread keeps breaking!" I learned to ask a few basic questions and found that the machine was rarely the actual problem. Since I know how frustrating this can be, I ...

We've had warm weather in our area this week and it makes me think of BBQ and outdoor cooking on the grill! So, using the Man'z Domain pattern, I decided to make my hubby a new BBQ Apron and a couple of matching Mitts for Father's Day ...

I'm a little late because of the holiday, but I've got a great thrifty tip for you this week! While working on table runners this month as I was preparing for our June Creative U, "Table Top Treats", I tried to use up bits of quilt batting I ...

If you're looking for a little texture for your sewing or quilting project, I highly recommend Texture Magic! I've been working with Texture Magic for quite awhile now and I really love it!

Simply sew the Texture Magic fabric to the back of your fabric, steam it and ...

Making baskets and bags from fabric strips is fun and so easy using patterns from Aunties Two (like the Biscuit Basket shown above) and CRAF-TEX Stabilizer.

CRAF-TEX is a stiff, heavy-weight stabilizer that is great for sewing and crafts. I've used it in the bottom of tote bags and ...

Ellen, an extraordinary quilter who works & teaches at our Everett store, stitches up gorgeous McKenna Ryan quilts that we all covet! The picture above is Home Tweet Home, one of McKenna's newest designs. So new that Ellen hasn't made one yet! So that you can make gorgeous quilts ...

I'm having so much fun making flowers with Clover's Flower Frill Templates!

They're simple and quick to make by folding the fabric according to the instructions on the easy-to-use templates. You just cut the petals, stitch them together and there you have it! Although they look like ...

Is Spray Starch one of those quilting "tools" that you have a love/hate relationship with?

Dodi Poulsen

At the Sewing & Stitchery Expo a few weeks ago, I picked up a great tip while attending one of the seminars presented by Dodi Poulsen of Two Sisters at Squirrel Hollow. You ...