A Cross Stitch tip

I thought I'd share a tip for those of you who cross stitch using black linen or aida cloth.  Use one of the little lights you tap to turn on and off underneath as you stitch.  The light makes seeing the little holes easy!  I use it with all dark colors of linen or aida cloth.  In fact, the light is too bright so I taped Kleenex over the light to dim it a bit.

Here are some pieces I made.

I made this one around our 20th anniversary.  
We've been married 36 year now!

I made this one when my daughter was 3 months old.  

She's 34 yrs old now!

 

2026 Christmas Drawing

 Attention all clients!  I have a set of tools from Missouri Star Quilt Company I'd like to give away at the end of 2026.  Everyone who brings a quilt for longarming gets an entry, 1 entry per quilt brought during 2026. This is a high quality set of tools all stored away in a metal tool box.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year!

Durham Charter Academy

 A few of you know I am the founder of the first Charter Public School in NC. I wanted to let you know the school has added high school and also changed the name to Durham Charter School. My school opened in 1997 with K-3rd grade... and now it's 28 years serving children K-12! They also built a new school building which houses grades K-12. You can click the photo below to check it out:

Christmas Rush is winding down

 It's been a busy couple of months for me what with all the quilts needing longarming before Christmas!  Here's a photo of one quilt for a client.  She chose the Bossa Nova pantograph for her quilt.  This is one of my favorite designs.

Cricut

 I had a couple days off from longarming so I spent the time using my Cricut cutting machine.  I love this thing!  I made several cards, including 20 Christmas cards I plan on sending out this year.  

If you are interested in buying a Cricut cutting machine, this pdf booklet has ALL you need to begin right away.  I used this booklet and it was very easy to follow and understand.  It's written by Jennifer Maker.  Click here to see her Cricut Coach Playbook.

And the inside of this card is below, it's so cute!

New WIP

 I spent some time this morning, Small Business Saturday, and bought some patterns from Etsy.  This is one of them, and I pulled fabrics from my stash to make it.  I hope to get some time during December to make it.  It's a pattern I found on the CottonBerryQuilts sales page and the pattern is called Pumpkin & Bloom Applique pattern.

Ode to Sewing Machines #49

  Many of you follow my "Ode to the Sewing Machine" posts.  We've all seen the ads on craigslist, ebay and elsewhere.  The clueless sellers give those of us who sew a belly laugh, or two!  

Just when I think I've made enough Ode to Sewing Machine posts, I see another "can't believe this one" and I have to share it with you. Here's installment #49!  

The 1st one isn't a sewing machine but I had to post it here.  My jaw dropped open when I saw this...

This is the only photo of the machine!

And another one, it looks like she didn't have the time to take a 
decent photo as well...this is the only photo of the machine!

A winning quilt

 I entered my quilt in the Hearts and Hands Guild quilt show this weekend and it won a 3rd place ribbon.  The quilt has 560 HSTs in it.

Cricut Maker 4

 I had a Cricut Maker machine for years and decided to upgrade to the new Cricut Maker 4.  FedEx delivered it 4 days ago and I've been having a great time using it.  It is lighting fast, much faster than previous Maker models. For those unfamiliar with Cricut cutting machines, they coincide with an app called Design Space.  Using the app, you can create just about anything you can dream up.  

Here are some photos of projects I've made the last 4 days:

I made the following projects using my Maker 1:

If you are interested in buying a Cricut cutting machine, this pdf booklet has ALL you need to begin right away.  I used this booklet and it was very easy to follow and understand.  It's written by Jennifer Maker.  Click here to see her Cricut Coach Playbook.

Under my needle

 I've been a bit overwhelmed with quilts needing my expertise, I think the Christmas rush began early this year.  I already have 22 quilts in the queue and I've decided not to take anymore quilts from new clients until I get caught up.  I am always accepting current clients' quilts so if you're already a customer of mine don't hesitate to stop on by!

Isn't this a great Autumn quilt?  I stitched a design that looks like the breeze blowing across the quilt.

And this quilt was loaded on the frame just this afternoon.  I will begin stitching it tomorrow morning.

Quilted Needle Fabrics class

 I visited a new quilt shop this week in Pittsboro, NC.  It's the Quilted Needle Fabrics store and it opened a year ago.  The owner, Jackie, is a treasure!  She is so friendly and knowledgeable... and funny!  
I attended a 2-night Jelly Roll Rug class taught by Jackie.  This photo is one Jackie shared on their facebook page, it was taken while I was stitching my rug...

Here's the finished rug!  I will be giving it to my granddaughter! 

I hope you'll stop by this great quilt shop.  350 East Street, Pittsboro, NC

Under my needle

 It's time I posted the latest quilt tops on my frame!  The first one is a customer's quilt and she made a 2nd one just like it only with a blue theme.  I used a pantograph called Let Love Bloom which has hearts and swirls in it.

This quilt top is also a customer's quilt.  It's a wonderful Christmas quilt called "Over the River".  I used a pantograph with snowflakes on this quilt.

In memory - George Chamberlain

 

George was a veteran of World War II. He rarely spoke of his time in the war. After the war, he came back home on the aircraft carrier, the USS North Carolina. He visited the ship in 1996 with his son, Jim. The USS North Carolina is docked in Wilmington, NC and is a museum. 

After the war, George returned to Arkansas. He married June Andrews on Christmas Eve 1946 in Benton, Georgia. They eventually moved to Hardin county, Iowa. George farmed for Jesse and Martha North, living on a farm near Whitten, IA. They raised 4 children. 

George was eventually adopted by Jesse and Martha North and upon their death they left the farms to George. George and June moved to the farm in New Providence in the 1980s. He bought a truck in the mid 1980s and drove from coast to coast. In 1991, the US was in the midst of Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Iraq. George had a contract with the US government, carrying nuclear warheads from California to North Carolina. As you can imagine, he was tracked by satelite, the FBI and he could travel only secondary roads from coast to coast. And at every town he had to radio ahead and wait for police, firetrucks and haz-mat crews to escort him through town. It took 2 weeks to travel from sea to shining sea.

He was a great father-in-law and grandpa.  We will miss him very much.

ByAnnie patterns

 I made my second Running with Scissors and Take a Stand totes this past week.  There are many ByAnnie patterns.  Annie makes all kinds of patterns for totes, bags and duffels.  The first set I made a couple years ago and sold them to a customer who wanted them really, really bad.  LOL  So of course I needed to make another set!  

Running with Scissors is a bit challenging to make but if you take your time and take breaks in between steps it's manageable. Take a Stand is easier.  I would recommend cutting the binding for the tote body at 2-1/2" rather than 2-1/4" though.

Unexpected time off

 I have a couple weeks off from longarming due to an error code I was getting on my robotics.  I had to ship the motor to Utah for repair.  I have 15 quilt tops waiting for me when it gets shipped back though so I hope they fix it quickly!!

In the meantime, I'm using this time to sew for my grandchildren, ages 5, 2 and 10 months.  I haven't made clothing in over 20 years, since my son was little, and I'm a little rusty at it!  I made pajamas using this pattern and decided to use flannel.  

Flower Girl

I made this quilt top using my Featherweight and had it hanging on my design wall for months waiting for me to find the time to longarm it. It's done now! This was a Jolly Bar quilt kit from the Fat Quarter Shop, the fabric collection is called Flower Girl.

Difference in Thread Weights

 I don't remember where I found this photo, but it's a great visual of the various thread weights available today.  50 wt is what I use on my long arm.  40 wt is usually used on embroidery machines as well as quilt piecing and sewing garments.  I use 70 wt thread for bobbin thread on my embroidery machine.

How to get perfect longarm tension

 Jamie Wallen shared a video 12 years ago about how to get perfectly balanced tension and it's been watched by over a quarter million longarmers.  It's the best instruction I've seen that explains how to fix problems you might be having with your stitching.

Latest quilt on my frame

 It's been beautiful in NC the last few days!  I've had my windows open every day and the breeze is wonderful as I work on my longarm machine.  This is the latest quilt on the frame.  It's 110"x110" and it belongs to a customer.