Check out this free sewing project from the book Baby Couture (click here for US and here for UK). It's in pdf form, so download it now, as it will be up for only one week, when a new free project will be posted.

Hi, it’s me, Christine. I just came back from a weekend in my home state of Wisconsin. And while there, I had the opportunity to spend some time with my mom in her sewing room, chatting in general, looking at fabric and checking in on the progress of all the quilts she has in the works (let’s just say “many”).

Two of the numerous things I love about my mom’s work are her bold use of color (Reds! Oranges! Yellows!) and her unabashed use of patterned fabrics. Anything goes in her sewing room, and that’s what makes it so fun to visit. Here are a few photos:

A very, very small portion of the fabric stash. These are her most recently acquired pieces—ones that she likes to keep out in the open to get inspiration from and for.

The quilt currently in a place of honor in the living room.

The quilt she’s working on for me. It’s a kind of cityscape of Cincinnati. The bottom border will be the Ohio River (that I can see from my living room window); the top border is a fireworks fabric (since there’s a huge fireworks display on the river each Labor Day). And the rectangles in the middle represent the building and attractions. There’s fish fabric for the aquarium, an animal fabric for the zoo, some shopping fabric, and so much more. As you can see, it’s getting pretty close to being done—I’ll be sure to share some photos when it is.

In the meantime, is there someone whose work you really admire—be it someone you know or not? I’d love to hear about them!

Until next time,
Christine

Jen here - I've nearly finished a patchworked bedcover (my first, so a bit scrappy looking but already adored), and need to add a thin batting and backing. It was only at this point that I looked through my sewing books again (started at 101 Ways to Use Your First Sewing Machine and worked my way along the shelf!), and the concensus between them was that I would benefit from a walking foot for my machine to pull the layers through evenly. Now I'm a huge fan of buying my sewing supplies on line, but there are certain technical areas where I still need someone to explain to me exactly what I'm buying.

So visited my local sewing store for the first time, and was blown away by how friendly, helpful and knowledgeable the owner was. Before I'd even finished trying to explain what I needed, she had magically produced the exact make and model I needed, and was showing me how to attach and use it. She also gave me useful extra tips to get the most from it (did you know a walking foot is also great for slippery fabrics such as voile, as it grips the fabric to keep your sewing straight?).

Of course I left clutching more than a walking foot - couldn't resist stocking up on thread, spare rotary blades and a couple of yards of fabric. But I also left feeling a little more confident - I have a local, friendly and reliable source of sewing knowledge that I can visit any time for advice, tips and even classes (plus the must-have irresistible purchases!). Maybe these local, independant sewing stores fill the gap left by the mothers and grandmothers who once passed down their skills through the generations?

I'm just glad I was finally dragged away from my computer screen for a while to chat, laugh, learn and discover a link to the world of sewing that I'll never find on the web.

Check out this free sewing project from the book My Style, My Place! It's in pdf form, so download it now, as it will be up for only one week, when a new free project will be posted.

Hi - Jenny here.

Have recently taken delivery of a new sofa - lovely chocolate and coffee shades, with a 'chaise end' - heaven! Anyway, once I'd dragged myself away from it, I wanted to make a couple more cushions to add colour accent. My sitting room was very red before, so to ring the changes I thought I'd try bright blue.

Choosing the shade isn't easy, but buying packs of charm squares is an addiction I'm sure isn't just mine. Many designers offer 5" x 5" (or even 2.5" x 2.5") packs of swatches of their collections - they're a quick and cheap way to have their whole range in the palm of your hand without committing to yards of fabric (also, the packs are totally adorable!). My current fave UK site for fabric is Cotton Patch - they specialise in patchwork and quilting supplies, but their biggest dept is fabric where they offer yummy little charm packs. Not just great for checking colour and pattern, they're also fab for small sewing projects, applique motifs, experimenting with pattern and colour, and building a physical wishlist of fabrics you want (just write on the back of the swatch the designer and fabric name for future reference).

There are even Charm Pack Clubs (check out this Moda one from the US The Fat Quarter Shop) that mean having dinky charm packs regularly dropping through your letter box!

Hopefully I'll find the perfect cushion fabric soon, but in the meantime I'm just enjoying browsing through my stash of charm packs dreaming of owning the fabric by the yard . . .