Finding Pins and Needles

  1. Spray Starch I won't sew without this... Everyone needs a good spray starch when piecing blocks. Using fabric when it's stiff makes a world of difference when running it under the needle, you'll have so much more control and accuracy. I use Marry Ellen's Best Press. I literally buy it by the gallon *. 2. Wool Mat Wool Pressing Mats are all the rage, and you'll know why when you get one! These babies retain heat, which allows you to iron both sides of the fabric at the same time, plus, provides a stiff pressing surface to not distort your fabric. You also might want a small one*  paired with your mini iron* next to your machine! 3. PILOT FriXion Pens & Markers This has been a game-changer for me! These are great for using to trace templates, mark your half square triangles and mark your quilting lines. I love that they come in multiple colors, so they are versatile on different colored fabrics. I do use the  marker version*  on my fabrics too...

Here's a throwback to one of my favorite cakes I did for my daughter, and it was seriously easy with a few supplies. Besides your typical cake supplies, I've listed some basic decorating supplies for this cake. Supplies: Ariel Topper Sea Life Silicone Mold  (shells and coral) Circle Cutters  (scales) Alphabet Cutters (for the name) Luster Dust (pick up in cake isle, paint on scales) Fondant (purple, greens) Brown Sugar (sand!)

Possibly my easiest cake ever? If you don't consider yourself a cake-decorator, even YOU can do this one. Materials: Once you've iced your cake, you'll want to roll out your fondant  with a rolling pin. Next, take your Butterfly Plungers  and cut out a variety of sizes and colors. To give your butterflies a 3D look, take a cereal box or other cardboard and fold it like an accordion. Take your butterflies and press them into the accordion crevices to let them dry. Allow plenty of time for the butterflies to dry and stiffen. Once dry, knock yourself out decorating. Find the letter cutters here If you're looking for party supplies to match, we used these:

With Frozen 2 hitting the theaters recently, I thought I'd post pics of the Frozen cake I made a few years ago. It was labor-intensive & pricey, but one of the coolest cakes I've done to date. Decorating Supplies: Isomalt Food Coloring Candy Thermometer Snowflake Mold Gem Mold Silicone Mat Cake Topper/Toy Silicone Baking Mat  (for Letters & Numbers) Hexagon Cake Pans Tutorials Isomelt & Jewel Tutorial Isomalt Shard Tutorial Isomalt Letters Tutorial To get custom letters and numbers out of Isomalt, I chose a font I liked and printed the name and numbers from my computer. After I cut out the letters and numbers from the paper, I used an x-acto knife and cut into a  Silicone Baking Mat  to create a custom mold. Once I poured Isomalt into the molds and the letters cooled, I dropped a dot of Isomalt on the base of each letter and attached a toothpick. " Some people are worth melting for" -Olaf

My 6 year old daughter has spent many evenings perched on my craft room counter watching me piece, quilt and create. What she didn't know, is that I was slowly brainwashing her! All along, I've been using sewing terms, teaching her about the machine's parts and apparently inspiring her own creativity. Last year I asked her multiple times if she wanted to learn, and I always got a resounding "no!", I think she was scared. So I was ecstatic when she came to me a few weeks ago and asked me to teach her to sew! I immediately went online and found an AMAZING book to help guide the process and I went through my stash of sewing tools (and my old machine) that I had set aside for her over the years. So here is our adventure... I had her bookmark her first 3 projects in My First Sewing Machine book so we could build her skills. Here's how it went... Project #1 (pg.60)   -   Felt Garland Project #2 (pg.80)   -   Fabric Basket to hold her sewing notion...

Inspired by the fabric, I just had to do an apron for dolly. The pattern I used for the apron is from  Simplicity Sewing Pattern 2761 . As for the adorable retro baking fabric, I picked it up in a local fabric shop, it's  Paddington's Party, " Baking Ingredients on light blue".  The yellow and white dot fabric is part of   "Isn't Christmas Jolly"   by Mary Engelbreit. I wonder what Kit will cook up in her new kitchen getup...

Lately I've been inspired by basic 9-patch blocks and the endless possibilities they hold. Although I usually design my quilts in Adobe Illustrator, sometimes it's fun to be hands on. Thus, the creation of my quilt blocks... literal blocks . Materials: Sharpies Wooden Cubes  (they cost a whopping $2) Design: Nine patch blocks are comprised of nine units, laid out in three rows of three patches. Put together, you can make plenty of traditional block designs, or you can go with something more contemporary. Simply color the design with a Sharpie marker onto the sides of the wooden cubes. There are plenty of other design options for your cube's sides besides the ones above,  get creative and start designing your own quilt! Happy Quilting!

3...2...1... Happy Birthday! My son loves Mario Kart, specifically Waluigi. So for his 7th birthday, we did a MK themed party where he dressed in his purple suspendered Waluigi costume. The kids and adults had a blast playing MK on the wii. Here's how the cake turned out... Super Mario Figure Play Set Mario Kart  Mini Karts The inside of the cake was checkered like a racing flag, find the very easy tutorial  here . Mine didn't turn out perfect,  but it was fun and pretty simple to do. Icing Tip  for grass The #7 was done by cutting same size squares from black and white fondant, assembling the check pattern and then using a Wilton  Number & Alphabet Cookie Cutter . I applied it on top of white fondant 7 to give it more strength. The "Happy Birthday" sign was made using this  font .

1. I'm willing to bet most of you have this first item and don't even know its true potential! Did you know ever notice that silly little strawberry hanging off your tomato pin cushion ? It isn't there just for looks (LOL), Mr. Strawberry is filled with something called "emery sand". I'm sure you have a few emery boards around the house or at the bottom of your purse to file your fingernails. Emery is also used to sharpen pins and needles and keep them free of burrs that will snag your fabric. 2. I'm going to be honest, my tomato pin cushion is hidden in the back of a drawer. Call me judgmental, but tomatoes are for my sandwich, not my sewing room. With a quick search of Pinterest  you can find some amazingly cute ideas for diy pin cushions. Check out my  pin cushion Pinterest board  for a start. Most cushions call for Fiber Fill , which is great, but for a sharper solution...fill your custom cushions with emery to sharpen your pins and nee...

I was so excited to do this Dick & Jane Baby Quilt ( Michael Miller's Dick & Jane fabric). Believe it or not, this was a stash quilt! The only thing I had to purchase was the batting. I have made a number of projects with this fabric over the years. Now that my kids are getting older, I'm finding fewer uses. It's pretty much used up now, and I had a ton of fun doing it! A few of my previous Dick & Jane projects are a book caddy for my son's bed and a stuffed monkey doll that was kind of a fail. She's in the first picture, she's coming unstuffed! A book caddy for the top bunk. This was my third quilt, I thought I'd share a few tips I've learned a long the way. All the instructional videos I've been watching on Craftsy & YouTube have made a HUGE difference in the quality of this quilt compared to the last  therefore making it that much more fun to sew. A few tips & tutorials Spray "starch"  has change...

It's taken me a long time to take this step.... my first quilt! Ok, confession ... This was NOT my first quilt. Below is photo evidence circa 1996, a school project. *wince*. Yes I made the matching dress too. Everyone needs apparel to match their quilt. MOVING ON. I. Learned. A. Lot. You'll get much more valuable tips from other blogs and sites, I won't pretend to be an expert after 1... ok, 2 quilts. I will tell you though, I learned I didn't understand triangles, bias cutting, and fabric stretch . If you're a newbie, my suggestion is to look this up before endeavoring on your first triangle quilt. Also, learn the triangle trick (at least I think it's a trick). I thought I was choosing a pattern that would be easy, but it turned out that the fabrics I chose led to... a lot of math.  Don't try to create your own pattern if you're a newbie , too much unnecessary stress! **I used to have a link to the original pattern by Riley...