Jim, the destructor…

I recently bought matelasee bedspread that doubles as a nice, light-weight blanket. I love it and it was totally perfect until Jim decided to take a running jump at the corner of the bed.

OMG… And then he did the same thing on the other side. This is why I don’t have quilts on the beds!

I decided to use my sewing skills to mend the rips with thread. I knew the mends would show, so I embraced it. The gray #8 perle cotton is a little darker than the spread and, yes, indeed, those stitches show at every rip on both corners of the bed.

Surprisingly, the mends don’t bother me nearly as much as the rips did. And it doesn’t hurt that I now have a fake fur throw at the bottom of the bed.

It’s gotten cold so the fur throw is coming in handy. And if Jim goes after it with his claws, it won’t hurt it.

Stupid cat. Sigh.

Wednesday Giveaway – Organize Those Bobbins!

The Dritz Bobbin Box, won by Laurie LaFountain, features a foam insert that holds the bobbins in place, ensuring the thread tails stay put and spillages don’t happen from minor tips of the box. Yay! It holds 28 bobbins (a complete set of super bobbins plus 3 additional ones). You can view this box and all our bobbin organizers, plus the bobbins themselves, by clicking here.

I’ll be back with another Giveaway next Wednesday. Until then you can shop for all sorts of sewing notions, books, and other fun stuff at pieceocake.com!

DIY No-Slip Stool Cushion (& making do with what you have)…

I often sit on a wood barstool to work. While I have natural padding, the seat is hard! I couldn’t find a more comfortable barstool or cushion but I ordered something in that came padded with two sheets of foam. Great!

After two months of sitting on plain foam I decided to make a ‘real’ cushion to fit the stool. This is not great foam, but it was free and here. I cut both pieces to fit the top of the stool.

Once I was sure the foam fit the seat, I cut fabric for the cushion top and Easyliner Grip shelf liner for the bottom, adding 1/2˝ seam allowance on all sides.

I sewed the fabric and Easyliner right sides together using my walking foot, a long-ish stitch length, and a scant 1/2˝ seam. The grippy stuff does not slide on the bed of the machine so sew with it on top. There isn’t fabric between the Easyliner and the foam. You could add fabric, but I couldn’t see the point. Leave an opening to insert the foam.

Getting the foam in place wasn’t exactly easy, but it was possible. I pinned the opening closed and whipped it shut by hand. I would have sewn it on the machine but decided that would be way more trouble than it was worth.

I thought about making this cushion for weeks. Why? After less than an hour I have a functional, cute cushion that will last a long time. I might eventually get fancy and purchase high density foam to make another one—but not today :-).

Take a look at the projects that you keep putting off. They might be like this… faster than you think and very grin-inducing!

Wednesday Giveaway Winner – Yolanda Corzine!

This week’s Giveaway, Karen Kay Buckley’s Shorter Perfect Pins, are extremely fine and flexible 1″ pins. They can be a bit tricky to use, so if in doubt, click this link to go to a video with tips for using them.

I’ll be back with another Giveaway next Wednesday. Until then you can shop for all sorts of sewing notions, books, and other fun stuff at pieceocake.com!

Susan Horton Wins the Wednesday Giveaway!

Jen Kingwell makes a great tool to add a precise 1/4 inch seam allowance to a finished template—the Simple Seam Wheel – this week’s Wednesday Giveaway!

Place the Simple Seam Wheel next to a finished-size template, put a sharp pencil in the hole, run the wheel around the template to add a 1/4″ seam allowance.

I’ll be back with another Giveaway next Wednesday. Until then you can shop for all sorts of sewing notions, books, and other fun stuff at pieceocake.com!

Puzzles are for everyone :-)

eeBoo’s NEW Holiday puzzle this year has EVERYTHING, and it just arrived here! So much detail to enjoy as you work on it together. Sure to put you in the holiday mood.

A Happy Holiday 1000 Piece Puzzle

The Dutch Quilt Sampler is just like a wonderful quilt, the more you look the more you smile—patterns, colors, appliqué animals. It is delightful! I love the bird. Did you find the tiny frog? (Below, left.)

Over at Lorna’s house, they’ve put together the Green Kitchen twice because they love it so much, and of course they do. So cheery! (Above, right.)

The Alchemist’s Home has been so popular we only have a few left, and you can see why. It has a lot going on, even the trees and sky in the background are beautiful (birds and little bird houses). Look in each room, and find the living and the friendly ghosts co-inhabiting this old Victorian home. There are just so many moments to discover as you put this together. There’s even an antique sewing machine.

Lorna and Chris went to the beach for their birthdays a few weeks ago along with Judy, Bear and friends, Kathryn and Nathan. They took puzzles :-). The round Moths puzzle was the favorite. Each moth is gorgeous and unique. It really does change how you think about and work on a puzzle when it’s round. Kathryn and Bear look like master puzzle builders in the time-lapse video, below.

Kathryn and Bear, the puzzle masters :-).

The round Hummingbirds Puzzle is inspired by vintage ornithological illustrations, and captures the magical beauty of the hummingbird. I have hummingbird lovers in my life, and this will make a perfect gift.

Hummingbirds 500 Piece Round Puzzle

Kathe Holden designed this whimsical 1000 piece puzzle from Moda —Tomato Pincushions! Obviously an ideal gift for the sewers and crafters in your life.

We still have a very few glow-in-the-dark 100 piece puzzles. Geared to kids, but definitely engaging for all ages, because the designs are beautiful. Bats and Bioluminescent creatures turn into fascinating jigsaw puzzles.

Click here to find all of these puzzles, plus a few eeBoo games, on the Puzzles & More page.