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The last 10 days have been eventful. The unusual (for this area) Winter storm is just about done, and things are getting back to our version of normal. Meanwhile, I've been sewing. I've been playing with thread color and decorative stitches on the sewing machine. The white with green thread is the largest of the recent bowls and may be my favorite. I love its simplicity. These two have a lot in common and are more dramatic than their green cousin. About the same size but a bi

... a how NOT to guide. (LOL) I am participating in a rope bowl challenge in a FaceBook group. The challenge requires dyeing either the rope before sewing or the completed project. I chose the later and chose to coffee dye the bowl. Here's what I did. Boil water with a large amount of salt. Salt is a fixative for the dye. Place three large handfuls of instant coffee and one large handful of salt in an 8-inch baking pan. Add the boiling water to the baking pan sufficient to fi

Had a request for a bowl with the constraint that it not be in Fall colors. This is the result. My largest and I think my best bowl to date. Now to ship.... Then I made a bowl just for me. A chance to use some of those decorative stitches on the sewing machine. Not a large bowl. Hope you enjoy. dks, 13 Jan 2026

Had someone request that I make a purple bowl for holding dog treats. Took 2 tries but here it is. This is also a challenge entry for a FaceBook group I belong to. It is 6.5 inches at the base; 9.25 inches across at the top; 3.5 inches tall. The knot is called a Pippa or Teardrop knot. (I need to practice my knots!) The exterior color comes from a spray-on dye I found on Amazon. I hope it is purple enough. The dye I used for the purple bowls. The interior of the bowl stitched

The holiday season was busy and good to me. In addition to the usual holiday bustle, I managed to create 6 new rope bowls, each unique in its own way. The first three use a total of 100 feet of cotton clothesline rope from Ace Hardware. Nothing special about them but they were a learning experience as I experimented with a few techniques attempting to get a flatter bottom and straighter sides. Mixed results but still worthy efforts. The best of the lot is pictured below. The

Yes, another rope bowl. Still having problems getting the bottom as flat as I would like. Have watched some more videos on YouTube for some hints. Same with straight sides. Finishing on this one was a last-minute decision to do the loops and the final coil. The button was a total afterthought. Need to work on the loops -- get them sized and spaced more evenly. Need to work on flat bottom. Need to work on straighter, steeper sides. Want to experiment with finishings and maybe

Made another coiled creation today. This one incorporates some nice fabric to make a unique pattern in the bottom of the bowl. It was moderately successful. It is supposed to be a FIVE-pointed star, not six. Size problems with the center of the circle and the bottoms of the triangles. 2piR is the circumference of the inner circle which was supposed to be 5 inches in diameter. The triangle bases are 3 inches each. 5pi is a bit over 15 but not enough for all six triangles. hmmm

I created another rope bowl today this time using actual clothesline rope rather than macrame cord. Used the same top thread as the previous bowl but white bobbin thread. I like the results. This bowl is more bowl shaped than the previous cone shaped bowl -- a trick of holding the cording correctly when stitching. I also like the color flecks on the exterior -- a happy accident due to improper tension in the top thread. Already planning another and will try my hand at using t

I've recently developed an interest in sewing rope bowls. Simple in concept, these bowls are coiled from rope and stitched together using a sewing machine that can handle thick fabrics. Some use clothesline rope; some macrame cord. Some wrap the rope in fabric; some choose to leave the rope visible. Contrasting threads are sometimes used to highlight the stitching. Really, your imagination is the only limit. Today I made my first rope bowl using black 5mm macrame cord and bri

I've become interested in free motion quilting and have been trying my hand at it since I got my new machine with the capability of doing this type of work. Below are my most recent attempts. Not much to look at yet. These are actually all one piece of fabric. The camera seems to have changed the color a bit. I am actually more interested in ruler work but don't yet have the equipment to do this type of quilting. More on that ... later. dks, 12 Dec 2025

This week I've been stitching on striped fabric again. This time eighth inch stripes in black and white with variegated thread. I like the effect, but quarter inch stripes would be less dizzying. As nearly as I can tell I'm not more than 1 sixteenth of an inch off either way when stitching along these lines. If I can translate this to stitching on a ruler line when quilting a piece of fabric, then I'm good. The next step is to decide what to make with these decorated fabrics.

I've been attempting to work on my straight stitching these past few days. I purchased a yard of red and white striped fabric with quarter inch stripes then cut it into fat quarters. I put a stiff interfacing on one of the quarters and I'm trying to stitch a straight path along each red stripe with black thread using the various decorative stitches on my new machine. This is a bit different from simply stitching a straight or zig zag stitch down the stripe as the machine move

Happy Thanksgiving and Peaceful Black Friday!!! image from freepik.com I spent Thanksgiving Day sewing. I finished another boxy zipper pouch, this one interfaced with 100% cotton batting (no scrim). (Photos in a later post.) My new machine has a bit of a problem with this: the presser foot doesn't rise high enough to fit all of the layers that result from seams with multiple layers of batting. Had to do a bit of hand stitching. Note to self: be careful with layers of batting

This is a brief rundown on my new Janome. The short version is ... I Love It! A game changer, really. The automatic thread cutter is even better than I expected. I never even knew there was such a thing until I began watching sewing videos on YouTube. People would push a button and magically the threads would be cut with no scissors in sight. I really appreciated it last night when I was quilting a fat quarter in preparation for another project. I sewed line after line of par

First, let me say that I have no intention of ever making a quilt of any kind, just not my thing. I do, however, occasionally create quilted fabric for making bags, zipper pouches, book covers, and a variety of other items. So far, all I can do is straight line (LOL) quilting. Ok as far as it goes but I'm looking for a bit more. The new sewing machine allows me to drop the feed dogs and has a free motion foot included. For the last 3 days, I've been watching YouTube videos on

The new machine arrived yesterday and I tested it a bit this morning. It is GREAT! I finished up a sew flat basket (number 2, v 1.1) and it sewed through several layers of thick fabric with ease. I especially like the automatic thread cutter; it saves thread and time in cutting a piece away from the machine at the end of a line of stitching. A more comprehensive review of the machine will come at a later time. The basket has a few flaws but overall, I am happy with it. Gettin

I've been wrestling with my Mom's "old" Singer machine. Have gone through the usual ... clean, rethread, change needle, adjust tension ... no change in stitching issues. Although I had planned to purchase a new machine in the Spring of 2026, the current issues combined with the lack of any kind of servicing available locally has accelerated my timeline. So, Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas to me; I've purchased a new sewing machine due to arrive 20 Nov 2025. This was not an

Tried a new basket making technique over the last couple of weeks. The makeover intervened and it took longer than the day or two it should have. Quilted 2 fat quarters. This prompted a search for fabric markers that would truly disappear. I did finally find some that would wash out but not before I essentially ruined 2 fat quarters. I decided to use them anyway in this experimental basket project. Watched the YouTube video a dozen times to get the origami part right then aga

Since my earlier post on fabric markers and my general disappointment with them, I have been pointed in the direction of wax-free tracing paper. This comes in a limited variety of colors and does indeed wash out completely. The problem is of course working with tracing paper as opposed to just a marker of some type. In addition, the marks are faint. I stand by my earlier conclusion that there is no one really good solution to the fabric marking problem. dks, 11 Nov 2025

Which fabric markers do you use? Following is a run-down on those I have tried but am dissatisfied with. Chalk markers Beautiful clear lines easy to see when stitching. They appear to be permanent as I have laundered repeatedly and not been able to get rid of the chalk. My conclusion: use only on the wrong side of the project. Heat erasable pens Nice clear lines. Ink disappears when touched with a hot iron. However, the ink is still there and will become visible again when it