Tag: 2007-05

  • Designing With Toddler

      I have been hanging onto these adorable retro Western prints for a couple of years now. Aren’t they cute? My son’s room has a vintage Western kind of thing going on (I refuse to say “theme”) and I wanted to make a quilt for him with these fabrics. But I hadn’t been able, as…

  • How To Paint & Trim Oak Cabinets

      One of the most common decorating challenges I hear about in kitchens is the dated oak cabinetry. My friend Kim has done a spectacular job of tackling this challenge in her own house. With her kind permissions, I’ve put together a step-by-step how to on her process. If you like Kim’s work, please also…

  • Spelt French Bread Recipe

    Sometimes when I’m a little confused, having trouble working out a problem, or just can’t engage with a design, the thing I need most is to disengage my brain. To just let the ebb and flow of natural events wash over me until the mental grit and grime has floated away. So, this morning I…

  • How to Unsew / Unstitch / Rip Out a Seam

    Despite our best of intentions, all of us have had to undo a seam at one time or another. Some people call it “unsewing” and some people call it “ripping out” — it doesn’t matter what you call it, it isn’t fun and it isn’t pretty, but everyone has to do it sometimes. Here’s the…

  • How to Use Leaders & Enders

    The concept of using Leaders & Enders is one that blew my mind when I first encountered it. Not only do you eliminate the loose threads and tangles that happen at the beginning and ending of a seam, but you can be building the patchwork for one quilt while getting bonus patchwork happening simply by…

  • How to Chain Piece

    One of the most revolutionary things I learned early on in my pursuit of quilting was chain piecing. I believe it is generally regarded as an invention of Eleanor Burns of Quilt in a Day. The story goes that she was driving along near the garment district in her hometown and saw this chains of…

  • Super-Fudgy Small Batch Spelt Brownie Recipe

    I know the idea of making an extra-small quantity of something as delicious as brownies seems counter-intuitive, but really, it makes perfect sense. Unless you have the metabolism of a shrew, you probably don’t want to eat a whole pan of brownies before they get dried out, so a smaller batch is better. Or, if…