ACCUQUILT Go! Is Great for Speed Piecing and Stash Busting

I was first introduced to the ACCUQUILT GO! Die cutter a little over four years ago at my local quilt shop. One of my quilting friends had the machine, a few dies and the cutting mats for them. I tried using it to cut out tumbler shapes from Halloween fabrics. It was the easiest and most efficient way to cut out a charm quilt.

Charm quilts are usually made from a single shape and from many different fabrics. The tumbler is a very old quilting shape and has been around for a very long time. I had never used that shape to make a quilt. Two of my friends and I decided to share all of our various Halloween fabric collections and cut tumbler shapes to make quilts. I spent an entire Sunday afternoon die cutting tumbler shapes from hundreds of spooky and fun novelty fabrics. Each of us got 1 or more tumbler of each fabric.

There are two very important advantages to the ACCUQUILT Go! The first is accuracy. Even though I consider myself an expert quilter, and I have been using rulers, rotary cutters and mats since they first hit the market in the late 1980s, I find it next to impossible to get the consistency and accuracy of shapes cut with ACCUQUILT when I manually cut them with a rotary tool set.

The second advantage is speed. I find that I can only accurately and quickly use my rotary tools to cut 4 layers of fabric, but with the ACCUQUILT, I can cut 6 layers of shapes several times in the same amount of time. There is no twisting and turning of the fabric you are cutting when there are angular shapes. I do use my rotary tools to trim up the fabric into pieces to run thru the die machine, but after loading it and with a few simple and fast turns of the crank handle, I have my perfect shapes every time.

I have noticed that because the pieces are accurate and consistent, my piecing goes faster and the seams always match up with little to no effort on my part. This is due to the notches cut into the corner of the tumbler shape which assist the sewer in properly lining up the edges when sewing the seams. While not all of the myriad of die shapes have these, many of them do and it is a real time saver and plus for the sewing perfectionist.

In an attempt to declutter and downsize my fabric stash, as well as create some quilt tops for charity, I spent last Friday afternoon, slicing and dicing and die cutting three different sets of shapes from most of my novelty fabrics. I had an over abundance of fish fabrics that were leftover from a quilt I made years ago for my beloved dad. I also had tons of fat quarters in juvenile prints and really bright fabrics. And there was that stash of camouflage fabrics I had purchased during the paintball years. Finally, I was surprised to find a large stack of cowboy, western and horse imprinted fabrics that I had acquired when I was into country western line dancing almost 20 years ago. I am sure I had purchased them to make a themed quilt for a certain two stepping cowboy I knew, but he passed away years ago and it was time to do something with them.

One Saturday, armed with my machine, sewing supplies and a large ziploc bag full of tumbler and half tumbler blocks I headed off to a local church to spend the day sewing with a very lovely group of quilters. I managed in one afternoon to piece together 10 rows of 16 tumblers each from the fish fabrics to almost complete a top. On Sunday, I finished piecing the rows together and made a few more to right size the quilt for a queen sized bed. I still needed to add borders, but I saved some of the large chunks of pretty aquatic fabrics to use for backing, borders and binding. I think that's pretty fast piecing.

I originally ended up with three large bags of blocks to piece together from all those fabrics. Some are half hexagons, which will form whole hexagon blocks and are easier to piece than a full hexagon. The other shapes are equilateral triangles which will be made in to baby and kids quilts for charity. I have gone through two and a half of them.

I also use them to cut out applique shapes in freezer paper both for myself for applique quilts as well as for teaching some applique classes. I find perfect circles to be a problem for many and Accuquilt circles solve this problem for me time and time again!

If you are thinking about buying one of these die cutters, I say go for it. Mine has enabled me to use up a good chunk of my fabric stash, make quilts faster and more accurately and that is always a good thing. I see a lot of quilters asking online if the die cutters are worth the investment. I would stRt out with the cutter, a die and may or two and go from there. I would go out and invest in every die and mat they make, because you probably won't use them all. If you belong to a group, sewing circle, guild or quilting bee, it might be worthwhile to see if anyone I that group already has the cutter and just invest in the die and mats. You may be able to strike a deal with your friend to use their cutting machine in exchange for use of your die and mats if they differ,from ones they already have. Sharing is good in this case.

In closing, I would like to state that in no way shape or form am I being compensated by Accuquilt to endorse or blog about their products. I just feel as if I can help to shed some light on how wonderful their die cut products are for anyone that might be on the fence about purchasing them.

#accuquilt #diecuttersrock #tumblerquilts #dianefamaquiltdesigns #lovemyjob #love2longarm #love2quilt #usingupmystash

Tips for Quilting Class Success for Students

I am a quilter and have been enjoying sewing and quilting since I was a very small child. I was lucky to have enjoyed two really important sewing mentors, my lovely and highly talented Mother, Marie, who sewed most of her clothes and mine in the the sixties and early seventies, and Priscilla Hill, my 4-H group leader. It is because of these two women that I still love to sew today and also enjoy teaching others to sew and quilt.

Yes, I am a long arm quilter, but I also teach quilting technique classes so others can learn how to expand their quilting technique skills. On occasion, I take classes from others and I always try to be a good student and respectful of their techniques, even when they differ from mine. However, last weekend, I was "the bad student" in a bag making class being taught by a really super nice and special friend. I apologized to her for both bad behaviors and she was very gracious. But I thought it might be fun to share my personal experience with you today and make you aware of how your own bad behavior might impact your own learning experience during a quilting class which you paid to attend.

1). Be on time! Plan ahead, pack the car the night before if necessary, but show up before the start time of the class and get set up. I'm embarrassed to admit, I did not do this last Saturday and I was running 15-20 minutes late. I did text msg the group to let them know I was running late so they didn't worry, but I certainly did not expect them to wait for me to arrive and get set up to start class. Yes, stuff happens that makes us late. In this case, my little dog didn't want to go out for her morning walk and when I finally got her dressed and outside, it was the slowest walk we've ever taken. I guess she knew I was going to be gone all day and maybe it was her way of rebelling. Or maybe she just wasn't feeling great that morning. Either way, it was an unanticipated delay that made me late. I should have gotten up earlier to ensure I was ahead of schedule, just in case. There is nothing more rude to your fellow students than showing up an hour late and then expecting the instructor to stop, back up start over and catch you up because you were late. I did not do this, but I have had students who did in the past.

2). Get the supply list as soon as you sign up for the class and read it. Plan ahead! Ask questions to the shop, program director or the instructor if you have any questions about what an item is or where it can be purchased if you don't own it already. Make sure you have all of the supplies packed and ready to take to class. If there is prep cutting, pressing or other work to be done, do it before class. Your instructor has timed each step of the process to ensure the length of the class is appropriate to perform the work. You can't comfortably fit 8 hours of work into a 4 hour class. Do the prep work ahead.

3). Make sure your sewing machine is in good working order and you know how to use it. Clean and oil it before you take it to class and insert a new needle so its sewing well. I do perform regular maintenance on all my sewing machines. Here is another place I failed miserably. I took my 35 year old 1090 to class and about 1 hour in, it stopped working. It was a mechanical problem, the needle bar stopped functioning properly, but this prevented me from being able to finish my bag during class. I was very fortunate that Amy, the teacher, also ad a Bernina and allowed me to use it during class so I could try and keep up. I was embarrassed to have to ask her if I could use it. While I could not have foreseen a machine failure, I have had this happen to several students over the years and it can be very difficult to complete class if your machine breaks down. This machine had been in for a tuneup a few months back. My other machine was in the shop for repair. Some folks show up with a borrowed machine they have no clue how to thread or use. It is not the instructor's job to help you figure it out if you don't know how to use the machine. She is there to teach everyone so make sure you are well prepared and know how to operate, thread and work your machine. Always bring the manual with you, just in case. While I don't mind helping folks out that have machine issues, I will only do it if time allows and everyone else in class is happily sewing away without needing "hands-on" help. I am sure that it made the teachers day more stressful having someone else use her machine so she wasn't able to use it to demo steps whenever she needed. She never let it show!

4). If you are working with a printed pattern, read the pattern and understand the construction process ahead of class. Doing this will help you understand what to expect and identify any questionable areas for the instructor. I am always amazed at how many people never read the instructions or patterns. That said, some patterns are very poorly written and hard to follow. This is where your instructor will be able to help everyone work through the technique. I often change things up from what the pattern calls for because I see an easier, faster or better way to do something. I will always show you the shortcuts if I find them.

5). Wind your bobbins ahead of class. I find it very distracting having to listen to the clunk, clunk, wizzing whirl of bobbins being wound while I am walking class through the steps or providing verbal instructions. Keep in mind that some people are hard of hearing and the noise from winding bobbins can prevent them from hearing something important. Did you know you can use a snipped off drinking straw on your spool pin and it will reduce the noise?

6). Bring paper and pen to take note during class. This is crucial because not everything is written down for you handouts and if you go home and don't pick up the project for a week or two or even months later, you won't remember. Even if you finish the project during class, the notes will be there should you decide to make it again down the road.

7). Always pack a power strip and extension cord with your machine. Electrical outlets may be hard to access and the surge protection the power strip provides may help you from frying the electronics in your sewing machine during class should there be a electrical current fluctuation.

8). Take pictures with your phone. This can help you after class particularly if there are repetitive tasks involved and you want to remember how you did something. Ask permission from the teacher and fellow students if you photograph their work to make sure it's okay to take pictures, especially if you intend to share them online. There are ladies who do not want their pictures taken or photos of their work shared on social media. Be respectful!

9). Try not to monopolize the instructor's attention. By all means, ask questions and ask for help, but recognize that if there are 20 students in a class, each one of them should get some individual time with the instructor. We all learn differently and in large classes, the skill levels will likely vary greatly. Sometimes its worthwhile to get up and walk around, see what others are doing, and listen to your instructor helping someone else. No question is a stupid question and everyone should have the opportunity to have them answered during class. If you have a question, it's possible there are others there that have that same question. speak up and ask!

10). Pay attention to what the instructor has to say. While it's fine to visit and chat and laugh with your fellow students during the class, try and be polite and stop talking and listen. Please pause sewing if your machine is loud when they are speaking. Sometimes the instructor will share a really important tip and if your jabbering with your neighbor's and not paying attention you'll both miss it. Sometimes the teacher might be losing their voice and can't project loudly, so it's as important to engage your ears.


No one is perfect, least of all me! I hope this post today will give you some ideas on how to get the most out of your sewing classroom experiences. I love teaching and getting to know my students. I also love it when they send me pictures of things they made using the techniques they learned in my classes.

Happy stitching!

#quiltclasstips #goodsewingstudentsdothis #sewingclassetiquette #improveyourclassroomtime #dianefamaquiltdesigns #lovemyjob #lovetoquilt #lovetoteach

Crossing Guards

Late last summer I had the opportunity to apply for a town crossing guard. They hired me in October to work as a substitute guard who fills in for the regular guards when they call out. The job required a background check and fingerprinting, which was not a problem for me. I felt this would be a great way to earn some extra money to pay for my Obamacare and to be around people other than quilters, get me out of the house a few hiurs most days and a good daily dose of Vitamin D.

I spent two weeks being trained by other guards at various posts across town. The weather for the most part was still warm and everyone I met was really nice.

I have steadily been working at various posts and have several observations I would like to share with you.

1) The children and most adults are really polite and happy to have someone to cross them at dangerous intersections. Most thank me morning and afternoon. It's my job. I really enjoy my job.

2) Many NJ drivers do not truly understand traffic laws. For example, they will drive around you instead of stopping, speed in school zones (yes, its 25 MPH Folks), park in no parking zones, in cross walks, etc. Why are we all in such a hurry in our cars? I say, get up earlier!

3) Crossing guards are there to protect pedestrians and should be respected by all drivers. This does not happen in many situations. We also like to help to keep the school buses moving and on time so they can make their various rounds to pick up the children they transport. So, yes, we will wave them through the intersection while you are stopped to keep,them on schedule. As a driver you are supposed to yield to the school us, many do not.

4) When its cold, rainy, snowy, windy and dark, people on their mobile devices can't see you because they are too busy with their electronics. This is why we wear bright lime green high visibility, reflective clothing. that lime green is not a fashion statement! It's necessary so you can see us at greater distances and stop. sometimes, dirty car windows and the angle of the sunlight limit driver vision. if we can't make eye contact and see that you are slowing down and stopping, we will blow our whistles and wave the stop sign to get your attention.

5) The law states that you are not to park in front of fire hydrants or within 50 feet of a stop sign or 15-25 feet of a cross walk or street corner. All these rules are broken daily by people who think they are above the law. What they don't understand, is that those laws aren't for me. I'm not driving. I'm standing there crossing children and in some cases directing traffic. If you stop or park in the crosswalk, I can't see people walking, especially small children, until they step out past your car or large SUV. If you pull past the stop sign at the intersection where there is a white line painted and into the cross walk, so you can see better, we cannot do our jobs.

6) If emergency vehicles need to turn at the corner where you are parked, those 15-20 something precious feet where you are not supposed to park will allow the larger vehicles trying to get to the emergency situation the ability to turn easily. If your car is parked there and hit by the firetruck, guess what? You're going to get the ticket not the emergency vehicle. And you can bet I'll be there to testify on their behalf since I am employed by the town police force. Not to mention the delays you cause by them not having their right of way available to respond to the emergency.

7) If you are walking and about to step off the curb into any street, look up! The life you save may be your own. Put those darn mobile devices down when you cross. There are potholes, uneven pavement and things that can hurt you if you are too busy looking at the little screen instead of where you are walking.

8) Talk to the crossing guard as your approach the intersection and let them know either vocally or via hand signals which direction you intend to cross if there are multiple roads at the intersection. If you plan to cross and turn left or right and cross again, let your guard know this so they can ensure your safety and keep traffic stopped while you are in the roadway. We can't read your mind and since the guard may be a substitute, we may may not know your walking patterns since sub guard work various posts for other guards most of the time when the call out.

9) Listen to the crossing guard if you are a pedestrian or cyclist. They are trained to talk to you and give you verbal queues when its safe to walk or necessary to stop. They are also trained to use hand signals and whistles to communicate with the vehicles on the road. I'll bet most of you didn't know this.

I love being outside. I get to meet new people, wave a tons of strangers and friends and other town employees. I can watch wildlife everywhere and on occasion, I see rainbows and some of the most beautiful clouds, sunsets, and weird vehicles everywhere. I am the eyes and ears of the town. I report potholes when they are near my post so they can be filled and no one trips and gets hurt. I know my job can sometimes be dangerous, but I enjoy it despite the rain, wind, cold, snow, sleet, and really bad drivers. The children and most parents are wonderful.

So if you see me around town, wave (don't honk)!

#CrossingGuards #trafficrules #stopwhenIstepout #blowmywhistle #safetyfirst

Sausage and Cheese Monkey Bread

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday. I did not plan on watching the game and I know better than to head to the grocery store to shop. I looked in my fridge and found all of these ingredients just waiting to be combined into a really fast and fun, hot mess. It's like Sausage pizza in a bundt pan and a heck of a lot easier to make.

Sausage and Cheese Monkey Bread
2 rolls of refrigerator big biscuits
8 oz of shredded mozzarella cheese
4 fully cooked sausage links of your choice, quartered lenguise and chopped into small pieces
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 TBSP each of dried spices of your choice including oregano, basil, parsley flakes, garlic powder and dill
Freshly ground pepper and optionally salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray the bunt pan with cooking spray and brush all surfaces of the pan with a pastry brush to ensure it's well coated.
Set aside.

Unwrap the biscuits, separate them and cut each one into quarters.

Drizzle some EVOO (Olive oil) onto a plate and roll the biscuit pieces a few at a time in the oil to coat.
Put the dried spices in a plastic ziploc bag, shake well to blend and place a few of the oil coated biscuit quarters in the bag.
Shake gently to coat and remove and place in the oiled bundt pan.
Add pieces of sausage and toss on some of the cheese. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper (and salt if desired).
Repeat in layers until all of the biscuits, sausage and cheese are used.

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes until golden brown and a tester inserted comes out clean.

Run a knife around the outer and inner edge of the bundt pan to loosen the bread and then flip into a platter and serve immediately. The crust should be good and brown on the outside.

The bread will pull apart easily into bite sized chunks with your fingers or use a fork if sharing in a group.

Pizza sauce, dips and other sauces can be served with the bread for dunking (optional).

Note: If there are leftovers, monkey bread can be wrapped in foil and stored in the fridge. Reheat on a plate covered with a damp paper towel in the microwave on high for 1.5 - 2 minutes until hot.

Enjoy!

#monkeybread #sausagencheesemonkeybread #bundtpanfun #easyrefrigeratordinner

Jalapeño Poppers in a Bundt Pan

Like many of you, I enjoy trolling through Pinterest from time to time. I most focus on quilting designs and patterns and recipes. There are thousands of beautiful pictures for inspiration and I have happily found a bunch of very cool recipes to try. When I find something that looks interesting, I pin it so I can come back to later and make it. I typically will follow the recipe the first time I make it. Sometimes, I will make it with whatever I have on hand.

I also love my bundt pan collection and many of you have seen my bundt pan creations over the last couple of years. It's even kore fun to find recipes for bundt pans that aren't desserts. So you can imagine my excitement when I came across Bundt Pan poppers. I couldn't wait to try them.

To make this you will need
A bundt pan that has been sprayed with non stick spray. (Pictures shown below in a 6 cup smaller size pan)
Fresh jalapeño peppers 24-30 count
8 ounce block cream cheese
1/2 cup low fat mayo
8-10 slices uncooked bacon of your choice (I used turkey bacon)
1 TSP dehydrated onion flakes
1.5 TSP garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 TBSP of your favorite mixed dry spice mix (I used Caribbean Getaway spice blend)
6 OZ grated cheddar cheese
6 slices of cheddar cheese
6 slices of pepper jack or provolone cheese

Wash, trim the tops off and core the peppers, being careful to remove the seeds and inner veins of the peppers. I found a grapefruit knife is very handy to core and seed the peppers. Rinse under cold water and place dry cut side down on dish towel. make sure you are very careful to wash your hands thoroughly after handling the pepper cores and seeds While the peppers are drying off, in a medium sized bowl mix together the following ingredients: cream cheese sorted to room temperature, mayo, onion, garlic and other seasonings.
Cook the bacon slices in the microwave between paper towels for between two and 3 minutes, depending upon the level of crispness you desire. I chose turkey bacon because I prefer it ver other types, but you can use whatever is your preference for this recipe. Allow to cool for a few minutes, crumble into pieces and add to the filling mix. Also add the shredded cheddar cheese at this time. Blend the filling well.

Pack the cleaned peppers upright into the pan. A large bundt pan will hold 45-50 peppers, so I used my smaller bundt for the ones I had on hand. 24-25. If they don't fill the pan, simply crumple up some foil to fill in the empty space to they all stand upright. Remove them one at a time, stuff with the filling and place back into the pan. Continue until all of the peppers have been stuffed.

If making ahead, you can cover with foil until ready to bake. They will last 2-3 days unbaked if covered tightly. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and then place th pan on the middle shelf of the hot oven and baked uncovered for 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven, increase the temp to 400 degrees. Cover the peppers with the cheese slices in two layers. I put the white cheese on first and topped with the yellow cheese slices as the final layer. Pop it back in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes more at 400 degrees until the sliced heeses have melted and covered the peppers in gooey goodness and the tops start to bubble and brown.

Remove and serve immediately with toothpicks or small forks. A large spoon works well to scoop them out of the pan as they can be a wee slippery after baking.

If you are hosting a party and some of your guest do not eat hot peppers, you can easily include some of the small sweet red, yellow and orange peppers From your grocery store for some of the jalapeño peppers. I did this and those were a big hit with my friends that avoid spicy foods. it also makes for a little more color variety in the dish. Next time I will probably make a pan of each type because they were so good and they literally disappeared within minutes of setting them out.

#yumyum #bundtpanpoppers #bestappetizerever #bundtpanmagic #bakedjalapenopoppers

Custom quilting, oh how I love thee

I have been a long arm quilter for 15 plus years.  Originally I started out with a Gammill Optimum Plus machine on a 12 foot table.  At the time I purchased my machine, Statler Stitcher was still under development and was not yet available as an option for any machine.  The first time I saw the Statler in action, it was on a trip to the AQS Paducah quilt show.  The product was entering its infancy and didn't seem like something I needed.  I was happy to do pantographs and the occasional custom quilt with my hand guided machine.

Fast forward 15 1/2  years and here I am, with two long arms, both Gammills.  One machine has the Statler and Creative Studio 6.0.  I love both machines for different reasons.  I love how my well used Gammill glides with its upgraded tracks and wheels.  It's a big heavy machine, but it stitches beautifully and holds quilts up to 127" in width.  It's familiar and I prefer to use it for custom hand guided quilting and for quilting simply pantographs when the Statler is going full tilt on another quilt.

On the other hand, I use the Statler more these days because I can program it and let her run after the quilt is loaded and project created.  The table on this machine is only 10 feet so it can handle quilts up to about 105" in width, most of the quilts I take in.  It's fast, sews beautifully and it allows me to do many patterns that would be next to impossible to sew as well manually.  I am still learning the features of this machine.  I really love it when I learn something new.

I guess I feel lucky that I started out with a hand guided machine.  Many quilters these days only do pantograph and do not offer custom quilting services.  Pantographs  are great for many quilts, but I also get a lot of quilts that demand more than just edge to edge all over patterns.  I especially love using the Statler to really quilt details in blocks, sashings, and borders that enhance the quilt.  I am of the believe that in most cases, the quilting makes the quilt.  There are exceptions to this, but I always try my best to ensure the quilting enhances the quilt and does not detract from the quilt top design.

I can do custom work on both machines, using both digital patterns sized to exactly fit the blocks of a quilt, or on the old machine by working from the front hand guiding the machine.

Here are two recent examples of custom quilts.   The first one was sewn by Sandee Gold.  It's a bright a cheerful oversized queen quilt.  I quilted each of the 100 block individually using a digital pattern called "Feather your Cabin".  The outer borders were done with a large border and corner pattern that at also had the hearts and feathers in the blocks patterns.  I also filled in swirls on the inner and outermost edges of the quilts to ensure even quilting density across the quilt.

The other quilt was too large for my 10 foot table and needed to be quilted on the older, larger,  hand guided machine.  Using a ruler to help guide me, I quilted around each of the thousands of orange peel petals the quilter had carefully appliquéd down to the quilt top. This quilt was made by Marie Cummings as a wedding quilt for one of her children.   It has a white background and backing and various shades of purple.  I started out doing a background fill called ground cover, but quickly realized that the wedding quilt needed more dense quilting in the background and that it would be faster to quilt it from the front of the machine freehand myself.

 I added in some little critters amongst the leaves, butterflies, hummingbirds, dragonflies and ladybugs.  Because it's quilted with matching white thread, you really have to look to find those personal little touches.  I know the quilter and the recipient appreciate the time and effort that went into finishing this masterpiece.  Marie has brought me several more to quilt since I finished this one for her.  Here is a photograph that she took with it finished on the bed.

I have found that I am able to get into the quilting groove easier with customer quilting like the one above.  To me, there is a rhythm one gets into when stitching freehand that is very calming and enjoyable.  Because I am not following a specific pattern, but rather filling in negative spaces with stitching, it's challenging but in a very good way.  Part of the challenge is to see how long I can stitch before needing to stop unless my bobbin rules out.  I find that there are many ways to thread paint a quilt and it's almost like the quilt quilts itself.  I am just the person driving the machine.

Many of you may not realize that even after the quilting is done, there is always some clean up to do after taking the quilt off the machine.  Threads to clip, edges to trim and I find running my hands and eyes over both the entire front and back sides of the quilt is a must.  Then there is the matter of calculating the invoice, sending that out to the customer and making the appointment to return their completed masterpiece to them.

I feel very lucky to be able to do what I love most every day.  Most of all I am thankful for my wonderful customers, all of the referrals they and the local quilt shops give to me and for my friends and family for the support they provide as my little business grows.  I strive to exceed their expectations and nothing is better than the reaction someone has when they pick up their quilt and see our collaborative efforts combined into such beautiful textile art.

#love2quilt  #love2longarm  #customquilting #dianefamaquiltdesigns #orangepeelquilt #logcabinquilt #extremequilting

Customer encounter worth sharing

Today found me working at my LQS (local quilt shop).  The morning was slow, but this afternoon a young gentleman came into the store and explained that he was looking to make a quilted item for his wife for their second (cloth) anniversary.  He had intuitively brought with him several items from their wedding and bedroom to show me their colors.  This made it easy to open the discussion with him so we could figure out what he would end up making.

Armed with a navy blue pillow sham, two ribbons in sage green and eggplant colors as well as a note card, we set out to select some fabric choices from the shop that would work well together to create something.

We selected a purple floral fabric, several navy blue prints in both traditional and modern styles, a sage green colored small microdot, and two neutral background fabric, one of which had script writing on it.  This was clearly his favorite fabric because his wife is an editor for a publisher.

He has no sewing or quilting experience and only a couple of weeks to make this token of love to surprise his bride.  I pulled out my IPad and we searched Pinterest to see what types of things caught this eye and those he felt would be something that he could make and his wife would love.

We settled on a bench pillow that would consist of the fabric he chose, the pillow form and the date of their wedding as well as their initials.  I told him to,start thinking about cool or fun and meaningful sayings they have and maybe we could stencil that on the pillow as well.  I told him where he could easily purchase the bench pillow form, and we agreed he would return to the store tomorrow and next week to set out on his quest to make what I am sure will turn out to be the most romantic 2nd anniversary gift a fireman could give his wife.

Stay tuned for more chapters over the next week or two.  I can't wait to see what we end up with and promise to try and post pictures.

6-7-2016. Update:
Well, I wanted to update you on the progress Mr. Brett made with his romantic cotton wedding anniversary present for his bride of two years.  Ladies and Gents, they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

I know he worked really hard on making this special gift and I am impressed that not only did he learn how to sew, but he did a darn good job of picking the fabrics, and making something really special for his lucky wife.

Here's to my new favorite hero!  This just proves that anyone can learn to sew and make something really special if they out their mind to it and visit their LQS!