Barcelona, Shoes, and Ribbon Foreword

Markita loved to travel and to share her experiences. Even though she is no longer with us we wanted to share this last post that she wrote for us.

Barcelona, Shoes, and Ribbon

by Markita Hall-Gumble

My friend Kim – @quiltaholicsanonymous and I have been on a shoe adventure.  Kim the amazing quilter didn’t stop with 2 pairs of SneakerKit shoes. … Read the rest

Bali #3 Foreword

Markita loved to travel and to share her experiences. Even though she is no longer with us we wanted to share this post that she wrote for us.

Bali #3

by Markita Hall-Gumble

To recap, in July 2023 I visited Bali Indonesia for textiles.  This post is about a side trip organized as part of the Wacky Jacky Bali class. … Read the rest

Double Ikat Bali

by Markita Hall-Gumble

The last stop in Bali is the ancient village of Tenganan on the east side of the island of Bali.  The villagers are called Bali Aga or original Balinese.  To visit the village, you take a car to the outside gate of the village.  There is an entrance fee, which provides you with a local villager as a guide. … Read the rest

Quilted Jacket Class

by Sally-Ann Flak

What are some of the hottest fashion trends that we as sewists can readily join in?  One fashion staple that has been gaining popularity for the last few years has been quilted garments, in particular, quilted coats and jackets.  Many of the most popular Indie designers and even the big 5 pattern companies have been showcasing patterns that are available and appropriate for the creation of quilted coats. … Read the rest

Boott Cotton Mill Museum

by Markita Hall-Gumble

In June 2023, PatternReview.com held their in person event in Lowell Massachusetts.  Besides getting together with the sewing tribe, we visited the Boott Cotton Mill Museum and the New England Quilt Museum.

The Boott Museum is part of the National Park Service and is so worth a visit, as it documents an important part of textile history in America.… Read the rest

Santa Embroidery on Velvet

by Jane Dempsey

I saw this Santa Design on Facebook and fell in love.  I have never embroidered on velvet, and it has 83,000 stitches.  But the design went on sale, so I bought it.

Prep Work

  1. As with all Embroidery Library designs, it is very dense, so I used my embroidery software to reduce the density. 
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Textiles and Travel – Kogin

by Markita Hall-Gumble

Welcome to my mini blog on my travels
which almost always include textiles
in some way.  I am Markita and I love
traveling the world while learning about
and collecting textiles.  This will be a
fairly regular blog although not in any
specific order of time or textile type.

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What Sewing Machine Should I Buy?

Debbie Ramseyer told me that she belongs to a facebook group for sewists and a newbie asked the question, “What Sewing Machine should I buy?” Debbie responded with the following list of questions:

Look at this the same way you would if buying a car.

1. First, and most importantly, what is your budget?

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Upping Your Game – Spotlight on a Neighborhood Group

By Davie Marie Hurlbert

For their first year as a neighborhood group, Upping Your Game (UYG) has been exploring embellishing our garments to take us out of our super causal staying at home routine. 

A few of our members have shared their expertise and challenged us to consider how to transform a plain garment to one with some interesting embellishment.… Read the rest

State Fair Ribbon Winners!

We’ve gone from 3 contestants winning 3 ribbons last year to 13 contestants winning 19 ribbons this year!

Marcia Moore
C114. Collage
Honorable Mention

Jami Roux
D112. Cloth Dolls
1st Place

Joanne Jensen
I172. Adult Apparel
Honorable Mention


Virginia Stein
I179. Computerized Embroidery
Honorable Mention

Judy Nordseth
I183. In the Hoop Embroidery
1st Place

Virginia Stein
I183.

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It’s Time to Sign Up!

The Great State Fair of Texas will be here before you know it! It is time to sign up for the creative arts contests. The deadline to register online is July 24 and here’s how to do it.

Get started by clicking on the link below.

Register for Creative Arts Competitions

  1. Scroll down until you see this.
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Weaving Fabric for Garments

by Margaret Montgomery

My journey – overcoming the fear of cutting into handwoven fabric and how the techniques used have evolved.

Weaving is great fun and it is so rewarding to sew using something I have woven. Concerns:  Will the woven fabric fall apart when I cut into it? Should the fabric be stabilized?… Read the rest