Category: craft business

DIY Design Boards

September 8, 2025

Design boards are essentially a hand-held version of a design wall. I first learned about design boards at a retreat with Lori Holt back in 2019. We actually made our own design boards as one of the retreat projects. For quilters, they are great for holding bits and pieces of blocks or smaller projects. Ready-made design boards in a variety of sizes are available through Riley Blake Designs. Retail prices range from around $15 to $30 per design board.

DIY Design Boards holding M50 Aloha Mystery Project Components

You can DIY multiple designs boards for the cost of a single ready-made one. Basic supplies needed: a piece of foam core board, scrap batting and a couple of jelly roll strips. You will need either a glue gun or Heat & Bond Ultra (in the red package) with a mini iron to affix the border trim.

I prefer to make my design boards using self-adhesive foam core board (I find it at Hobby Lobby), felt and the Heat & Bond Ultra (on the roll) method. Note: a glue gun will still come in handy to hold the mitered corners in place. If I can’t find self-adhesive foam core board, I’ll use spray baste to hold the batting/felt in place.

Foam core board can be found in the school supply section at Dollar Tree, Wal-Mart, Office Depot, Hobby Lobby and Michael’s. It usually comes in a 20″ x 30″ sheet and quality can vary, so compare before you buy. I cut mine to the desired size using a 60mm rotary cutter. Personally, I like an 18″ to 20″ square board for larger quilt blocks and a 10″ to 12″ square board for smaller quilt blocks. And yes, I have been known to Frankenbatt leftover pieces of foam core board to make one more design board.

Design board made from leftover foam core board pieces (taped together with painter’s tape).

Design Board Tutorial using glue gun
Design Board Tutorial using Heat & Bond Ultra

Back in our happy place

September 6, 2025

Around here, Labor Day signals the unofficial transition from summer to fall. Therapy dog visits are once again front and center in my weekly schedule. Sadie is SO happy to be back to work. Here, she is at Park Street Elementary (Marietta City Schools) waiting patiently to meet new friends in a second grade class. One of our READers from last year was beyond excited to see us. School visits are my favorite type of visit and Sadie definitely knows this is “her” school.

When I left teaching in 2022, we were just coming out of COVID and therapy dog visit opportunities were few. I drove far and wide to make those visits. Today, therapy dog visit opportunities abound – meaning I can be more selective about the visit opportunities we accept. Facility, type of visit, distance and time of day all factor into the decision. Our regular, recurring visits fall somewhere between Midtown and the Big Chicken (or less than 10 miles/30 minutes from home). We still make visits farther afield; however, this is usually reserved for special events. Remember, Atlanta’s traffic is brutal.

If you have a dog that is both people and dog-friendly, consider becoming a therapy dog team. Visit the Alliance of Therapy Dogs website for complete details. My local therapy dog groups have more requests for therapy dog visits than teams available to fill them. One visit every 3 months is all that is required to remain in good standing with ATD. There are evening and weekend visit opportunities, as well. I think I averaged 10-12 visits per year when I was still working full-time. Sadie and I made 37 visits last year. In 2025, we’ve already met that number and it’s only early September.

Financing your new sewing machine?

August 28, 2025

Sewing machine companies often run 0% financing promotions if you buy a new machine that’s above a certain price point (say $3000 & up). Purchases are made via a special credit card usually offered through Synchrony Bank.

Let’s look at Janome’s current Labor Day promotion.

To summarize:
0% interest for 36 months if you spend above $3,000.00 in a single transaction.
OR
5.99% interest for 72 months if you spend above $6,000.00 in a single transaction.

This offer is for charges made on the Sewing & More Credit Card issued by Synchrony Bank.

Before signing on the dotted line, be sure to read what consumer advocate Clark Howard refers to as the mice type.
The default interest rate on this credit card is 34.99% and the penalty interest rate is 39.99%. This is a HUGE difference from a 0% or 5.99% interest rate for a fixed period of time.

Let’s see what the numbers look like if I were to buy a Janome 9480 with ASR + tax + acrylic table insert to make the total transaction $6,000.00.

Loan TermLoan AmountInterest RateMonthly PaymentTotal Paid
36 months$6,000.00Zero/None$166.67$6,000.00
36 months $6,000.0034.99%/39.99%TBD$9,769.76 to $10,390.53
72 months$6,000.005.99%$99.41$7,157.45
72 months $6,000.0034.99%/39.99%TBD $14,416.72 to $15,896.96

The “gotcha” here is that if you fail to make timely payments or pay the full balance off at the end of the special interest term, the credit card company could apply the default interest rate retroactively back to the initial purchase date and/or invoke the penalty interest rate according to the card agreement rules. This means your purchase with higher interest rates applied could potentially cost you anywhere from 50% to 122% more than your original transaction amount. Ask yourself, “Can I make payments according to the schedule to avoid the high interest rates?”.

My personal take:
I’ve been saving up for a new sewing machine. When I’m ready to buy, the current plan is to time the purchase so that it posts to my travel rewards credit card right after the monthly statement drops. I pay my credit card in full every month, so the payment due date for this new charge would be almost two months away. I’ll earn rewards that I can later apply toward my credit card balance.

If my 8900 were to give up the ghost and I need a new machine before having the entire amount saved up, I would be totally fine with the 36 month special offer because: (1) the monthly payments fit my budget and (2) I have no concerns about paying the balance off by the deadline. If (1) and (2) weren’t true, I’d keep saving or consider alternative machines with large throat spaces that are within the amount I have saved.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels.com