Tag: crafts

One way to source quilting supplies

February 4, 2026

Recently, a book club member shared a post from her neighbor requesting help with divesting of his mom’s quilting/sewing/crafting supplies as she moved to an assisted living facility. The son sent photos of her stuff. Mom had obviously been a serious quilter. I shared a list of local organizations/groups I know of that could use the donations and also advised that our guild’s community service would appreciate any fabric she’d like to donate.

Nora and I went yesterday to see what was still available after family and friends had made their selections from the voluminous stash. Our small SUVs were packed with batting, bins of fabric, craft supplies, books, quilting rulers and stencils. We brought everything back to my house and spent 2-1/2 hours sorting through it all. About 10% of what we brought back was thrown away or taken to the recycling center.

We set aside items for the guild library, quilt show raffle basket goodies, young sewists needing supplies, and requests we’d received for items for specific community service projects (like muslin yardage and flannel pieces). We also picked out some items we wanted – batting, white-on-white yardage and yellow FQs for me, plus batik yardage/precuts for her. Nora took all the fabric she felt was suitable to cut pillowcase kits for community service (about half of what was left). The remainder stayed with me and will go to the infamous guild free table – where many quilters shop for fabric to use in community service projects.

All in all, over 80% of what we brought back will go to community service and the guild free table alone.

The takeaway: Keep an eye out for estate sales or downsizing sales mentioning quilters with large stashes. You never know what you might find.

Good things come to those who wait

January 31, 2026

My new sewing machine WITH a stitch regulator is due to arrive mid-week. Cue the happy dance music!

This time last year, my sewing machine dealer strongly advised that I move on picking up a new machine before price increases due to tariffs went into effect. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a possibility as I’d needed to buy a replacement vehicle at the time. Over the next several months, I watched prices keep increasing with lackluster sales promotions. Dealers became even more selective on which machines they’d accept on a trade-in – if they even accepted trade-ins. I kept saving money and waited to see if a used machine came on the market or if prices return to reality. Neither happened.

I practiced FMQ on my Janome 8900. (I’ve gotten pretty good at variations of a loopy meander plus a boxy meander). I took a longarm quilting fundamentals class at a local quilt shop. This helped me realize 3 things: (1) I prefer to FMQ sitting down, (2) a stitch regulator is a game changer for me and (3) I’d still continue to send larger items out to a longarm quilter. Scheduling time to use the longarm has been a hassle due to limited availability of time slots. We’re limited to hand guided only – no computerized E2E for folks who rent time on the machines.

So when a substack article writer mentioned how his dad had negotiated a great deal on the sister version of my machine of choice, I reached out. An Elna 782 with the ASR for the same price my local Janome dealer was selling the 9480 without the ASR in December 2024. DEAL! They are the exact same machine – just a different color scheme and badging on the outside.

I’m supporting a family-owned business and got what I wanted at a really fair price.

I‘m good.

I’ll post pics once Ellie arrives, gets unboxed and set-up.

And we’re off!

January 18, 2026

Therapy dog activities resumed this week after an extended holiday break. Sadie was ready to get back to work! Here she’s showing off her recommended reads display at a school we visit each week.

In addition to working with our regular students, we visited several classrooms and checked in on two special friends in the AU unit. One even proudly shared his Sadie countdown calendar, where he marks off the days until her next scheduled visit. 🙂 I am thoroughly enjoying this season of therapy dog work with Sadie. We made a total of 48 official visits in 2025.

My guild hosts a large quilt show every two years. Our 2026 show will be held in June at the Cobb Civic Center. On Wednesday, the entire quilt show committee met in person for the first time. It was nice to finally put some names with faces. In person meetings reveal so much more about people that a Zoom call ever could. There are definitely some strong personalities within the group! I have a lot of respect for those willing to chair an event of this magnitude. Not me! I’m perfectly happy in my role as the kid’s exhibit chairperson for this year.

Private lessons and CraftLAB continue. Since late September, I’ve been mentoring a high school senior with her admission portfolio to FIT. We’ll complete the final required garment on Monday (then take a bit of a break!). My ‘tween students have requested a summer quilt camp hosted at my house in lieu of schlepping an hour each way to the SQTM this year. I’m mulling over the logistics involved in making it happen. Below is a sample of the gingham quilt they’ve requested. It’s a wonderful size, but will require daily sewing homework to complete in a week.

Sample of the gingham quilt project for summer CraftLAB students

What about the SQTM? Last year, I taught a number of classes at the SQTM. For 2026, the executive board decided to modify class formats, scheduling and fee structure in an attempt to boost attendance. Classes are filling, so it appears to be a good call on their part from that perspective. For me, I simply live too far away to be able to make things work under the new model. (And if I lived closer, I’d be a much more active volunteer!) I’ve been told that Sewing Machine Maintenance falls under a separate category, so I do anticipate teaching this class in the spring and fall.

Meanwhile, I spotted a new art studio in Smyrna. They offer painting, mixed media and embroidery classes. I’ll be reaching out soon about the possibility of sewing classes. Stay tuned.