Category Archives: Sewing

Want to spruce up an area in your home?  Just add some pillows and don’t be intimidated by making a pillow cover. You can just follow these basic instructions we found on the website The Sewing Loft by Heather Valentine.   Why not think outside the box. There is no need to run out and buy expensive […]

This year we are concentrating on projects where you can reuse, redesign and recycle the things you already have along with some inexpensive finds to create wonderful new items for home décor, holidays, gift giving or just plain fun. For this project, we wanted to make some color coordinated pillows that could be used to […]

Whether you’re a mom bringing your child to school for the first time or you yourself are heading off to college we have gathered a group of fun Back to School projects for you. Just click on the links below and enjoy.     DIY Nap Mat Roll   Nap Mat Tutorial   Pillow Lap […]

The warm weather and sunshine makes everyone want to spend more time outdoors. Whether you want play, party, or just relax here are some easy DIY projects using different types of foam to create, update and refresh your outdoor living spaces. DIY Outdoor Cushions by A Beautiful Mess – Add comfort and design to your […]

These popular denim pillows are fun and easy to make because there are no rules so you can use your creative imagination. Instead of purchasing those expensive designer pillows we just bought some light weight discount store rugs, denim remnants and searched our home for old jeans we didn’t want any more. We frayed some […]

The Man Cave… For this edition of Room by Room, we are focusing on the Man Cave. Whether you looking to add some masculine touches to the den or festive fanfare to the family room before the big game, our collection of DIY projects will help you put together a winning space for relaxation. This room coordinated […]

Mini Charm packs are a great way to get a variety of fabrics with tamago4d login little investment. If you are making your own it is a fantastic way to use up your scraps.  Who knew you could buy a whole collection of fabric for less that a fancy drink.  The mini charms are generally […]

A Row by row round robin group quilt was completed by the Fairfield Master Makers.  The row by row quilt is for a member of our home office undergoing Chemo Therapy.  The gal undergoing Chemo is an integral part of our behind the scenes operations and the Makers wanted to do tanduktoto login something to […]

Happy Day My Stitching Friends, lets talk binding! Heather here from The Sewing Loft back for our final monthly sit & sew session in the Starry Night Quilt Sampler series.  All year long we have worked block by block, piecing this amazing quilt top together and last time I walked you through creating the quilt […]

Happy Day My Stitching Friends, today we make a quilt sandwich! Heather here from The Sewing Loft back for our monthly sit & sew session in the Starry Night Quilt Sampler series.  All year long we have worked block by block, piecing this amazing quilt top together and last time we chatted about the different […]

Hello, Hello My Stitching Friends! Heather here from The Sewing Loft back for our monthly sit & sew session. Today we talk backing.   By now, you have stitched together your version of the Starry Night Quilt Sampler and are ready for the finishing details. Last month we worked on the layout and before we […]

Hello, Hello My Stitching Friends! Heather here from The Sewing Loft back for our monthly sit & sew session and it is time for the quilt layout. My goodness, I can hardly believe that we are in the final phase of our Starry Night Quilt Sampler.  When I designed this quilt, my goal was create something beautiful […]

Hello, Hello My Stitching Friends! Heather here from The Sewing Loft back for our monthly sit & sew session and final block. Wow, I can hardly believe that we are on the final block of our Starry Night Quilt Sampler.  You guys have been so awesome to stick with it and I can’t wait to […]

Dynamic Quilting Designs Done The Simple Way Hi It’s me, Charisma, your friendly longarm quilter with simple tips on getting your quilts quilted and out of the UFO bin. (Not that I don’t have many of those myself…but we shouldn’t talk about that right now.) The fear of “ruining” a quilt with bad quilting is at the […]

Hello, Hello My Stitching Friends! Heather here from The Sewing Loft back for our monthly sit & sew session. Are you ready for block 9? We are down to the last 2 blocks of the series so if you need before you know it will be getting to that special part of “magic in the […]

Hello, Hello My Fairfield Friends! Heather here from The Sewing Loft and not only am I here to share our next block in the Starry Night Sampler series but I want to remind you that September is National Sewing Month. So, it’s a great time to give your machine a quick clean and try something new.  […]

Batting Information to Enhance Your Quilt from your friendly longarm quilter, Charisma.  When I first started quilting on my longarm, I was soaking in all of the information I could on designs and quilt patterns, just like most people; but early on, I went to a great long arm quilting show in Seattle and I was […]

Log Cabins and Luke Haynes are two of our favorite things.  The Log Cabin block is of oldest and best known blocks and Luke Haynes has undertaken the Log Cabin as a course of study and inspiration.  We hope you like the many versions of the Log Cabin block and the fabulous quilts the blocks […]

Hello, Hello My Stitching Friends! Heather here from The Sewing Loft back for our monthly sit & sew session. I’m not sure about you but the dog days of summer have had me looking for relief in the studio these days. I think that’s why I’m so excited to get stitching on the next block of the Starry Night […]

Hi, my name is Charisma. I am so excited to be here at Fairfield World! It’s a great opportunity to work with these great designers and with all of you. There are a few things I get excited to talk about and longarm quilting is one of them. Well let’s be honest…quilting in general. What […]

This is an unbelievable Quilted Vintage Tablecloth make over. What you need for this Quilted Vintage Tablecloth project: Vintage Linen 2 Layers of Batting ( Soft & Toasty and Wool) Muslin Backing 2 Yards of Fabric for Border and Binding (Sub cut into five 5 inch strips and five 2.5 inch strips) I love-love-love vintage linens and […]

Hi, I’m Heather from The Sewing Loft and normally, you can find me stitching up a storm or sharing easy tips to help improve your everyday sewing but today, I’m excited to kick off the next block in the Starry Night Sampler series. One of my favorite parts of this series, is that each month I get to visit […]

From approximately 1907 to 1912, the American farm and living magazine Hearth and Home invited its readers to contribute pieced cloth blocks that represented their respective states.  The request for submissions was extremely successful, and readers sent in many designs that they felt showcased their home state.  Selected blocks were photographed and included in the print magazine. […]

Learn how to make a custom pillow cover with Heather from the Sewing Loft.  Not only is this pillow cover a great way to use your scraps it is absolutely adorable to boot.  Stick double sided fusible webbing holds the appliqué letters in place and the rays of the sunshine too.  Learn how to free […]

Hi, I’m Heather from The Sewing Loft. Normally, you can find me stitching up a storm and sharing easy tips to help improve your everyday sewing but today, I’m excited to kick off our new Block of the Month series. Once a month, I’ll be stopping by to share a new block and a few sewing tips […]

Hi, I’m Heather from The Sewing Loft. Normally, you can find me stitching up a storm and sharing easy tips to help improve your everyday sewing but today, I’m excited to be stitching with you! Remember, the Starry Night Quilt Sampler was designed to showcase traditional quilt blocks with a modern twist and I am […]

Hi, I’m Heather from The Sewing Loft. Normally, you can find me stitching up a storm and sharing easy tips to help improve your everyday sewing but today, I’m excited to kick off our new Block of the Month series. Once a month, I’ll be stopping by to share a new block and a few sewing tips […]

A rag quilt is a nice starter quilt and I consider myself a beginning quilter. Yes, I sew but I have never made a quilt.  When a blogger friend, Kimbo from A Girl and a Glue Gun asked me to participate in a blanket fundraiser I almost said no.  Then when I realized the quilts […]

Sew Ruler Free Below is an excerpt from the book: The handbook will guide you to try quilting in a relaxing new way as it is filled with useful tips and beautiful imagery.  Create your own gorgeous quilts. Set aside your rulers and templates as you work through the project scores in this book. All of […]

Quilt Artist Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry has demonstrated over the decades that a quilt can be both artistic and functional.  Her quilts are on display at many galleries around the country and information about her two latest exhibits is below.  If you have an art quilt or information about a show we would love to hear from […]

Welcome to the first month of the 2015 Technique Block of the Month. Each month, you’ll learn a new technique as you complete the block for the month. This month, we’re making half square triangles. These units are used in hundreds of different quilt patterns, and there are many different techniques for making them – […]

Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Pillow Tutorial – Now that the 4th of July is over, it’s time to celebrate the other big day in July…Harry Potter’s birthday of course.  If you’ve read my regular blog at Pieces by Polly, you’ll know that our family members are big Harry Potter fans, so I’m excited to do this […]

The Sterling Silver Soirée featuring Sterling Silver Cuddle Cakes.  A package of Sterling Silver Cuddle Cakes and Charm Cakes plus a yard or two of Mar Bella Cuddle Fabric were delivered to our Master Makers by Shannon Fabrics.  They were asked to create something with the silver and color of their choice of pattern from the Mar […]

I’m so excited to share with you the first project as part of the Fairfield 2015 Technique Block of the Month. over the course of the year, we’ll make a baby sampler quilt, and you can make the monthly project as well. Or, you can just make the monthly projects – it is up to […]

April is National Autism Awareness Month.  The Autism Society launched this campaign over 25 years ago to raise awareness of autism and to promote understanding and inclusion. Their site lists many ways that you can get involved, and we thought we’d participate by sharing ways that we can all support families with autism and promote awareness. […]

How to mend quilts. I’ve made lots of my own quilts, as well as many quilts for other people, and in my opinion, the highest compliment a quilt can receive is to be loved and used so much that it requires some repair.  Depending on where the damage is, though, or how extensive it is, […]

You or someone special will love this Heart Cuddle Pillow for Valentine’s Day.  It’s simple to make and can be done in about half an hour. No one can resist cuddly softness of minky, and using a Cuddle Cake pre-cuts from Shannon Fabrics, and a pillow insert from Fairfield make this a super fast project to […]

I’ve made lots of my own quilts, as well as many quilts for other people, and in my opinion, the highest compliment a quilt can receive is to be loved and used so much that it requires some repair.  Depending on where the damage is, though, or how extensive it is, it can sometimes be […]

    It’s that time of year that we are all on the scramble trying to finish our last holiday gifts, getting our houses ready and making sure every last detail is in order. Well, today I want to share a quick and easy quilted stocking tutorial with you! Remember the Squiggly Quilted Fat Quarter […]

9 Christmas Quilting Projects because it’s that time of year! The Christmas season is always such a fun time to pull out some festive fabric and sew away.  I’m excited to make a Christmas tree skirt this year, what’s on your list? Hopefully these fun ideas will give you some inspiration to get that sewing […]

Create a carrier for your casserole dish.  You can take it to the next event and to use for a long time after.  Thanksgiving and the winter holidays often mean lots of pot luck meals.  I enjoy getting together with family and friends over the various holidays, and planning meals pot luck style makes it […]

If you want to make a really fast and easy skirt and add some extra fun, adding an accent stripe is a quick way to make a simple skirt. Materials: 1/2 Yard of Main Skirt Fabric (for a small 5-year old).  See instructions belowfor adapting to a larger child. 1/8 Yard of Accent Fabric 1/8 […]

I’m excited to share a super simple gift idea with you today…an easy Monogram Shirt, sure to delight your  favorite child.  My little guy is 2, and he know’s  his name starts with A.  He loves searching out A’s on signs everywhere we go, so I thought it was time for him to get an […]

  Creating a  squiggly quilted fat quarter panel is fun and simple. I wanted to make this a “how to make the panel” tutorial and in my following post  you will see where I use this panel for my project.   1. First I pressed my fat quarters and picked two that coordinated. As you […]

    Sometimes it may be difficult to locate the address numbers on your home. If you incorporate them as an art applique on a pillow tucked in the rocking chair on your front porch they cannot be missed. To go one step further consider dressing up this simple pillow design with seasonal flowers attached […]

Quilt as you go is a fast way to create quilted projects, because the piecing and quilting are done simultaneously – after you’ve finished the piecing, you’re ready to bind, because the quilting has already been done! This makes quilt as you go a great method for simple projects like quilted placemats. Quilt as you […]

This DIY French Memo Board is a great decorative way to organize your life. It’s a project with minimal sewing, and a lot of hot glue. I’ve been working on an activities center for our family, to help keep our schedules and to do lists organized and easily seen. My husband has short term memory […]

Our elementary school’s library’s reading corner has been in sore need of some new cushions and pillows, so I thought it was time to make some Simple Foam Floor Cushions. The piece of foam I was using easily split into 4 pieces, so I thought making them spell something would be fun. And I debated […]

  In my sewing life-time, I have created one Cathedral Window project. It was a small pin cushion I created at the request if of one of my editor’s at the time. And it was a last minute request to boot. Somehow I pulled it off, but it was extremely challenging. So, I have decided […]

With school having just started up again, our kids are getting back into the routine of homework and for my kids, that means extra reading every night.  Having someplace comfortable and fun to read can really help draw those reluctant readers out.  I’ve been wanting to make some quilted reading pillows for our school library […]