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  Today, needlepoint is on my sewing list.  I am working on some bag patterns that will include needlepoint panels in their design which has me incredibly giddy.  If you are familiar with how to sew a needlepoint into a pillow front, then sewing one into any other sewn good is not much different.  And even if you're not quite sure, it really works out in the most logical way, keeping your machine sewing seam line right into the last stitched row around the perimeter of the work.  This is easiest when you have the wrong side of the needlepoint facing you as you sew it to a pillow back, bag back, etc.  Just pretend like you're sewing with really thick fabric, which is really all it is... so use a bigger needle, take your time, and all those things.  I also think that velveteen is the perfect pairing with a needlepoint as a pillow back or otherwise.  The weight and textures are perfect together.     So if you needed any suggestions about...

How was your weekend? And the past few weeks? I hope good and happy. I am so excited to finally be able to share these projects with you- they are the Patchwork Prism Quilt & Sham that I designed for Janome. And they're ready to be downloaded , viewed , flickr'd and all! Visit my Janome page or Janome's Anna Maria page - either way you'll find everything you need to make your own. I loved making this project so very much.  I included mostly my own prints + Liberty + some Denyse + Kaffe too. We even have some print by color stacks in the shop for you if you're so inclined. The sham has gotten quite cozy on my bed. It is such a lot of work to get things just the way you want them, especially in the format of video, but I really hope you enjoy watching it.  Mostly I hope that, together with the pattern pdfs, it makes building this quilt easier and more exciting. All the linkies should be working but of course let me know if something isn't doing what...

It took me creating a new little embroidery- specifically for a table scarf- to tidy up my dining room, the whole house really, and share some pictures of it with you. I don't remember where I left off in showing the changes that I've made to the mess hall. I know you've likely seen it in its Raindrop blue stages here a few times. I also vaguely recall talking about how I wanted it to be cream colored by thanksgiving one year (didn't happen, it was all I could do to stuff a turkey that year)... and then I still picture these pictures of my boy on crutches sitting against cream walls. Anyway. The curtains are not new, but a patching of two fabrics that I created a few months ago, after deciding that no single fabric was doing the job for me. And I found myself hopping from the one turquoise fabric to another red fabric , deciding on neither, making something out of a whole other piece with some patchwork thingermagiggins across them only to take them down afte...

Enter Spinning Stars Quilt. I've designed this new free pattern for my Loulouthi fabrics, which you can grab off my MAKE page, and we've prepared kits over here for each of the palettes. This one above is a throw size, made up of 9 blocks, and from the Juliana palette. I hand tied the throw with a pretty aqua pearl cotton, at every corner and every center of each block. Hand tying is fun for me, quicker than hand quilting and I like the fuzzy little knots poking up across the surface of the patchwork. Sort of silly almost, but still pulled together. I aspire to be just like a hand tied quilt. (Anyway, YES, I know! Where are those stinkin' thread kits ? I'm twiddling my thumbs along with some of you, but I was told end of June, so it should really be any day now.) While I do love the messy, mix-y , patch-y of a quilt, I decided to play around with some solids too. Its amazing how different these quilts with the solid bands are. And how the solid influences the ...

I played baseball with my brother in the backyard as often as he would agree to play with a girl. This would only be when I could catch him between Atari, playing army with Steve Beck up the street, his daily ingestion of $1.49 Totino's frozen pizza, and better offers to do more fun things with cooler kids. I was tomboyish, but not a typical tomboy. I liked playing with the boys best because they seemed to argue less, but I also liked figuring out things that were pretty too, like fancy barbie clothes and flower doodles on my math folder. It took me a while to dress like a girl though. Most of it seemed a fuss, got in the way of doing more important things like catching pop flies. (If you're here for anything of value, please skip down to the last part of this post, I'll turn my back.) It took me a while to figure this all out. Girlness. And clothes. And how girls wore clothes. And what seemed most important was that if I was going to do that, I didn't want t...

Free Pattern download: Love Emblem Throw + Pillows More free love. Other images, here and here for this project. Have fun! I think I forgot to add fabric requirement for the heart fabric, but uhh, I'll leave it up to you. How big is your heart anyway? Huge, I'd say. As for me, I'll be spending some time on this little pillow version for Roman's big boy bed (he's not in it yet, don't go cardiac on me) because we could use a little softness around Mr.Ruff-n-Tumble (-n-adorable). enjoy your weekend, xo, Anna

An early Christmas gift to you. The "Love Letters" quilt free downloadable pattern. Alexia designed this ever so lovely quilt to feature my Innocent Crush quilting cottons. This patchwork shows mostly the "swept away" palette with a stamp (get it, on a letter?) of tourquoise from the "charmed" palette. Pretty. We've listed some kits for both palettes over here . You can download the free "Love Letters" quilt pattern here . Other thingermajiggins: * If you'd love to know where the he** your scarf kit is, its coming, we've been waiting (very impatiently) on more yardage * People like scarf kits * Particularly if they are made of velveteen, because they are warm * It must be cold out there * I wouldn't know, I haven't been outside in a few days because * I'm working to finish two more free patterns for you * I should have the "Love Emblem" one ready for you by Friday which will enable you to make these pillows...

I named this the Figure 8 Scarf (we sell 18x72" pre-cuts here ) because it reminded me of what I used to tell myself as a little girl to get the hang of twisting a rubberband around my hair to make a pony tail. Once the band is around once, you twist it, turning the band into a figure 8 before you pull the pony tail through the band a second time. Putting this full loop scarf around your neck is just the same. Plus figure 8 sounds winter-y and fun. Plus I can't do it on skates. So. Yea. While making a two sided sewn loop is a pretty easy thing, I thought I would save some of you from the never ending pull through to the right side that can happen depending on how you've put it together. C'mon. You've done it at least once on your life, right? Its the mystery of the loop. So here's how I do it with out depositing coins into the cuss jar. * After making sure that each layer, in this case the voile and the velveteen, are trimmed to the exact same size, an...

figure eight scarf I (possibly like you) have been counting the moments for all of my velveteen fabrics to arrive. And just like introducing the voiles through a little write-up earlier this year where I professed my love and offered my experiences with them, I thought it would be nice to welcome the velveteens in a similar way. Just like the voiles, I think that once you have the chance to touch these velveteens, that no one would really have to warm you up to the idea of bringing a little bit home. But in case you have questions, I thought I would jump ahead with some answers. Velveteen Velveteen has in some instances been thought of as a substitute of sorts for velvet, or even a lower priced imitation of velvet. In their most typical formats, there is an inherent difference between the two fabrics. Velvet, traditionally, was woven as two cloths weaving at the same time, continually connected by threads that would then be cut to separate the two cloths from each other, leaving...

This is the sewn up version of the Argyle Block that Isabela designed for our Rainbow project. Planning out colors carefully to make that cool overlap of color so often found in argyle patterns would make for a really amazing quilt- I might just have to make a whole quilt with this block and see that happen. So as promised to you and the kidos, here is the second installment of free downloadable block instructions to inspire your own patchwork- Isabela's Argyle Block Template . Have fun! I love this one, because its only one same triangle for the whole block. Some days that is all my brain can handle. Like today for instance. And yesterday. And, I'm just guessing tomorrow too. Anyway. Both this one and Joseph's Block are linked at the Rainbow page too. More soon! And somewhere under the Rainbow we have a great writeup over at the Etsy blog . It is such a good, good article- my friend Linzee McCray (she blogs here ) wrote it, and she is just a really talented ...

Kids really have the most enthusiasm. After the flooding happened here in May, there were endless local and national news stories detailing not just the tragedies involved, but also the countless, selfless acts of relief going on all over town. Compelled by all they saw and heard, Nicolas and Joseph particularly were ready to rip out drywall and tear up floors anywhere they could if they were just given the chance. They complained to me that we had to find a way to help people. I was moved by their inherent compassion and it helped inspire me to create Rainbow Around the Block . And because of their hearts, I've wanted to keep them involved as much as possible. Just as naturally as the compassion came, so did the excitement to help me with the quilting efforts. I got out a few different quilt books for reference, a stack of graph paper, colored pencils, rulers and we all sat around the counter in the studio and had one of the best nights of the summer. After they knew wha...

Well I'm not sure what you were expecting. When I read my comments from the last post at dinner last night, I cracked up at the notion that some of you assumed that the flier image I showed in the post was the dress I was going for! SO funny! I guess you might think that at a glance. But come on, I only had about an hour! That would have taken at least an hour & 15 minutes (+ 2 days). Anyway, I've had the thought to make this ultra simple tunic from the Square Dance fabric for a while, and decided at the last minute last night to give it a quick whirl. It is truly nothing but rectangles and 1/4" elastic. I have Here are some quick renderings of the simple process drawn up for you. but didn't have time to edit and upload today. I promise I will edit this post to add them this weekend. (Do I keep promising things?) A few notes: I used what's considered a panel and a half of the Square Dance fabric (45" length). I started by cutting the panels ...

I am following up on The Stitch that I posted last week to answer some of your questions taken directly out of the comments section. While I was trying as hard as I could to just offer my input on the actual stitch, I realize that there are always other questions that this leads too, and I'm hoping to help out with some of those here! I want to stress - this is only my way of making hand quilting stitches. This is why I am calling it Anna Answers. I am not an expert. I am self-taught. I am sucker for embroidery. I am busy. I like to do things efficiently. Even if that means that occasionally I don't do them traditionally. I like to do things that make me happy. I do not like to do things that make me annoyed. I love to hear how other people do the same things. Always. I do not assume that the way I do things negates the validity of doing it some other way. I also like being told I am wrong. I thrive on it, in fact. I want to be better at everything that I do. ...