Coffee Accessories are Cool

If you click on this link, you'll be whisked away to a quickie tutorial about this, but we had to share anyway - it's a coffee container and placemat that I made lickety split one day. Well decoupage is never quick, but you get my drift.

It was time to gussy up the counter with something other than blah for the grinds and mat. It's a simple decoupage on a Cool Whip container and then a strip quilted mat. The coffee doesn't stain the mat if I spill a drop while pouring out and it's easily machine washed. I didn't have a pattern and I didn't follow any real rules. I just did it. And you can too.

Projects You Can Make

You can find most of the projects I've done here, with photos and instructions. I will add more as time allows. Let me know if there's something you'd like me to try. (Updated 02/19/10)

Cathedral Window What? How to make them and some I've made.

I was asked today what a Cathedral Window quilt was. Several years ago, I did a sewing project for Sewing.com about how to make a Cathedral Window quilt. Since then, I've made several. I've made doll quilts, finished a wall hanging, and made one for the family. I also made one for my nephew. You can find the project and how-to by clicking here or on our projects link.

Here are some that I've made over the years, though certainly not all!

This is a doll quilt and pillow made with a dark blue print for the frames and lace for the windows and binding.

This is a piece of a full sized Cathedral Window I made for myself with black and white fabrics that I've been collecting for years as the frame and recycled denim for the windows. The frames started with 11" squares. The windows are about 2" squares of denim.

This is a doll quilt made in the traditional sense with muslin frames, but nontraditional in the sense that I used flame fabric for the windows.

This is a Paddington Bear doll quilt and pillow. Each window has the face of Paddington Bear. The frames are muslin. All doll Cathedral Window quilts started with a 6" square.

This is a red/white/blue doll quilt with muslin frames. I alternated a star fabric with a flag fabric.

This is my first Cathedral Window which I made and included in the project linked above. It's another full sized one and the squares began as 11".

I really enjoy the portability and hand sewing involved with Cathedral Window quilts. I'm getting ready to fly to Phoenix and will take another project with me. This time, I'm using 8" squares to start. My hands got a little tired the last time I started with 6" squares.

There are no real rules. Do what you love!

Digging Groundhog Day

Sounds like Phil saw his shadow. Know what that means? It means six more weeks of sewing. I know I'm going to follow that edict! How about you?

I sold a few items on Etsy and a few on eBay, but mostly, I'm sewing items to sell in the fall. I'm on a Halloween kick now that I have Christmas stockings made and ready for next year. The final one is made of Smurf fabric and is embellished with a few Christmas buttons and some trim.

There's snow on the ground, my work day is almost done, and I'm going to sew today. I'm feeling the urge to feed my creative beast and that's one way to do it.

Frugal Devolution (or why one shouldn't blog when feeling pensive)

A couple of sewing thoughts to ponder. They're not just sewing thoughts, but could honestly apply to anything in life. So let's get started.

There is talk nowadays about 'devolution.' It's nothing new; the music group Devo had it down to an art. They suggested that everything is created for obsolescence and that we were devolving. Okay, that's a little heady, but it's worth thinking about. In the process of devolution, we will have met our level of competence (or a Peter Principle - level of incompetence) with technology. Our electronic world will begin to fail and we will start stepping backwards to a time when we knew how to take care of ourselves. Many people today would be hard pressed to raise their own food, build or maintain their own homes, keep themselves warm with fire, or to make clothing. That's where sewing comes in. With our sewing skills and curiosities, we're way ahead of the game. I would wager to guess that not only do people who sew create great clothes, dolls, crafts, etc., they most likely do something else that is creative - growing vegetables and cooking them into delightful dishes - that kind of thing. So congrats on knowing or learning how to sew. You're ready for the electronic crash.

A lot of discussion is held about frugality these days too. Not cheap, but frugal. Frugal often is defined as living beneath your means, like voluntary simplicity. (The two are not mutually exclusive, you know.) There are many ways to sew and do it frugally. There is no hard and fast rule that says you have to buy your supplies at a traditional fabric/notions store. Nor do you have to buy the most expensive sewing machine, used or new, to make the magic happen. I personally started with hand embroidery. I embroidered all the time. My work wasn't as perfect as machine embroidery, but that's okay. I didn't spend a fortune on an embroidery machine and I have such a respect for those who still embroider. I drew pictures on fabric and turned them into colorful paintings with thread. But I digress. I've had my sewing machine for 25+ years, keep it cleaned and tuned up, and it's running as good as new. I purchase fabric at yard sales, sometimes the thrift store, often on line (eBay is a great place for a smokin' deal, but keep an eye on those shipping rates!), and from friends or Freecycle for free. I do go to Hancock Fabrics from time to time, but only with a coupon from their flyer. I recycle towels into hand towels and dish towels. I recycle cotton tee shirts into cloths for cleaning. I recycle old blankets as batting for a quilt project. I use small pieces of fabric for doll clothes and crafts. I try to save where I can, but I also try to make sure I make time to sew.

Whether it be devolution or frugality, people who sew are ready for at least one portion of the de-techologicalizing of our lives! And we're going to keep practicing too, right?

Wonder Under is my friend, yours too!

Wonder Under is an amazing product. I use it often, so buy online since prices are usually better than offline stores, especially since WalMart stopped carrying sewing items.

I have used Wonder Under to recreate pictures that my children have drawn by tracing the picture, cutting the pieces out of fabric, fusing them to a piece of muslin and then doing a tight zig-zag or satin stitch around all edges. I finish the edges with Fray Check or a similar product and the life of the piece is endless. I have washed and dried many pieces I've made using this method. Check out my dish towel project - this is a typical Wonder Under application, as are the many potholders I've made. I've used Wonder Under to fuse photos printed on fabric for use with memory quilts as well. You can see another use in my bib project.


Some people use Wonder Under without stitching the edged; they simply fuse and let it go. I've not had good luck with that method. In order to make something that you can wear or use several times, items you are able to wash and dry, you really do need to stitch the edges. The only reason I use a fray reducer is that one project with printed photos did some unraveling on the edges. The fabric upon which the picture was printed was fairly fragile. Better safe than sorry with usable items. As mentioned above, I made hand towels using Wonder Under and have washed and dried them a lot with only minimal expected wear that is uniform and not limited to the fused fabric.


You can buy WonderUnder on line and off. There are other products similar to it, but I've not used them. I tend to stick with what I know most of the time. Now, go crazy and make some stuff!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the last post of 2009! It's been a year of change for ZenSewing.com and our new home on Typepad. To summarize 2009: I've been working on migrating projects and information from my old sewing websites to here with the goal of having everything in one place in an organized fashion for you to use. The life of FrugalSewing.com has come to an end and that site is not being updated any longer. TheSewingDictionary.com is still alive and will continue to be updated when new, edited, or other information dictates. It will continue to be a pet project of mine and serves as a compendium of sewing and fabric terms. ZenSewing.com proper will redirect here in time. Right now, this destination is highlighted on the site.

Looking toward 2010, I have a few goals. One of them is to continue to highlight projects and how to information. That may be enveloped in projects that I myself have done or that friends who wish to donate ideas have created. Boutique clothing is coming. I did not meet a deadline for a Christmas dress for a local young lady, so she will be getting a winter one. I will continue to document how to do this or that embellishment in the event that you wish to try your luck. I will be working on inventory for a craft show toward the end of 2010, and that will provide me with the opportunity to show you how to use your stash in a variety of ways. The focus will continue to be sewing frugally and sewing because it meets a need for you, both inside and out. Another goal is to encourage everyone to teach someone something related to fabric arts, be it sewing, learning to replace a button, enjoying a no-sew fleece scarf, or embroidery. It's an art we cannot allow to die.

My wish for you is that you have a healthy new year. As with all works in progress, this site will continue to improve. I also consider myself a work in progress, and I will continue to improve too (I hope!).
Thank you for visiting and sticking with me over the years. Here's to many, many more. - Donna