Boott Cotton Mill Museum

by Markita Hall-Gumble

In June 2023, PatternReview.com held their in person event in Lowell Massachusetts.  Besides getting together with the sewing tribe, we visited the Boott Cotton Mill Museum and the New England Quilt Museum.

The Boott Museum is part of the National Park Service and is so worth a visit, as it documents an important part of textile history in America.… Read the rest

Santa Embroidery on Velvet

by Jane Dempsey

I saw this Santa Design on Facebook and fell in love.  I have never embroidered on velvet, and it has 83,000 stitches.  But the design went on sale, so I bought it.

Prep Work

  1. As with all Embroidery Library designs, it is very dense, so I used my embroidery software to reduce the density. 
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State Fair Contests – What is the Competition?

Last August, I covered the ASG members’ winning entries at the State Fair. This month, I thought that you might like to see other entries that won ribbons in the same categories, as well as some entries in other sewing-related contests.

Marie Barrese and I made a trip to the Fair to take pictures of items in the cases at the Creative Arts building.… Read the rest

What Sewing Machine Should I Buy?

Debbie Ramseyer told me that she belongs to a facebook group for sewists and a newbie asked the question, “What Sewing Machine should I buy?” Debbie responded with the following list of questions:

Look at this the same way you would if buying a car.

1. First, and most importantly, what is your budget?

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Learning Batik in Bali

by Markita Hall-Gumble

I spent almost 4 weeks in Bali.  I had so many textile experiences while there, including 3 different batik classes. First, what is batik?  In a simple answer, batik is a form of printing on fabric using wax as a resist.  Batik has a rich history and it’s origins are over 2000 years old. 

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Upping Your Game – Spotlight on a Neighborhood Group

By Davie Marie Hurlbert

For their first year as a neighborhood group, Upping Your Game (UYG) has been exploring embellishing our garments to take us out of our super causal staying at home routine. 

A few of our members have shared their expertise and challenged us to consider how to transform a plain garment to one with some interesting embellishment.… Read the rest

State Fair Ribbon Winners!

We’ve gone from 3 contestants winning 3 ribbons last year to 13 contestants winning 19 ribbons this year!

Marcia Moore
C114. Collage
Honorable Mention

Jami Roux
D112. Cloth Dolls
1st Place

Joanne Jensen
I172. Adult Apparel
Honorable Mention


Virginia Stein
I179. Computerized Embroidery
Honorable Mention

Judy Nordseth
I183. In the Hoop Embroidery
1st Place

Virginia Stein
I183.

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State Fair Entry Delivery

Entries are due this weekend, August 4-6, Friday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

You have three choices:

  1. Take your entries to the fairgrounds yourself. You can drive onto the fairgrounds and park near the Creative Arts Building.
  2. You can arrange to drop off your entries to Marie or me and we will take them for you.
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Spotlight – Sandra Fry

Once a month we’d like to introduce you to a member who creates more than the usual garments or quilts. And to start off our series, we’d like you to meet Sandra Fry. She’s been a member of the Plano Chapter since 2015 . She moved her membership from the Houston Chapter after moving to Rowlett.… Read the rest

It’s Time to Sign Up!

The Great State Fair of Texas will be here before you know it! It is time to sign up for the creative arts contests. The deadline to register online is July 24 and here’s how to do it.

Get started by clicking on the link below.

Register for Creative Arts Competitions

  1. Scroll down until you see this.
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Sewing Podcasts

Stephanie Kendron

I love to chat with creatives in the sewing industry getting all of the latest trends, tips, and information for you! I love telling stories about sewing, fabric, quilting, business, and marketing.

Modern Sewciety Podcasts

Jacqui Blakemore

Tips, tricks and expert interviews to share everything you need to know to have fun making your own fabulous clothes.

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Weaving Fabric for Garments

by Margaret Montgomery

My journey – overcoming the fear of cutting into handwoven fabric and how the techniques used have evolved.

Weaving is great fun and it is so rewarding to sew using something I have woven. Concerns:  Will the woven fabric fall apart when I cut into it? Should the fabric be stabilized?… Read the rest