The latest trend in yarn is what I call “ruffling” yarn. These yarns look like a ribbon, but can be unfolded to a wider strip of “fabric”. You simply knit along one edge, and the yarn ruffles as you go! There are several varieties of these yarns available, and I’ll show you how magical they can be.

Pirouette, another mesh type, features a soft chenille edge that gives a pretty, soft finish to the ruffle. Think “pretty cobweb” for the soft way it feels. 

Last week was a very sad week for Dick and me. We had to say our final goodbyes to our beloved 20+ year old cat, Beethoven. We knew that he would have to be leaving us, because he’d lost a lot of weight and his back legs weren’t working too well, but I felt that as long as he could climb the steps to the bed and lie in my arms to sleep every night, and didn’t seem to be in pain, we would continue with his six pills a day and continue to love him for the time he had left. Last week when I woke up, he was not on the bed.  He was lying on the rug nearby, and he wasn’t able to stand by himself. It was plain that it was time, but that didn’t make it any easier.

We got Beethoven and Mozart at the Humane Society in 1991. They were constant companions until Moz lost a battle with cancer six years ago. What joy they brought us! Beethoven was a smoke colored tabby, the only one we’d ever seen with the black fur that is white underneath. He paved the way for our youngest, Kassia, who was brought to the shop as one of the kittens in our annual summer Sidewalk Sale and Humane Society Benefit. She’s the second smoke kitty we’d seen, and we had to have her to go with her brother! He was larger but if we saw one of them, we had to look at the eyes to see if they were green or gold. Tovey had beautiful big green eyes.

I told my Sewing Club ladies yesterday morning that I have heard people say, when they have gone through the pain of loss like this, that they can’t ever have another cat (or dog, or other kind of a animal companion) because of having to say goodbye. We’re already talking about going to the Humane Society to look for another cat who needs us. We feel it’s a tribute to those who shared our lives in the past, and we have so much love to give to our animals, more than enough for our two wonderful remaining kitties. Our Humane Society keeps their adoptable animals until they find homes. I don’t think I could kitten-proof the sewing room any more, so we’re going to look for an older cat who likes other cats, and offer him a loving home. The pleasure of sharing our lives with our animals far outweighs the horrible pain of having to say goodbye, as much as that hurts. I read an anonymous quote, “Until one has loved a cat, a part of one’s soul has remained unawakened.” That goes for any animal companion. I hope you’ll consider sharing your home with someone like this who needs you.

Two new calendars arrived at the store last week.  It got me thinking of the stack of old calendars that I have at home.  The pictures are so pretty and I hated to throw them away, so I just stacked them on the shelf with all my other “some day” projects.

When I went to the piano for worship team practice, I opened up the large white binder that the team leader had given me to hold my music.  It is one of those see-thru presentation binders with the clear front cover that allows title page to show through.  Ah-Ha…a place to use one of my old calendars. 

Both of these calendars are perennial favorites.  Order yours today, before they’re gone!

Post by Cheryl

Be sure to “like” us on Facebook! You’ll see great projects from customers and Erica’s employees, new items just into the store and be eligible for great giveaways!


(To find an item or event on our web page after clicking on the underlined words, hold down the “Ctrl” key and touch F. Enter the item number in the box, press enter, and you’ll be taken to that item.)


You can see What’s New at Erica’s almost every day! Any page of our website has a column on the left that tells you where to find things, and all you have to do is look for “New Items” in purple, and click to find out.

Jean Armstrong (Internet/Shipping)
Olfa 18mm Rotary Cutter #70712 “It’s easy to use.”

Chris Cencelewski (Shipping)
Donna Dewberry’s Cutting Mat #31998 “The mat is self healing and has a smooth finish.”

Kimmy (Repair Tech)
Seam Ripper Clipper #27735 “I’m very partial to the seam ripper/nips that I got here last year. It is very usefl when I take out seams.”

Tekla Coar (Front Counter)  Rotary Cutter #54180 “So much faster and easier on the hands than scissors.”

Darleen Davis (Receiving Mgr.)
Olfa Cutting Mat #37064 “This mat is self healing and still looks new after all these years!”

True Grips #60954 “I have rulers that have no grips on the back and these are so thin that they work perfect.” Gypsy Gripper #30158 “I had surgery on my shoulder.  This tool helps me to press down when cutting fabic.”

Cindy Foley (Shipping Mgr.)
6” x 1” Ruler #15772 “Great for checking seams!”

Lynne Forrest (Receiving) Patchwork Pins #39355 “These pins are very fine and cause minimal distortion.”
9 1/2″ Square It Up & Fussy Cut Ruler #33492 “Square it up rulers are great for squaring up blocks that get distorted when I piece them.”

Nancy Fullen & Linda Ullery (Front Counter)
Fons & Porter Binding Tool #44094 “Easy, perfect finish for joining binding ends.”

Diane James (Sewing Dept.)
6” Bias Square #67293 “Using this square is the easiest way to square half square triangle blocks because of the 45 degree line that goes along the seam.”

Snip-A-Stitch Scissors #20821“These scissors are comfortable to hold.  They do a great job snipping  those thread ends.  They get in close.”

Cathy Mark (Buyer)
Milliner’s Needles #51190 “I use them for hand sewing, embroidery, applique, quilting, everything! They are longer than many, so much easier for me to hold and they have a bit of flex when I need it. I also like the Boxed Silk Pins #37608.”

Cheryl Nelson (Web Development/Me)
3 1/2” Floral Scissors #52850 “I have several pairs of these sharp, pointed little scissors. They make a great seam ripper as well as a thread snipper.”
Creative Grids Non-Slip 2 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ Ruler #45153 “This is the handiest ruler that I own!”  

Guinn Shapiola (Sales Floor Mgr.)
Sewline Pencils #40605 “Pencils writes smooth lines and there are great color choices.”
Best Press #33478 “Works wonderfully for pressing fabrics.”

Ginny Smith (Receiving)
Easy Sew Guide #16197 “Great for NO mark half square triangles.”

Suzanne Stone (Shipping)
“A drink on a coaster….for obvious reasons!!!”

Jane Stuart (Receiving)
Boye Knitting Needles…Jane is a knitter!

Kim Wilson (Front Counter)
Sewing Edge #29853 “A great 1/4″ seam guide.”

Linda Ullery (Front Counter)

The Gypsy Cutting Gizmo #47319  “I do a lot of chain piecing and the Gizmo makes a faster way to cut blocks apart.”

 Judy Wingrove (Model Dept)

Binding Clips #56424  “They hold quilt binding tightly and don’t pop off–and you don’t get stuck with pins while you sew.  They are also great when making purses and other sewing projects!

Post by Cheryl

Be sure to become a Erica’s Facebook Fan! You’ll see great projects from customers and Erica’s employees, new items just into the store and be eligible for great giveaways!

(To find an item or event on our web page after clicking on the underlined words, hold down the “Ctrl” key and touch F. Enter the item number in the box, press enter, and you’ll be taken to that item.)

You can see What’s New at Erica’s almost every day! Any page of our website has a column on the left that tells you where to find things, and all you have to do is look for “New Items” in purple, and click to find out.

I had the opportunity to work with my neighbor, Gail, who hadn’t sewn in many years. Her two daughters had fabric they picked out for new pillow cases, and mom got her first taste of sewing on more than a basic machine!

In the photo she’s doing the bun around the hotdog step! Since Stella and Fiona had helped pin some of the other steps, they were proud of the pillow cases they helped make! Maybe we have some future sew-ers here. Fiona wants to take our Kids’ Sewing Class in the fall. Stella can start when she’s a little older.

I’ve been a long time fan of Joan Hawley’s Lazy Girl Patterns. I have probably made at least 20 purses and totes using Joan’s designs. Her patterns are easy to read and simple to construct….especially with her “no fear” zipper technique! (If you are afraid of zippers, the Lazy Girl Patterns are for you!) One of my favorite Lazy Girl Patterns is the Summer Tote (A13840).

The Summer Tote is constructed by fusing two layers of fabric together to create the ‘walls’ of the bag. Steam-A-Seam 2 (86948) is used to fuse two layers of quilter’s cottons to create a canvas-like fabric.

Post by Cheryl

Be sure to become a Erica’s Facebook Fan! You’ll see great projects from customers and Erica’s employees, new items just into the store and be eligible for great giveaways!

(To find an item or event on our web page after clicking on the underlined words, hold down the “Ctrl” key and touch F. Enter the item number in the box, press enter, and you’ll be taken to that item.)

You can see What’s New at Erica’s almost every day! Any page of our website has a column on the left that tells you where to find things, and all you have to do is look for “New Items” in purple, and click to find out.

In my June 30th post, I talked about starting and stopping in quilting, and cutting the bobbin thread from the top side of the quilt. But sometimes you don’t want to do all that. Like this cone flower in one of my recent quilts. When you do raw edge applique, there might be a lot of starts and stops in one area.

I added arrows so you could see my path. (Click on image for larger view.) In this case, it’s faster to take the tiny stitches at the beginning and end, but then clip all the threads at one time, both on the back and on the front. I did this on my Handi Quilter Fusion, but it works the same on your regular sewing machine.  (Coneflower Garden A11654)

Here’s a new gadget we got that can be a real help when you want to test your tension at the longarm. It’s easy to clamp a sample sandwich that you can easily flip over to be sure tension’s good on the back. (Grip-Lite Longarm/Midarm Side Clamps A13009)

Speaking of my Fusion… Anyone with both a cat (or three) and a longarm quilting machine knows that the longarm can be a magnet to those felines! For instance, here’s the photo of Kassi when she stretched out my black batting!

We cut up the box that came with our treadmill. I put string handles on two big pieces and I can use two for a bigger quilt, and one for a smaller one.

‘Til next time, happy quilting!

Be sure to become a Erica’s Facebook Fan! You’ll see great projects from customers and Erica’s employees, new items just into the store and be eligible for great giveaways!

(To find an item or event on our web page after clicking on the underlined words, hold down the “Ctrl” key and touch F. Enter the item number in the box, press enter, and you’ll be taken to that item.)

You can see What’s New at Erica’s almost every day! Any page of our website has a column on the left that tells you where to find things, and all you have to do is look for “New Items” in purple, and click to find out.

The other day, as my young grandson was running with his brothers, I noticed that he had to constantly keep pulling his pants up. It’s not that his pants didn’t fit, he just doesn’t seem to have much of a “behind” to keep his pants from sliding down while running. I asked him if he’d like Memaw to make him something to keep his pants up…he said yes!

So I gathered up a few things:
1/4 yard of Timeless Treasures Crayon fabric 991403 cut into two 3 1/2″ x WOF strips
Heavyweight Interfacing: two 1/2″ x 36″ strips
Two 3/4″ Vest Buckles
Ironing Board Cover Fasteners A13070

You will use two fasteners for 1 set of suspenders. Put the other set aside for you next pair!
Remove the elastic from one fastener and cut the second fastener in half.

Open strip again and fold one edge of each strip in about 1/2″ and press. Insert interfacing along the center fold, and fold and press one more time. Beginning at end of strip without the fold, topstitch along both edges of strip, ending about 1″ from the folded end.

Measure to determine the length of suspenders and add about 6″.  For a 4 year old, the measurement was 26″ + 6″ for a total of 32″. For a 5 year old, the measurement was 28″ + 6″ for a total of 34″. Cut suspenders to desired length.

Insert fabic strips onto vest buckles.  Zig-zag stitch along unfinished edge of each strip.  Fold about 3/4″ of strip over center bar of buckle and carefully stitch to encase the bar with the vest buckle ”face up”.  Stitch slowly and carfully not to hit the metal buckle!

Your pair should look like the pictures above.

Measure and mark about 1″ from the cut ends of the elastic with the clips. Insert the ends of the elastic into the ends of the strips with the folded edge, matching markings with the folds.

Measure 5″ from end of elastic and mark with pins.  Place the suspenders along the 60 degree lines of a cutting ruler, matching the 5″ marks at the center point of the 60 degree lines.  Pin suspenders together.

Be sure to become a Erica’s Facebook Fan! You’ll see great projects from customers and Erica’s employees, new items just into the store and be eligible for great giveaways!

(To find an item or event on our web page after clicking on the underlined words, hold down the “Ctrl” key and touch F. Enter the item number in the box, press enter, and you’ll be taken to that item.)

You can see What’s New at Erica’s almost every day! Any page of our website has a column on the left that tells you where to find things, and all you have to do is look for “New Items” in purple, and click to find out.