Use up your scraps on this festive bit of fun for a special birthday or everyday room décor. Our party banner turned out to be so colorful and cute, I'm tempted to leave it up year 'round. It adds a super splash of color and the extra-long tassels shimmer in the sun.

Back in the day, your 'beach towel' was simply a ratty bath towel that had seen better days and which Mom allowed you to drag outside. Today's beach towels are colorful terry cloth works of art in jumbo sizes. We used one to make our simple summer beach wrap. A clever cut allows you to make optimum use of the towel's bound edges, and leaves you the perfect scrap to create a matching pillow. To add a splash of summer fun, we braided three colors of polka dot knit to create the wrap's wonderful ties. It's all super quick to make, so you can be lounging by the shore in style before all the good spots are gone.

With our focus on kids and birthdays this week, I found myself dwelling on fabric designed for children. Kids have an amazing, and often vivid memory for details of clothing, bedding, curtains, books and wallpaper. Ever try to skip a page when reading a book to a child? I can still visualize the circus wallpaper in my room that my mother tells me was gone by the time I was three. The light aqua background and colorful tents and animals left its mark, and I'm still partial to the mix of pale aqua with brights. It makes me realize that choosing fabrics your child likes may create a life-long happy memory.

Birthday party treat bags can be flimsy plastic things filled with candy and tiny trinkets, which are ultimately lost and sucked up by the vacuum. Or... you can bestow these dandy mini backpacks on your party guests. They are oh-so cute, actually useful, and fun to make! You can still fill them with candy and tiny trinkets, but they are cool enough to be great parting gifts even with nothing in them. You could also fill them with the souvenirs and prizes from the day's activities. Like I said: cute, useful and fun.

What's the biggest day of the year for any kid? His or her birthday! It's the one day of the year to be the center-of-attention... no questions asked. Our summertime birthday celebration has a colorful, Day At The Beach theme and is a perfect choice for either a boy or a girl turning about four, five or even six. It seems everywhere you turn these days, you find those paper and plastic sets of cheesy decorations and party favors with grinning television and movie characters to tempt your little one. Enough already! We found our initial inspiration in the vivid designs of Patty Young's new Playdate collection from Michael Miller Fabrics. When you create your own decorations and take-home gifts, you throw a party that is more memorable, more unique, and more green, because nearly all the elements are reusable.

We just wrapped up a series of seven awesome Baby Gifts, using the beautiful Pretty Bird collection by Pillow & Maxfield for Michael Miller Fabrics. Now that you have them all made and ready to present to your expecting friends and family, we have a few more ideas on how to go the extra step and create the ultimate Baby Shower Power Gifts. Use a green wrapping idea, bundle-up some unique accessory sets, and create a clever presentation. We've also collected some of our favorite past baby gift projects to add to the mix.

This is the first time I have used an organic cotton fabric. Organics are a still a small percentage of the quilting weight cottons available, and almost twice the cost. But, I figure organic fabric will grow in the marketplace similarly to organic food. Remember how difficult it was to reliably find organic groceries? And they were almost prohibitively expensive. A decade later, it's how I shop. There's a great selection and milk is no longer $8 for a half gallon. So, I was pretty thrilled to find emerging organic fabric companies debuting high-quality and colorful fabrics as well as some pretty edgy designs. These summery box-pleat pillows made from organic cotton make a powerful statement: We are pesticide free!

I always assumed that 100% cotton fabrics were the 'good guys' of the textile world – all fresh and natural. It's only recently that I've learned that cotton covers 2.5% of the world's cultivated land, yet uses roughly 25% of the world's pesticides – more than any other single major crop. Yikes!

Surprisingly, until World War II, cotton had been grown successfully for more than 5000 years without the aid of chemicals by planting at lower densities, rotating with other crops, and considering pest cycles in planting and harvesting. After World War II, things were different. Neurotoxins such as DDT were considered to be a cheap way of controlling pests, and dependence on chemicals became the rule.

The good news is that organic cotton crops are increasing. According to the Organic Exchange Farm and Fiber Report 2009, organic cotton is now grown in 22 countries worldwide, with India being the top producer. Organic fiber sales in the United States grew more than 10 percent over the previous year. Today, unlike just a few years ago, organic cottons have found a growing spot on fabric shop shelves. And, they are not the rustic, pale textiles you might imagine...

What is soft, pliable, and waterproof; can withstand fairly high temperatures; and holds up to a lot of use? Like me, your first guess might have been those dang swimming pool noodles you always buy too many of and then never know what to do with once summer is over. But... the real answer is: PUL, polyurethane laminate if you wish to be formal. The broad category refers to any fabric with a polyurethane laminated to a base fabric. Most common is a polyester knit fabric laminated to a thin waterproof, non-breathable polyurethane backing. Originally developed for use in the medical industry, it's very durable and very popular right now for folks making diapers, diaper covers, changing pads, bibs, training pants, and outside the world of babies, it's often used to create reusable sandwich, snack and lunch bags. As with most man-made fabrics, there are some tips and techniques that make sewing with PUL easier.

Webbing, ribbon, hardware, a couple of hours, and you can make your very own boutique style dog collar and leash. This is such a fun and easy project, you'll be offering to make them for all your canine friends. Of course, it's not just for dogs! That's Dexter, one of our French Alpine goats, stylin' our collar, and I think he's saying, "I HEART Sew4Home." Ahhhhh, thanks, Dex.

Fire up the grill and pull out the spatula; it's barbeque time! Summer Fun means something should be sizzling on the ol' outdoor grill. This tough canvas BBQ apron is a serious sizzle shield with its handsome rivet accents and extra-large pockets for grill tongs, tools and those giant hot pad mitts.