Often, when I first get up in the morning, I like to enjoy my coffee while browsing fabric at some of my favorite online sources. Seeing what's new and what's coming gives me inspiration for future Sew4Home projects. Sometimes, I have a design in mind and search for the perfect fabric. Sometimes I see fabric and it spurs a project idea. A few weeks ago, we made a wonderful and amazingly easy patchwork throw from Circa 1934 by BasicGrey for Moda using a layer cake containing forty-two 10-inch squares. It went together so quickly, I thought I would make up a few for three upcoming gift-giving events. I have one I keep by my computer. It keeps me warm and I don't feel a need to notch up the heat to overcome the morning chill. I'm sure that throw has more than paid for itself in reduced heat bills! Today, I'll show you what I've picked for my three easy-to-make gift throws while browsing at Fat Quarter Shop. This is a frequent stop for me, and a fabulous source for pre-cuts.

773! That's how many comments we logged for this lovely little prize package from Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts. We were impressed by all of you who wanted to share your favorite parts of the quilting process. The most common answer? "I love every part of it!" Another frequent response was how you love to watch a smile spread across the face of the person receiving your handmade quilt. Beautiful!

You can use this Moda 100% cotton toweling to wipe away the tears of joy if you are the winner of today's Great Giveaway. We have seven pretty one-yard cuts. Moda Toweling is super soft, simply sweet and best of all: pre-hemmed along both sides! Leave a comment and let us know what you'll whip up should you be our lucky winner.

Our Half Moon Modern Sewing Room Series was a huge hit with everyone and over 670 of you left us comments sharing your love for all things Moda. Our winner takes her prize to new heights as an active duty Air Force office. It gives new meaning to, "let your creativity soar!"

You've seen our eight, great "do overs" during the past two weeks, and now it's your turn for a little R&R. We ended last week with a Great Giveaway of fabric cuts to stir your creative juices, and are doing it again this week! What will you "Re-imagine & Renovate" if you win this new set of fabric cuts from our generous series co-sponsors? Inspiring minds want to know!

We've spent the week giving you some great reasons to take the time for a little R&R: "Re-imagine & Renovate." Now it's your turn. Our generous co-sponsors of the series contributed extra fabric cuts for each of the R&R projects. And guess who gets the benefit of that generosity? One lucky Sew4Home fan!

Pregnant with twins, our Heirloom Collection Great Giveaway winner now has another pretty package to wait for: TWENTY-NINE one yard cuts of Heirloom quilting cottons, TWELVE one-yard cuts of the amazing laminates, and FIVE Eclectic Modern sewing patterns.

THIS CONTEST ENDED 01/09/12. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!

The stockings are no longer hung by the chimney with care, and there's wrapping paper strewn around the tree, but I bet you might have room for one more holiday gift just for YOU. Our good friend, Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree & Co., sent us a big bag of quilting cuts from her beautiful Butterscotch & Rose collection plus four wonderful patterns to give away to one lucky S4H fan. If you love patchwork and piecing, this is your prize!

I've long been attracted to the fabric collections from Japanese manufacturer Kokka, and have learned not to wait when I see a Kokka print I love. Several times I've had my eye on something, come back the next day to buy, only to learn it had sold out while I was thinking about it.

The other day, while exploring Fabric.com for linen to whip up few holiday gifts, I came across some of the very prints I had missed out on from Kokka and knew I had to stash it. This fabric is what I'd describe as retro hip. With large prints and repeats, many of which are cotton-linen and cotton canvas, they are ideal for simple pillow covers, aprons, totes, bags and more. The prints themselves are so unique and eye-catching, they quickly become conversation starters. Take a look at some of the cool prints I found.

The cherry on top of the ice cream sundae has landed. As the final piece in our popular Half Moon Modern Sewing Room series, Moda Fabrics has sponsored the official Sew4Home full-color, 28-page Sewing Basics Resource Guide. It's our holiday gift to you! Learn the basic parts of a sewing machine. Check out the lists of what to look for in sewing machine needles, cutting tools, thread and more. Find step-by-step instructions for several technique basics, like simple hems and buttons. It's an absolute must for the beginning sewing enthusiast and a great little refresher course for us all. You can always learn something new – right?! Download our handy guide absolutely free. It would make an amazing stocking stuffer!

THIS CONTEST ENDED 12/31/11. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!

The Moda Half Moon Modern Sewing Room series has been one of our most popular ever. Makes sense... we all love sewing, so why wouldn't we all love fixing up our sewing spaces? Especially with a fabric collection as bright and happy as Half Moon Modern. The Moda gang sent us some wonderful fabric cuts as well as some special notions and batting. Then, we added a few extra presents from our own Sew4Home goodie closet. Put it all together and you have a Great Giveaway that will send 2011 out with a bang! To enter, simply leave a short comment below telling us what makes you happy about sewing with Moda Fabrics.

"I can't imagine a prize I would enjoy more!" Our latest Great Giveaway winner did a double take when the email announcing her good fortune arrived in her Emailbox. Having never won anything before, she was stunned it was finally her chance to shine.

This terrific tool qualifies as the perfect stocking stuffer for the sewing enthusiast on your list: a seam ripper with a built-in magnifier and light. The Mighty Bright Lighted Seam Ripper comes from the same clever folks who bring us those cool little book lights and wallet magnifier lights. Even if you aren't yet in the, "where the heck are my reading glasses?!" category, ripping out tiny seams or tone-on-tone topstitching is a strain on anyone's eyes and patience. This cool tool is a lifesaver.

This holiday season we are concentrating on bringing you fast and easy gift ideas. You may have already noticed our green "Holiday Gift Idea" button on recent tutorials. In addition, we've found a number of inexpensive notions, which we think would be perfect for the sewing and crafting folks on your list. Today's example is this dandy fingertip rotary cutter from Fiskars®. If you can point, you can use this little devil.

By Annette Tatum for Free Spirit Fabrics, Boho is worldly and color-rich, adding a sophisticated bohemian flair to home décor. With twenty-eight prints in three colorways, the options for mixing in interesting ways are both great and wonderful. Designed with the flavor of the exotic and well-traveled, like a caravan of color, the blend of deep hues and richly layered patterns fills the Boho collection. A passport of possibilities abounds in spicy colors, sunny rich jewel tones and earthy hues. A sensory overload of inspiration from far away lands. Boho is brand new this month and just beginning to show up in fabric shops.

Happy Black Friday! Are you one of those intrepid souls who got up at 3:00 this morning to get a jump on your holiday shopping? If so, perhaps you are already back home, whipping up a few turkey sandwiches. Or, maybe you're still in your jammies, trying to convince yourself pumpkin pie for breakfast is not outside of your diet parameters. Either way – or for any situation in between – now is the time to take a few minutes to shop online with our great Sew4Home Shopping Directory retailers. They have joined together to offer S4H fans exclusive discounts starting today!

THIS CONTEST ENDED 12/15/11.  THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!

Our final Artist Trio Series with Free Spirit Fabrics , this one featuring Joel Dewberry, goes out with a BANG today with the most fabric cuts EVER in a Great Giveaway. This Artist Trio was short, running just over the past four days, but oh-so sweet! Joel Dewberry has always been one of S4H's favorite fabric designers. We loved getting to know him during our interview and working with his latest Heirloom collection for our Thanksgiving Traditions projects. Our friends at Free Spirit sent a super generous selection of gorgeous Heirloom fabric for one lucky Sew4Home fan: TWENTY-NINE one yard cuts of the quilting cottons, TWELVE one-yard cuts of the amazing laminates, and Joel's FIVE Eclectic Modern sewing patterns. Wowee Zowee, Batman... this is a super prize. To enter, simply leave a short comment below about a fabric heirloom someone made and passed down to you or one you are creating now to become a favorite tradition.

First thing every morning, I see Joel Dewberry fabrics. I used two prints from his Deer Valley collection: Antler Damask in Gourd and Architectural in Goldenrod to make a 'hiding curtain' in my bedroom. Not only does it look marvelous, my husband and I came to immediate agreement on the fabrics - which we do not always do. In Joel's collections, there is a wonderful combination of strength and grace – intricate beauty and bold statements. We are so excited to have him as the featured designer for our third Artist Trio feature with Free Spirit Fabrics.

On October 10th, we ran a guest tutorial from Renaissance Ribbons with Elaine Schmidt. It was a lovely patchwork pillow design to start with, made even more beautiful with the use of Kaffe Fassett ribbons and fabric, and topped off with a Great Giveaway of two ribbon kits. Our winners are now all tied up.

THIS CONTEST ENDED 11/30/11. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED.

During the last nine days of our Lush & Plush Series sponsored by Fabric.com, we've run a great group of projects, tips and product reviews to get you working like a pro with flannel, Minky, faux fur and faux leather. Today, to cap off the two weeks, Fabric.com has provided us with a $150 gift certificate, allowing one lucky Sew4Home fan to go on a dream shopping spree. For a chance to win, simply leave us a comment about what you would want to shop for.

One of the more tedious sewing tasks is winding bobbins. I'll be the first to admit it is my least favorite part of preparing to start a new project. I think my dislike dates back to an old sewing machine that had the worst bobbin winder ever; four times out of five my bobbins looked like big globs of thread. Today, most sewing machines have great built-in bobbin winders. Some higher-end models even have separate bobbin winding motors, allowing you to wind a bobbin while sewing. And there are pre-wound bobbins you can buy, but usually only in black and white. As part of our Lush & Plush Series, Fabric.com asked us to test and write about the two bobbin winders they carry. Both are from Simplicity: the SideWinder Portable Bobbin Winder and the SideWinder Deluxe. I took them both for a spin and recorded my results.

"This is exactly what I need to protect my machine... the patterns are great! And I love the pom pom trim." This was the comment drawn at random to win Bari J.'s cool kit: everything needed to sew her  Paris Apartment Sewing Machine Cover... right down to the that pretty pom pom fringe!

Back in the 1970s I wanted my mom to buy me a real leather jacket. Unfortunately, she was only prepared to spend for one made of synthetic leather. As much as I wanted to believe it looked genuine, it just looked fake. Today's fake - excuse me, faux - leather looks so much more like the real thing. And, not only is faux leather less expensive than genuine leather, it's also easier to sew with. We give you the simple tricks and tools.

The Moda Bundle o' Fun prize package arrived on her doorstep on a day she was taking care of her grandson after kindergarten. They opened it together and the little boy could see she was thrilled. "Grandma, why do you like fabric so much?" She sighed and smiled. "Because it makes me feel like an artist and an inventor. I can create so many things. And I do!" Our latest Great Giveaway winner finds much happiness in being able to sew for others.

Pillow inserts give your pillows their plump shape, and allow them to do their job: provide soft support or cushy comfort. A pillow insert, also known as a pillow form, is simply a plain-covered pillow designed to be used with a decorative outer pillow cover (those things we love to design here at S4H!). Put another way, covers are your pillow insert's wardrobe. For our Lush & Plush Series, Fabric.com provided us with samples to try of the two types of pillow inserts they stock: polyester and feather/down. Although tempted to shirk our duty and simply take a little nap on the pretty pillow inserts, we managed to stay awake long enough to write our review.

Today's faux fur gives you the luxurious look and feel of real fur at a fraction of the price and without harming any animals. And, because of recent improvements in fabric manufacturing, it comes in an amazing array of rich colors and lush textures. It truly starts out beautiful on the bolt. But if you treat faux fur like regular fabric, your project can end up looking like a bad haircut.

A plain cotton sheet set at a department store might cost $25-$30. But add a line of decorative stitching along the turn-down edge, and it looks like the $99+ set that came out of a fancy catalog. Maybe you don't care for fancy sheets in catalogs – but the point is: a little decorative stitching adds a lot, and can take a sewing project from ordinary to "Did you really make that?!"

The new Spa Collection from Michael Miller Fabrics is so tranquil and soothing, it will take your stress away. Why is that? Blue, especially when infused with a little green to create water hues, is the most popular color in the world for both men and women. When toned down, as in this collection, to create a "softer" color, it becomes increasingly pleasing to the eye; complex, subtle yet sophisticated. Add cool, calming earth colors for the quintessential relaxation combo. Studies have shown that sleeping in a room in these colors can actually lower your blood pressure. Since nearly everyone reacts positively to these colors, they are ideal choices when sewing gifts. See our ideas for using the Spa Collection to make gifts anyone would love to receive.

It's here! The final chapter in our Moda Storybook Bedroom is our one-of-a-kind Sew4Home picturebook. We wrote a little story and designed a pretty book to go along with the adorable illustrations from Lil' Rascals by Chole's Closet – the collection we used for all our Storybook Bedroom projects. The picturebook is posted here as a free download, courtesy of Moda. Reading with the children in your life is one of the very best experiences you can give them. We hope you enjoy sharing the adventures of Lil' Benny, who loses his blanket but finds some very special friends.

These tiny clips are so handy for holding hair in place. They're lightweight, inexpensive and available everywhere. On the other hand, embellished hair accessories are pricey, so why not make your own! After trying to wrap a ponytail holder without crushing the attached flower, it came to me that it would be easier to just clip the flower to the band after the band was on. Turns out, these little clips have holes next to the hinge springs and you can attach a flower to them by simply sewing it in place. Then you can attach it to your hair, an elastic ponytail band or a headband. Mix and match, wear one, two, three or more. Turn a bad hair day around by rockin' some pretty flowers.