While at the recent CHA Craft Super Show in Anaheim, I spent a little time walking the exhibit floor looking for cool products our Sew4Home visitors might find interesting and helpful. This is the first of several articles about what I found.

We've featured a number of tutorials that incorporate appliqué or start with unique shapes, like a heart or small circles and squares. Often, the most time consuming part of the whole project is drawing and cutting all those shapes. And they just never seem to turn out as smooth and even as you'd like.

New Product Find: The AccuQuilt GO! Fabric Cutter, which die-cuts layers of beautiful shapes with the turn of a handle.

Torrential rains and 35 mph winds greeted us as we arrived in Anaheim, CA on Thursday, January 21st to set up for the CHA Super Show. How rainy was it? They CLOSED Disneyland! It takes a lot to shut down the Mouse. But the dedicated sewers and crafters were undeterred, and they showed up in great numbers to the Anaheim Convention Center on both Friday and Saturday. Jacqueline Smerek (on the right) and I chatted ourselves hoarse over the two-day show, but it was worth it to expose so many new folks to the idea of making their own home décor, and to show them how Sew4Home makes it easy and fun. We took some pictures to prove we actually exist... as do all those great projects you see here every weekday. The fans who stopped by were thrilled to see our projects 'in person.'

We created this adorable luggage tag out of all recycled materials. A few items we'd been hoarding ... just waiting for the perfect project that would give them a second chance at usefulness. You could follow our re-make and re-use lead, utilize scraps of fabric you have from other projects, or find something new at the fabric store. Then, next time all those black suitcases are spinning around and around and around on the luggage carousel, you'll be able to spot yours in an instant. "That's mine! The one with the cool tag!"

I have to give credit for these cute wraps to my mother. She was the original recycler. She saved every little scrap of fabric, every button, every too-short piece of ribbon, old wooden spools, and she even cut out and saved her favorite parts of old greeting cards. You never know when they might come in handy. So, thanks for instilling the habit, Mom. Here's what I did with MY stash of bits and pieces.

Calling all Sew4Home fans in the Anaheim, California vicinity! We're going to be at this week's CHA Craft Super Show at the Ahaheim Convention Center. Stop by Booth 932 and say "Hi!" The show runs Friday, January 22nd and Saturday and January 23rd. We'll have many of our favorite samples on display, be giving away some freebies, and making projects live in the booth.

I'll be there along with popular Sew4Home contributor, Jacqueline Smerek. If you're in the area, come on out and see us. This is the first year the popular show has had an official "Sewing Pavillion," so we need to show our sewing pride! There'll be hundreds of booths, demos, giveaways, and more.

For more information and ticket details, visit their site.

Hope to see you there!

Liz and Jackie

Bring up ruching outside of sewing circles, and you may receive a 'gesundheit' or two. But sewing enthusiasts know ruching is a great technique to use when adding decorative effects to your sewing projects. In French, a ruche is a ruffle or a pleat. And that's pretty much what it means in English too. But everything sounds so much fancier in French. Our tutorial shows you a basic way to create strips of ruching by machine.

A white tablecloth floats silently onto the antique rosewood dining table like a wintery blanket of freshly fallen snow. Topped with sparking china, spotless crystal and polished sterling, it becomes the pristine foundation for a magnificent holiday feast. And then... the doorbell rings. Hello, stains!

Sewing is an inherently creative activity. You take thread and fabric and create something new from it. There are times, though, when perfectly hidden seams and sharp corners seem limiting and you have the urge to just throw some color or a cute drawing on top and call it good. Enter Appliqué ! Appliqué is sort of like the construction-paper-craft-zone of the sewing world. This technique allows you to cut out any shape and stitch it on top of another fabric. You want a bumblebee on your pillow? No problem! Can't find a good fabric with a spaceship for that duvet cover (and don't you hate how hard it is to find a good spaceship)? Appliqué one! With appliqué, you're free to incorporate any kind of graphic into your project. There are a variety of different ways to execute this technique; read on to find the one that's right for you.

Wow ... 2010 is here!! All of us at Sew4Home wish you a very Happy New Year, and offer a big "THANKS" for making our first year so exciting and successful. Whether you're one of our fantastic regular readers or you've found us for the very first time, we're glad you're here and hope you keep coming back. Let us know what you think about our projects and how your own have turned out. It takes just seconds to become a registered user so you can post comments. We selected our Top Twelve projects from the past year. It was hard, because we had a lot of fun with them all. These favorites were the ones most discussed online and by email, as well as the most picked-up and posted to other blogs and sites. Thanks again; we hope to see a lot of you in 2010, and when you return, make sure you bring a friend.

When it comes to sewing, 2010 is going to be a very different year for me. In the past, I've been haphazard about my projects and you can see it from my sewing room. I have a habit of starting things and then not quite finishing – like my friend's chair over in the corner crying out for a promised slipcover. (I think I expended all my energy just wrestling it up the stairs to my sewing room.)

The Serger. Many who are new to sewing view this machine as mystical, and maybe slightly sinister. Judging by the name, you could confuse it for something (or someone) found in Marvel Comics. Even its other, more British name, gives it a wonderfully super-hero edge: The Overlocker. Sews by Day, Locks Seams by Night.

It’s true this machine can perform magic – at least watching one work gives you that impression. Don't be alarmed by the multiple thread spools or racing speed. With a few basic instructions, you'll be well on your way to learning how to use this versatile and fun machine. Plus, once you feel comfortable with a serger, you won't believe the time it saves in your sewing room!

You were so impressed when your dealer mentioned your new sewing machine could do 60 decorative stitches. Though still impressed, now you're wondering how to put them to use. We were hoping you would ask.

The girls, age seven and nine, had traveled by themselves on a Greyhound bus to spend the holidays with us. During the three hour trip through the mountain passes, they'd looked out the window at the snow and wondered what it was going to be like. What Christmas morning would be like at their dad's new house. With their dad's new wife.

A true story of holiday sewing inspiration from Jhodi Ulrey...

It was going to be a tight Christmas for our family budget-wise. We'd had a series of expensive home and car repairs and my husband and I were determined to pay them off as quickly as possible. That meant cutting our gift-buying budget to the bone. It also meant I'd be making the two dozen or so gifts we'd be giving our extended families. I do not wear the 'DIY Crown' in our family, but they say determination is half the battle, right?

Making gifts for adults certainly takes a bit of creativity. But at least grown-ups appreciate the fact you took the time and effort to make something yourself.

Kids, on the other hand, are much tougher to make gifts for. When your young niece has asked Santa for an iPhone, she's probably not going to be too thrilled when her aunt gives her a set of monogrammed tea towels.

Did you know used wrapping paper and bows are the biggest culprits in a 25% jump in curbside trash volume between Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day?! There are so many ways to create green gift wrap -- and make what's on the outside as memorable as the gift on the inside.

This is a technique we've used in several tutorials, and it's been so popular, we thought it should be its very own project so you can refer to it whenever you need it. It's a great way to finish the edge of a blanket, a table runner, a wall hanging – just about any flat square or rectangle. Admit it ... you rubbed that satin blanket binding on your cheek and sucked your thumb, didn't you? Oh, wait, that was me. The technique takes a little practice, because you have to make sure you are catching both sides of the binding as you stitch. But I have great confidence in you, and I know you'll be binding everything in site in no time.

Rather than a napkin ring, add a little seasonal splash to your napkins with a few simple folds and some inexpensive trimmings that will fill your table with good cheer. These six festive napkins are all fast and easy to assemble.

Every once in awhile, I'll open my closet and see something that causes me to shake my head and wonder, "What on earth was I thinking, and why do I still have this?!" What seemed like a great idea at the time, would now be fashion suicide should I actually slip it on and leave the house. Sometimes the item goes straight into the Goodwill bag, but there are also times when my Vintage Rescue lightbulb goes on. I see beyond the jacket's silly majorette neckline and wild, stacked cuffs and envision what could be a cool home decor project. My denim jacket lives again as a whimsical throw pillow.

In the last of our three-part Holiday Gift Ideas series, we have selected seven projects you still have plenty of time to make; all would be great gifts for someone special on your list. Some take only an hour or two and some an afternoon. Our tutorials are always clear and easy-to-follow for even the beginning sewer.

One night at the dinner table my young nephew told his parents that his friend, we'll call her 'Janie' was "The F Word". Alarmed, his parents pressed him to explain himself and he answered, "You know; Fussy, Fussy, Fussy." Well... we can't blame a girl for knowing what she wants! This same idea is at the heart of Fussy Cutting fabric – you cut away the parts of the fabric you don't want in order to isolate a specific motif. Often you use this motif as an appliqué design, but you can also use a template in conjunction with fussy cutting to create fabric cuts that feature your selected design(s) centered exactly where you want them. When these pieces are sewn into place, the motifs are positioned for the most dramatic results, such as the center of a pillow or placemat.

I had to bring in the big guns for this project as my own 'power tool' experience leans more towards sewing machines than drills. So, I asked my husband Bob (who is always a good sport and really tall) to bring his years of experience as a builder to the table to show you how to install this very cool cable wire system. It's a great option for hanging lightweight, decorative curtains, which add height and drama to our Pretty Prints Teen Room. This type of system would also work well to create a room divider or even to hang a curtain for an especially long run of windows.

Moist and spicy, this pumpkin bread fills your house with a tantalizingly delicious aroma while baking. It's a great snack and disappears almost before your eyes. Yummy for breakfast with tea or coffee.

So, you've been following our Embroidery Week articles, and now are excited to get started with your own fantastic embellishments. The next step is finding all those awesome designs. You'll be amazed at the amount of pre-digitized designs available and the many ways you can access them. Actually ... overwhelmed might be a better word. There are thousands of options; thousands-squared if you decide to learn how to create your very own designs. Read on to get a taste of just how easy, inexpensive and fun machine embroidery can be.

Mesmerizing. That's what it's like the first time you watch an embroidery machine stitch out a design. Sure, you have to get everything set up and threaded, but once you push that Start button, whoa ... it just takes off on its own. Imagine if all you had to do was put ingredients in a bowl, then step back and watch them become a frosted three-layer cake. Whatever your task, having the right tools makes your work easier, and your success more assured. The most crucial accessory to successful machine embroidery is the hoop.

Inserting a zipper into a project is a skill that, once learned, will always serve you well. It really opens up design possibilities in your sewing. Plus, most people believe inserting a zipper is super hard, maybe even a little magical, so they'll be incredibly impressed when they see the pillow you made has a zip closure. Truth is, sewing a zipper is pretty basic stuff. And, it's one of those projects that comes with an 'Aha moment' – opening the zipper you've just sewn into a project is like opening a treasure chest. Okay, maybe it's a bit less dramatic, because I have never found gold pirate doubloons inside my pillows. But the sense of accomplishment is still really great!

Don't be fooled by teen stereotypes, even if there's one slumped on your couch with the remote and a bag of chips. The teenage years are a time for seeking independence, for creating personal style, for wanting to be noticed for what you wear, have and use. "I made this!" is a powerful statement for a teen. It's accomplishment, pride, ingenuity, and fun; all rolled up and tied with a bow.

In the second in our three-part Holiday Gift Ideas series, we have selected another six colorful projects from our Citrus Holiday collection. You have plenty of time to make one or more of these welcome gifts before the holidays. Our tutorials are clear and easy to follow for even the beginning sewer.

Happy Halloween from the staff of Sew4Home. In honor of this very spooky day dedicated to all things sugary, we'd like to share one of our favorite fast desserts: Dirt Cake. It's made from just four ingredients, all of which are delicious on their own: chocolate pudding, milk, Oreos® and Cool Whip®. Put them all together, serve them with a trowel, and you have a Halloween dessert to die for.

There are so many talented fabric designers creating beautifully harmonious collections, mixing prints has become a snap. They've done the work for us. For most of our S4H projects, we've stuck fairly closely with one designer's collection, because possibilities are nearly endless, and a satisfying result is all but guaranteed. For our Pretty Prints Please projects, however, we used NINE prints, each from a different fabric collection. Here's how we did it, plus a few tips on mixing it up.