At the beginning of the year, we created eleven Valentines Day projects, and of course, had to include a little something for our furry friends. Coming in at #17, these organic catnip mice were purrfect in every way. Ours were made from Valentine-themed charm pack squares, but you could just as easily dip into your scrap bag for little bits and pieces. We sensed early on that these were destined to be a kitty-crowd-pleaser because Alicia had oodles of feline assistance during their construction.

Go to the tutorial.

Our Nature Brights Kitchen series from February of 2010 was a huge hit. Using Patty Young's wonderfully vibrant Flora & Fauna Collection by Michael Miller Fabrics, we designed ten tutorials to fill the brightest, happiest kitchen ever. These clever dish towels made it on to our list at Fave position #18, because they allow you to start with something off-the-shelf and add your own sewn touches to make it unique. We took plain white towels from Crate and Barrel, then added one, two, three stripes of color. Two narrow bands highlight a center swath of patterned fabric. An easy touch that adds some zing. S4H fans voted these the perfect gift idea.

Go to the tutorial.

In the Spring of this year, we created a small series called Sweet Softies, and little Eggy Pop was the star. Eggy still lives right next to my computer, because stuffed animals make me happy. I can glance over at Eggy when I'm having a bad day or when someone has shot down another one of my 'spectacular' ideas, and there he sits. Always calm, always smiling. Nubby chenille combines with the smooth, retro-inspired cotton of Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane for a sweet and soft vintage look, like a treasured toy you might have found in Grandma's attic. The super-plush minky we used for his hands, feet, legs, top knot and beak make him irresistibly squeezable. Don't you need your own darling Eggy to keep you company?!

Go to the tutorial.

Making it onto our "Faves" list as number 20 is nothing to sneeze at, especially given that we've posted hundreds of articles since our launch. I think the appeal of this beautiful journal, covered in elegant French General Rouenneries in Turkey Red Josephine, is our subconscious desire for a bit of the analog in an increasingly digital world. It's probably ironic writing that sentence on a website, huh? No matter; try it for yourself. Turn a plain spiral notebook into your own inspiring journal with our step-by-step instructions. From March of 2010, this project is a bit more advanced than many you'll find here at Sew4Home, but there are lots of pictures and careful notes about measuring and assembling.

Go to the tutorial.

Thanks to everyone who signed up for our S4H mail list in order to be automatically entered to win our fun Fresh Cottons prize package, courtesy of Joanna Figueroa. As promised, we randomly drew a name at midnight on August 16th, and the winner was... Shirley Chaney of Delaware. Pre-cuts and patterns are on their way to her this week from Joanna. Shirley says, "I have never won anything before, and I'm very proud of this prize." Congrats, Shirley. We have more contests planned for the coming months. Stay tuned!

We introduced you to Jo Packham last month when we told you about The Creative Connection, a must-go-to event this September 15th through the 18th. When she's not working with Nancy Soriano, putting together one of the year's coolest events for creative women, she's wearing her editor hat at Where Women Create magazine. Each issue of this unique quarterly publication invites you into the inspirational spaces of some of the most extraordinary women of our time. It is filled with gorgeous photography and beautiful stories about what motivates these women to create such incredible art, craft, stories, music, dance, and more. And I mean filled... like Alice in Wonderland, I want to step through the pages right into the rooms.

Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts says: "Hello Sew4Home readers! I am so impressed with all of the wonderful projects the ladies over here have done with my newest fabric collection, Fresh Cottons, over the last few weeks, WOW! I was seriously tempted to make some of them myself and that just hardly ever happens. The look was so elegant and so vintage and so fresh, well it was Fresh Vintage ™ if you will! To finish things off, I thought I would add a few goodies and send a lucky winner a little care package of Fig Tree patterns and some Fresh Cottons fabric. Best of luck to you all!"

I had a personal decorating challenge I recently overcame, which I thought would be a dandy one to share. Chances are slim that you will have this exact same challenge, but you just might face something similar. We made the decision to move our bed into the center of our bedroom, allowing us a lovely view out the front windows. Yikes! The back of the bed's headboard was definitely not meant to be seen by anyone other than the wall. What to do? A lovely flat fabric curtain panel buttoned on to a row of simple drawer pulls allowed me to hide the unsightly frame and mattress and add a great blast of color and pattern to the room. I bet you have something you might want to hide.

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.

Coming this September, THE place to be is Minneapolis, MN at The Creative Connection.This brand-new event is as exciting as finding a twenty dollar bill on your way out of an ice cream shop. It's the brainchild of and a joint venture between Nancy Soriano and Jo Packham of Where Women Create. Jo is a good friend of mine (since she's my friend, I'd like to think Nancy is my friend by extension), and when I first heard her musings about this event, I was hooked. Sign me up and book my ticket... I'm there. It's four days of learning, crafting, bonding, laughing, shopping, meeting and succeeding with like-minded creative women, women entrepreneurs and 'Mompreneurs' from all across the country. Women. Passion. Business. All rolled-up and tied with a handmade, originally-designed, artisan-dyed bow.

Father's Day is June 20th. If you haven't yet come up with any brilliant ideas for showing how much you appreciate a wonderful dad in your life, we have some suggestions. Dads can be difficult to buy for since the fun stuff they like tends to be expensive, but a gift from the heart made with your hands is appreciated by dads everywhere.

Sewing is rarely taught in school any more. And for years the media have scolded 'working-parents-who-want-it-all' to forget about learning traditional skills, like sewing or baking or putting up peaches for the winter. Experts say if things continue at this rate, the knowledge of how to sew will be completely lost and our grandchildren will be making pillow covers out of pounded bark! I made up that last part for dramatic effect. But... the times they are a-changing. The ‘domestic arts' are cool again. Making something with your own two hands is a skill to be valued. Which means... it's very important that those of us who know teach other people to sew. It's fun, it saves money, and it's an amazingly creative outlet.

Here you are reading about what you can create with a sewing machine, and you've never sat down and used one. Well guess what? Every single one of us who sews – even the most expert seamstresses – was once where you are today. Nobody is born knowing how to sew. (If you hear about a newborn making his or her own receiving blanket, please let us know.) Fortunately, learning to sew is not very hard. It really only takes two things: a desire to do it, and then just doing it. You don't need any special talent, though the ability to laugh at mistakes is helpful. And the rewards grow with each project you complete.

So, what's the best way to learn to sew?

The Sew4Home community (that's you!) has really enjoyed the designer profiles we've done so far with Patty Young and Paula Prass. We love them too. It lets us a peek into some very creative worlds. This time, we turn the tables a bit, and instead of talking with someone whose fabric we've already used in our S4H projects, we introduce you to Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts. We have a number of awesome projects upcoming with fabrics from two of her collections, Fresh Cottons and Whimsy. Joanna took time out of her VERY busy schedule to chat with us, and you, about home décor sewing, the inspiration behind her fabric design, her books on quilts and vintage sewing, and how, as a very little girl, she once sewed buttons on the the clothes of all her fellow passengers on an International flight. She'd never get the needle on board today!

Here at Sew4Home we are all about the fabric. It's our number one source of inspiration, and one of our favorite designers of this inspiration is Paula Prass. We've used pieces from both of her original collections: Flights of Fancy and Summer Soiree. But went totally hog-wild when we received fabric cuts from her latest group: Woodland Delight. Paula took a few minutes out of her busy schedule to chat with us, and you, about home décor sewing, fabric design, interior design, and a quilt that made her cry.

It's only taken the Pendleton Company 100 years to become an overnight success. Recently ELLE Decor magazine chose Pendleton blankets as a 'What's Hot' item. Designer Humberto Leon from the cutting-edge brand, Opening Ceremony re-imagined the vintage plaids and Native American motifs as trendy miniskirts, jackets and tailored shirts. The company is a true American original.

If you're a regular visitor to sew4home, you may have noticed we have quite a number of projects that feature fabrics from designer, Patty Young. To borrow a line from Chris Farley, it's because 'She's AWESOME!' Patty's also been a great supporter of Sew4Home from the very beginning and is always a joy to work with. She took a few minutes out of her very busy days to share with us, and you, a few of her thoughts about home décor sewing in general, and her design style and inspiration in particular.

National Embroidery Month is a time to celebrate all the wonderful things you can do with an embroidery machine. Plus, it gives us another great excuse for trumpeting the creative freedom these machines can unleash! A home embroidery machine is something of an investment for most households. So the first question people often ask is, 'Will I actually use this thing?' That answer is, 'Yes!' As a matter of fact, we're willing to bet an embroidery machine will even save you money in the long run.

It's a bouquet of sweet projects to make for your valentine. We got amazing milage out of a couple charm packs from Fat Quarter Shop, used some absolutely gorgeous fabrics from Paula Prass' Woodland Delight and Summer Soirée collections, cozied up to Woolies Flannel... so soft; and we even mixed in several fun scrap projects.

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.'

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

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 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.