My little family of three is staying with my father-in-law while our household goods make the slow trek from Greece to California. Over the years, this has been the norm, but it is much different this time because my mother-in-law is no longer here to run the household. That now falls to me. While I’ve cooked in this kitchen off and on for 25 years, it is so different now actually doing instead of just helping. I find that even my tried-and-true recipes aren’t turning out the same. ...

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It was early afternoon today when my son and I realized that we hadn’t seen our two kittens since early morning. On any normal day, this wouldn’t have been much of a concern. On a moving day, though, all bets are off. Especially when the kittens’ favorite hiding place is inside the couch and those couches have been fully encapsulated with cardboard and tape.

It’s not a good feeling to think of what could have happened. Luckily, with the help of the movers...

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It was early afternoon today when my son and I realized that we hadn’t seen our two kittens since early morning. On any normal day, this wouldn’t have been much of a concern. On a moving day, though, all bets are off. Especially when the kittens’ favorite hiding place is inside the couch and those couches have been fully encapsulated with cardboard and tape.

It’s not a good feeling to think of what could have happened. Luckily, with the help of the movers, we were able to find ...

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In terms of decorating, whether it is your home or your person, I am a firm believer that less is always more. Too much of a good thing just spoils the whole endeavor! Unfortunately, I get hopped up on the power of the sewing or embroidery machine and stitch until my original project idea is barely recognizable. I know I should stop, but I just can’t seem to do so.

If the project is for the home, I quietly remove as much of the additional “décor” as I can before using it as intend...

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During our four years here in Greece, I’ve has so many people get excited when they find out that I do machine embroidery. They always say they should have me create this or that project. In that time, only one of them actually did so, and I had to turn down the commission because the project was both against copyright laws, and would not have been a proper project to highlight my skills. Strangely, now that we are leaving for home in a couple of weeks and my embroidery supplies are pac...

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This has been a weird sort of week. First, we have a houseguest; a female friend of my son visiting from Finland. Then, my husband who usually works a 2-day-on/2-day-off shift schedule is in a class for two weeks. That means instead of coming home after his 48-hour shift, he’s in class and only gets to come home a couple of nights each week. It’s really messing with my calm, especially since he’s the more social of the two of us. But, our houseguest is very shy, and I think she’...

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This time of year, moms are thinking about the new school year. Now that my son is grown and college is his responsibility, I’m free to think and worry about and plan other things. Some years, it’s all about the upcoming holidays, décor and gifts. Other times, like this year, it’s all about calendars, organization and making my house look like the home I want it to be. Of course, my stitching comes into play in a lot of this, whether it’s making quilted tote bags or tablecloths ...

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This has been a weird sort of week. First, we have a house guest; a female friend of my son visiting from Finland. Then, my husband who usually works a 2-day-on/2-day-off shift schedule is in a class for two weeks. That means instead of coming home after his 48-hour shift, he’s in class and only gets to come home a couple of nights each week. It’s really messing with my calm, especially since he’s the more social of the two of us. But, our house guest is very shy, and I think she�...

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I only began my machine embroidery passion after many, many years of sewing and quilting. Once I understood just how versatile embroidery designs could be, I decided to try my hand at digitizing my own. My first attempts were awful, but I enjoyed the process so much that I just kept trying. I soon realized that I had discovered a passion that I could actually embrace as my new full-time job, leaving behind the dry and boring career of accounting forever. This was something I had been loo...

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It is better to give than to receive. This is a quote that most of us know. For me, it is also very true. I love Christmas, birthdays and other gift giving occasions like new babies, weddings, anniversaries, housewarmings, and more. I adore giving hostess gifts whenever we are invited to someone’s home as well. I just love giving gifts. I’ve never been able to afford extravagant gifts, but I think that my joy in giving shows in the choices of the gifts.

With my love of quilting, ...

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There’s been quite a bit of chatter this week on one of my groups for machine embroidery about the proper fabric to use for embroidery. While I have used and agree with some of the suggestions, I have learned a lot about fabrics from making quilts, home décor items and fashion. While all fabrics can be proper for something, not all are good for everything!

Since fabric for making quilts is all-around good, sturdy cotton broadcloth, let’s start there. We will assume that all of these cotto...
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It’s the day after Christmas and I am stuck at home. Well, honestly, I could go out, but the weather is cold and wet while the house is warm and dry. This is our first Christmas here, out of three, that the weather hasn’t been sunny and somewhat warm. We had developed a habit of going into Chania for lunch and coffee, sitting outside and watching the local Greeks in the most jovial moods they will exhibit all year.

Since my hubby has to work today, I had planned to continue the new t...

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I don’t do production work. These are words I find myself saying more and more in regard to my machine embroidery. I take the compliment intended when someone says they should buy something that I make. Unfortunately, whatever it is I’ve made isn’t usually for sale! The politest thing I can say is that I really don’t do production work.

While I love making quilts or small embroidered items to give as gifts, it’s just not worth the time and effort to make these things to sell. ...

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Whether it’s making quilts or digitizing machine embroidery designs, I seem to be in a constant state of confusion lately! Since I make my living doing both, this is not good!

Years ago, I could happily check the state of my quilting supplies and just get to work on whatever idea popped into my head. Or, I could choose an embroidery design from my collection and make pretty things as often as I wanted. Then, I began teaching classes and all that changed!

Instead of just stitching for ...

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