I loved all of her little creations which you can buy from her already made or you can purchase a pattern. I purchased a pattern and began to create.

You can use all kinds of scraps for these stuffed friends. I chose for the body some upholstery fabric my friend Dawn had given me. I added some felt and some buttons and they were born!

Here is her pattern I purchased. You probably could figure out how to make these on your own, but I wanted to support her work.

She has other creatures besides these monsters, and just looking at her website makes me happy. Meanwhile, here they are again all laid out.

They were so much fun to make. And they make me smile! If you want to smile too, check out her website.

For the fourth year, Making Cheesecloth Word Skins was the most popular post. I wrote this in 2021.

The 2nd was How to: Scrappy Fabric. This is so much fun and the fabric can be used for a variety of projects. I just finished making a couple cards from some of this fabric I created recently. I’ll be posting them soon.

Next is How to: Flour Resist with Dye. I love using resists on fabric, and this is just one of the ways. I also have a video on using paint with a variety of resists. I’ve posted it below.

Next is Reverse Applique with four fabrics. This is such a fun technique that I’ve been planning on playing again with real soon.

The 5th favorite is Incline Ice Dyeing.

And coming in at the 6th favorite post of 2025: How to: Dendritic Mono Printing. This is an old one from 2018, but was fun and an easy way to create some interesting fabric.

And I just had to add this 7th one: Printing with crushed pine cones.

For those of you who are new to my blog, check out the tutorial tab at the top for more tutorials. Also, if you don’t see a technique listed, use the search feature on the right. I’ve not always been good adding all of my tutorials over the years.

Here is that video on Creating Fabulous Fabrics with Resists. I presented this slideshow over the past several years live to a variety of art groups. If you are at all interested in knowing more about using various resists on fabric with paints, I think you’ll like it.

Over the last several weeks I’ve received emails asking if Icy Delights, my online class on ice dyeing, was still available. If you are interested, it is and it’s FREE and on my YouTube channel. All of the videos and pdfs are available for you to watch and read. Here is the link to the Icy Delights playlist:

I know it’s been a dry spell here as I’ve been focusing on other projects. You can catch me on my Substack blog where I write about family history including Mom’s favorite recipes. To find me there, just go to the top of this page and click on the Substack tab.

I’ll be posting my 2026 Iris Parade soon. It was not the 51 I had last year, but came it close! Here is a video tour of my iris areas that I recorded in late April.

As always, thanks for dropping by.

I’m experimenting with different ways to make them. All are backed with felt except for the ones made from grandma’s quilt. These are sewn with a straight stitch and the edges finished with my pinking shears. I attached the top to light repurposed jeans fabric and then added the felt. They are a nice weight.

These are sewn with the Baby Lock #18 utility stitch. For the first ones below I attached the top to fusible batting and then added the felt. They may be a bit thick. The second set I used a light stablizer and added felt. They are a nice weight.

These are made from Grandma’s quilt, turned inside out and stitched so no raw edges. I just added fabric to the back since the quilt already had batting. They may be a bit thick.

Turning them inside out, was way too difficult to make them look good. The raw edged ones are so much easier. I’ve tried zigzags in the past and haven’t been happy with them. I think I’ve decided that the next ones will all be the Baby Lock #18 utility stitch. It keeps the raw edges tucked in and it’s not real difficult to do, once you get the hang of it. I’ve also decided using six fabrics was a bit much for these small items, so I’ll be cutting back to maybe just three.

Now that I think I know what I don’t want to use for these bookmarks, I need to make some more. I’ll be adding a tutorial when I make up my mind. I also was sewing the tops in one piece and adding the buttons. Then I added the felt and cut them out. That seemed to go faster then one at a time.

Meanwhile, my friend Dawn, a fellow artist is moving so she’s getting rid of some of her fabric. I went over to her house yesterday and brought back two big bags of fabric, mostly upholstery weight. Here are just a few of my favorite pieces. Not sure what I’m going to do with them, but they are beautiful. Any suggestions out there?

Spring is almost here. My Lenten Roses are blooming and a few of the daffodils have showed up. Love this time of the year when everything is changing.

We’ve had warm weather, then cold, and now back to warm with possible storms. It’s Spring in Indiana! Thanks for dropping by. If you have any suggestions about bookmarks, I’m all ears!