When I pick up a "rescue" from a thrift store, I always wonder about the fiber artist. Was this the first thing they made with this pattern? Is it an old favorite? Who did they make the item for? Was it a gift, or something made for their own use?

As serious fiber artists / artisan crafters, let's "Just Say No" to cheapening our efforts by trying to sell the things that we make in a market that is never going to respect them for the time, talent, creativity and effort that we put in. Let's raise the bar, elevate the standard, and stop desperately trying to play in a market that clearly does not revere our contributions. Our fiber arts traditions are worth more, and so are we.

Fiber arts are well-documented as supportive activities, but we must take care not to saddle ourselves with unrealistic and unnecessary expectations. I am getting better about practicing acceptance of the time issue, as well as embracing my own unique style. My wreath doesn't look like the wreaths being modeled on social media, and that's OK. It's my unique interpretation of a Halloween wreath, and I like it (and that's all that matters). As we move closer to the holidays, let's all make a promise to ourselves that we'll be gentle in our judgment of others - and of ourselves. We're all doing the best that we can.

In recent years, I have come to love crafting for Halloween as much, if not more, that the Christmas season. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the lack pressure around gift acquisition. Plus, there's less pressure to decorate - although many of us do like a spooky front yard. Overall, it's a fun holiday with different activities, decorations, and less stress!

I cannot tell this story without addressing the issue of AI in the context of the fiber arts community. Many fiber artists get angry anytime Artificial Intelligence (AI) is mentioned, so we don't talk about it in public. The vitriol and intolerance for AI is widespread, and in some corners, it's considered sacrilegious to use AI in ANY context relative to fiber arts. This stance fails to see how useful it can be in ways that do not interfere with artistic creativity. In our case, AI helped us quickly resolve an issue that had stopped progress, allowing us to return to the activities of the retreat - fiber arts activities.

Over the weekend, I was combing through my photos to find a Fall graphic for my home page, and I came to a realization. It was quite satisfying to look through all the photos of my completed projects. I’d had a challenging few days prior to that, so my mood wasn’t great. I was feeling stress, as well as some worry/concern about a couple different family members, and a general angst about the state of the world.

As the Northeast moves more fully into Fall, engaging with fiber arts activities will be an important piece of managing the seasonal "meh" that can set in this time of year.

I recently acquired a new pattern for a little fabric container, of which I’m going to make a few different versions. I’ve identified this as the prototype for a “gift bag” for the candy and gift cards that I generally give to my employees at the holidays. This is straightforward (2 squares of fabric), is ideal for “

For anyone without enough money saved for retirement, I have a HOT TIP. Stop tithing to self-serving organizations that use your money to line their own pockets.

When I walked away from the organization for the last time, I left a LOT behind. It was not an inconsequential decision for me, personally. To this day, I still receive emails and messages from people who want to walk, or have walked away, and feel angry about falling for the hollow promises. Many of them want to forget the whole experience while others are hesitant to leave because so much of their social life has been invested in the movement. I write to let them know that they are not alone, and that there is life after leaving. I also write to share that the shame they may be feeling is ALSO normal, and has nothing to do with them being a bad or foolish person. The TRUTH of the matter is that people like Napoleon Hill, PT Barnum and Fenwicke Holmes and his brothers have been swindling people with sophisticated schemes for over a century.

Sometimes I am thankful that I hoard craft supplies. Tonight was such a time. My collection of buttons came in VERY handy!

Organized religion writ large is in trouble, and for a lot of reasons. Spiritual metaphysics is no exception, due largely to the fact that it has become ego‑driven, avoidant, commercialized, and disconnected from the real lives of the people it needs to survive.

If we live in fear of falling short of perfection, and never try things that we may not know how to do, we will never find out what we CAN do. Use the good fabric (& yarn) - life is too short not to!

When we join a new group, it's important to not jump all in right away. We need to stop, look, and listen - with our EARS as well as our gut (intuition). If it sounds too good to be true, it is. There are NO FREE LUNCHES. There are no hidden MAGIC fixes to . There are absolutely NO shortcuts to a miracle - no matter who tells you otherwise. We need to think for ourselves, guard our internal worlds closely and resist the urge to share things with people we don't know that well. We would all do well to learn what the authors of Freakonomics lay out in their 3-books series: look for the INCENTIVE in the ask or request. Even, and perhaps especially, when it is a minister or other religious/spiritual "leader" asking us to do something, we need to look at what their incentive is for asking.

Like other fiber arts activities, quilting has moved being from a necessary skill to an artistic endeavor. As such, we should choose the path less traveled, take chances with designs as well as fabric combinations, and enjoy ourselves!

Michaels, it seems you may be on to something positive here in your yarn and possibly even your fabric sections. Please (please!) don't let the Private Equity bros that are counting your money screw this up like they did at Joann Fabrics. I'm not sure we can take that kind of heartbreak again.

I learned to sew on a Kenmore sewing machine, which I was using up until about 10 years ago when I purchased a Singer model at Joann’s. About a year ago I was offered a great deal on a used Brother sewing machine that had a (basic) embroidery option, which is why I bought it. I thought it would be a good option for learning about machine embroidery.

I have been digging into the back story on a popular fiber arts product that went VIRAL after being on Shark Tank. I have been exploring this recent phenomenon and started with their origin story. According to available public information, the founders left high-profile jobs (one at Google UX and the other at Deutsche Bank/Wall Street) because they were unfulfilled in their jobs.

My sister and I are signed up to attend another 2-day, "sleep in your own bed" quilting retreat at the end of September. We attended our FIRST one back in March, and had a blast! The same local quilt shop is offering the Fall retreat, so we've begun to plan our retreat projects. We're planning to make Halloween or Fall wall hangings, and we will likely each make a couple different ones.

Text messages shared with MeidasTouch by a family member of a service member currently deployed aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln paint a bleak picture of daily

I returned to Disney World again this Summer with my family, and in the process realized some life truths, delivered as only Disney can do. I first went to Disneyland (California) back in 1986, and then to Disney World in 2001. My most recent trips with grandchildren began in 2024, to a Disney World that was much different than I had remembered from 2001.

"... most self-help advice, when taken to its logical extreme, results in a special kind of narcissistic behavior..." (Mark Manson)

I am sad that I have not replaced that sense of purpose to the level that I felt it when I was fully invested in the Religious Science movement, but maybe there's a hint in there that can help me avoid falling prey to something similar in the future. Today I know that if I ever again feel the same breathless excitement, desire to consume as much as I can get my hands on (classes, information), or feel compelled to spend an inordinate amount of time, money, and attention in one corner; it's time to pump the brakes and take a step back, because I have learned that at least ONE old adage is very true: "... if it sounds too good to be true, it (absolutely) is."

In today's blog post we explore overpriced designer handbags, the acrylic vs. natural yarn debate, yarn shop snobbery, and the StevenBe controversy.

...if we all do a little, together we can make a difference for the small fiber arts businesses in our areas and beyond.

“…MAHA is bringing chiropractic into the heart of this movement. This is a prevention-first, drug-free, hands-on care, and the largest profession of its kind in this country. And it's exactly what we mean when we say, make America healthy. So you know, there are 70,000 chiropractors in this country, treating nearly 30 million people. And we're done managing sickness and reaching for the prescription pad.

This past weekend my sister surprised me with a little gift. It was something she made to support a treat I have been getting for myself. I have become a fan of the cold "refresher" drinks that many restaurants are tempting us with this Summer. I love the ones at Starbucks, but admit that at $6.25 for a 16oz drink, I'm limiting the number of these that I order.

After paging through a book at a library, while waiting on my grandchildren to meet me for other business, I looked up where to buy Rowan yarns in my area. As I searched the Rowan site for these shops, I realized that some of my fellow fiber artists have a great sense of humor along with their fiber-leaning creativity. I decided to highlight my Top 10 favorite yarn shop names from the…

In this blog post, I explore how easily fiber‑arts consumers are nudged into buying tools and materials that don’t necessarily improve our craft. From scarcity language to influencer hype, the marketing around “designer” hooks, needles, and boutique yarns often shapes our spending more than actual performance of the items. This post examines what truly matters in our tools, why price doesn’t equal quality, and how mindful making can help us resist the pressure to buy into the latest craft fads.

If ALL of us do a little, (supporting our local fabric and yarn shops) is not a hard task. It just takes each of us remembering to think of our local fabric and yarn shops, and give them some of our time, attention and (of course), money!

While browsing social media over the weekend, I came across an ad for a Coach handbag. It piqued my interest because it looked very much like a crocheted bag, and I became interested in the price of this, and the many conversations I have had, and heard, about the VALUE of handmade items, and specifically - crocheted items. The bag, pictured here, is marketed as a "

This week was my birthday, and I decided to take the day off and just do things I wanted to do with no time pressure or deadlines. I started the day out to breakfast with my parents, which is always nice. It was a rainy day around here so a day spent traveling to stores and buildings was a better plan than a day at the lake or riverside parks.

I once again stumbled into a hotbed of controversy on a Reddit thread that seems to encourage this kind of thing (r/BitchEatingCrafters). Today's issue seemed to be the use of AI in crafting and art. While I can relate to the irritation around people trying to sell AI-generated patterns (awful, we can all agree), and AI-generated photos for one's business, which often misrepresent the work of the artist, I cannot - for the life of me - understand why people have their panties in a bunch about artists using AI to create a logo for their business, or draft marketing copy for a website or brochure.

Today, while organized religion struggles, New Thought is in a bit of a panic. It's one thing to navigate societal trends that your colleagues and "competitors" are ALSO dealing with; a whole other thing to face the reality that continued declines in membership and money are tied to a longstanding legitimacy crisis. I'm no Punxsutawney Phil, but my bet is that the money in New Thought will run out LONG before anyone in the Cool Kids Club is willing to admit that the whole thing was built on a schemer's dream to defraud susceptible people out of their money.

The great irony I find in all of this is that people often engage in fiber arts for comfort and creative expression. Winding up in a group or space that treats a wonky granny square like a moral failing isn't what most of those folks were likely seeking.

Last week I found myself wandering aimlessly in a local Michaels store. It is the store in my area that has a pretty decent fabric inventory and sewing support, but I found myself uninspired, unmotivated, and frankly - unhappy. A couple days later I was feeling some sort of "inspiration" (urge?) to craft-shop and thought about a local yarn or quilt/fabric shop and just couldn't find enough excitement to turn my car in those directions, so I went home.

Today I am taking on the issue of the (sadly, not rare) ANGRY and nasty commenters on social media platforms, specific to fiber arts sites. Part of my shock when I encounter this is likely due to the warm connection I have to crocheting and knitting because my grandmother was the one who got me started on my lifelong yarn journey.