Appleton Dance

by Linda Theil It's not too early to start thinking about donations for the Livingston Educational Service Agency's annual Backpacks for Kids! project. July 30, 2026 is the deadline for donations; and local-district, free distribution is 4-6 PM on August 8, 2026. For more information check out the LESA Backpacks for Kids! web page. Alisa has purchased ten back packs and all the required school supplies to fill them and I have made ten pencil-pods -- one for each backpack.  When I went looking through my stash for materials for this year's pencil pods, I found a lot of small scraps from a project I made last year using the "Hedgehog Hollow" collection by In the Beginning fabrics. You can read about that project on my blog post titled "Three pillows and a quilt" . Although the parts were small, the images are so beautiful I thought I would use the scraps to make as many pencil pods as I could eke from the leftovers.. My goal was to feature the beautiful a...

by Linda Theil I have a maker friend who will only create utilitariean items; she knits exquisite wash cloths, dish cloths, and scrubbies, and sews rag rugs. Although she is an esthete, she is a utilitarian esthete who eschews profligacy and will not agree to own any more handmade bags from her profligate friend, lest she tromp too heavily upon the earth. Well! I can't stand it any longer! I have made her a big bag! A "Maker's Tote" by Noodlehead -- a roomy carry-all in the shape of a doctor's bag. The bag was featured recently on the Noodlehead makers' FaceBook page, and I bought the pattern on sight because I had never made a tote of this type. The pattern features two sizes; I made the larger one that finished at approximately 15 x 12 x 7-inches. The pattern is an older design released in 2015. There are no pattern pieces, just a well-organized list of cuts. The directions are clear but are illustrated with line drawings instead of the photographs that ar...

by Linda Theil Cranberry Library announced today that it has published the Dutilh Centennial Cookbook Digital Edition on its new Local History webpage. They said: "Cranberry Library is pleased to provide access to the Dutilh Centennial Cookbook Digital Edition , published in honor of the centennial celebration of the dedication of the Dutilh Methodist Church on November 30, 1979." As organizers of this digitization project, we are grateful for and indebted to library staff Leslie Pallotta, Director; Rebecca Bess, Assistant Director; and Mallory Laporte.  This longtime wish and dream could not have come true without the generous support of The Reverend Tom Parkinson, Pastor of Dutilh United Methodist Church; who wrote a moving dedication to the digital edition of this work. We thank him. Dutilh Centennial Cookbook  editorial assistant Janet Duncan of Cranberry Township provided this contemporary newspaper clipping from the November 3-4, 1979 edition of the Butler county New...

  by Linda Theil I made this simple adaptation of Hedi Kyle's "Blizzard Book" as described in The Penland Book of Handmade Books (Lark Crafts, 2004) pp. 121-126.  To make the Flurries book you will need a sheet of lightweight paper 7 x 17- inches. Accordian pleat the 7 x 17-inch sheet of paper. Lay pleated sheet flat on surface. Fold inner and outer corners of top pleat to meet bottom of pleat.. Fold down top pleat, #1 and fold corners of next pleat, #2. Repeat for pleats #3 and #4. Fold final pleat #5. Pleated paper with corner folds compleated. Unfold the paper. Reverse fold the pleats -- push the ends of the folds inwards.   Completed reverse folds Reverse folded paper ready for next step, folding pages. Folding pages of Flurries book shown in video. I made a cover for my Flurries book by cutting a decorative sheet of paper 7.5 x 2.25-inches, wrapping the paper around the outside of the book, and tucking the two ends into the first and last envelopes of the book. You ...

by Linda Theil I found one lonely bee buzzing around in my scrap bin and wondered if it might be big enough to make a mini-backpack, bag-charm for my granddaughter's new bee-themed overnight bag, as described in AppletonDance post "Bee weekender" . Bee weekender Turns out the bee was not big enough to fit the four-inch pattern piece for the front of  Carolina Little Stitches' "Mini Bug Pack" , but I was able to use other scraps to piece a front and back for the new bee bag -- and it turned out real cute! Bee bag front Bee bag back Bee bag peek inside

by Linda Theil I have been following the Fat Quarter Shop's "Sewcialites 3" free, sew-along currently running on their social media and website. It's a really good program with a new designer block every week demonstrated by shop owner Kimberly Jolly on the Fat Quarter Shop's YouTube channel .  I became intrigued by a really intricate block debuted on week #13 titled "Back Porch" by designer Joanna Figueroaof Fig Tree & Co. I came up with my own coloring ideas, and went to my scrap bin to find some options for making the block. Since my scraps were small, I settled on making the six-inch block, although I usually don't sew such small blocks. All I needed to get started was a 2.5-inch feature square for the middle and I was off to the races. My design board in the photo is a stretched canvas replica of my grandson's artwork presented to me for my birthday in 2021. I filled in the back of the board with batting and held the batting in place w...

  by Linda Theil I pulled leftover lakeside prints from my stash to make a trio of mini-backpack favors for this year's trip to Sterling State Park on Lake Erie in Monroe, Michigan. Alisa made the prints last year on her ink-jet printer as described in the AppletonDance post "Sterling goodie bags" . I used the same "Bitty Bug Pack" pattern by Carolina Little Stitches that I used last year. (Their web site is currently shuttered.) I gathered some Tilda scraps to make the backs and gussets for this year's backpacks. There is a tiny slip pocket inside. Happy camping! Resources The Oklaroots YouTube how-to video: "The cutest bag I've ever made! The Bitty Bug Pack -- Carolina Little Stitches ..."

by Linda Theil  I bought Lori Holt's "Calico Home Decor Zippy Bags 2 Project Panel" in 2021 because the panel was printed on canvas instead of quilt cotton, and I thought that was an interesting innovation.  Although the idea of project panels was not new -- books, aprons, oven mitts, and placemat panels had been available for decades -- but bags! That was new and interesting, especially on a heavier substrate.  I  recently pulled the Lori Holt panel from my stash when I was looking for inspiration for a welcome gift, but I thought the "Calico" panel was much too elaborate for the simple zipped pouch as featured on the panel, so I searched for a pattern that would make the most of the intricate designs.  It turned out the large bags on the panel perfectly fit the front and back pattern pieces of the large-sized "Plover Pouch" by Noodlehead; and I could make a "Calico" duo by using the small-sized bag from the panel for a coordinating baby ...