Clover Needlecraft

I often wonder why there are so many different kinds of scissors on the market and decided to do a little digging for the history of scissors. All too often the things we use daily are taken for granted. We don’t stop to ask how they first came about or when. The first known scissor appeared in ancient Egypt around 1500 BC. This was a  spring scissor made of two bronze blades connected at the handles by a thin, flexible strip of curved bronze which held the blades in alignment to…

Summer is connected to warm days and sunny adventures in my memory — peaceful times spent with friends and often alone in quiet places thinking about the complexities of life. Of course what was complex about the life of a 7-year-old in the summer? It was all bare feet, playing in the woods, riding bikes with friends till someone’s mother told us all to go home for supper. There were cookies and lemonade with “gramma” and “grampa,” swimming in the creek. Oh how precious our childhoods were but it isn’t…

Life has been hectic since Quilt Market and most days I wouldn’t know if I were coming or going without the help of post-it-notes and gentle reminders from Carol Porter and Bill Gardner! A big thanks to them for always having my back. Time moves too quickly and once I post an entry I think of a zillion things I forgot to share. During the blogs on crochet lace I started two receiving blankets for the new baby our Graphics Designer, Leslie, was expecting. I finished the blue one and…

It’s been a busy few weeks! After spending a few days at Nancy’s Notions Sewing Weekend in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, I was home two days before heading to Salt Lake City for the International Spring Quilt Market. As always, though, it was worth the trip … or trips! What a treat it was to leave the cold soggy Northwest and head to sunny and warm Beaver Dam for the weekend.  It’s always a blessing to spend time there with the customers who flock to this high-energy weekend of learning and…

The Ball Point Awl is used for making a hole by carefully stretching the fabric without thread breakage, but I use it for just about everything. I love this little awl! It’s awesome for pulling threads out when I can’t find my seam ripper, and it doubles as a stiletto when I need to guide the ends of my sewing through the machine. Turning corners is much easier with the help of this little tool.  If you don’t have one, you should! My grandmother-in-law was from Sweden and loved to do cut work…

One of the members of my Laid Back Ladies of the Block quilt group shared a picture of this adorable and creative scarf  made by her 16-year-old granddaughter Wendy Keneipp. Wendy had learned the basics of crochet and decided to design her own scarf for friends. Awesome!! That’s  a sign of a true needle worker! I look forward to seeing future designs from this talented young woman.

Oh my, I have been crocheting so much I had to find the Icy Hot for those stressed arm muscles. Crocheting is a very repetitive process and one doesn’t realize the stress put on the muscles in the arm and hand … even the shoulder. So, take a break every so often and make sure you’re using Clover’s Soft Touch Crochet Hook. I finished one of the receiving blankets I mentioned earlier and am well on my way to finishing a second. The picture below shows the blanket made with plisse. The…