Welcome to all the new newsletter subscribers!

I'm thinking that a lot of us are either going on or just getting back from vacation and haven't done much in the way of sewing. Am I right?

As I'm on the avant garde side, I'm doing things the opposite of "normal" and am finishing up a quilt. It may have come up before, but it's made of 4" denim squares and 4" patriotic fabric squares, and I will bind it with patriotic fabric in the upcoming weeks. I'm thinking of making pillow shams to go with it. My idea is to make a pillowcase that opens in the rear, not on the end, trim it with a 2" to 3" ruffle before I put it together, and use some of the leftover patriotic fabric to do it. I did recycle an old store-bought quilt as the backing and batting for this one. I simply sewed the strips of squares right over it. Frugal and warm!

My children are older, but I suspect that some of you have school aged children or know one or two. It's time to get their wardrobes into shape and maybe create a lunchbag. You can make a simple lunch bag by following the pattern of a paper bag, using quilted or sporty fabric, and simply bind the top opening with bias tape and make a Velcro closure. Make a few for their friends too. My daughter's friends thought it was "neat" that her mom made things like that.

Okay, so this is a bit odd, but I'm in a rambling mood - have you ever eaten a ham that came in a bag? Speaking of frugal and crafty and sewing - wash that bag really well. If it has a ham smell to it, you may need to soak it for a while, and then wash it. Then, look it over and see how this is best accomplished - you're going to stuff it and make a ham pillow out of it! I like to take the side seam out and cut the bag into two pieces, place them right sides together, add a ruffle or lacy trim on the edges and sew it around the edges, leaving an opening for turning and stuffing. What's so odd about it? My daughter wanted one to take to college last year, so I made one for her. Her best friend saw it and wanted one too. So now, they both have ham pillows on their dorm beds!

What else can you make a pillow out of?

Stop by the online community on the site and talk about it on the message boards.

Our chats are going to be regular again... whew! It's been a busy summer. You're cordially invited to stop by any Thursday evening at 8 p.m. Eastern to talk sewing or make a friend. The chat room is always open, but it is hosted on Thursday evenings.

So, back to those school clothes - there's always a sale going on at http://www.sewingpatterns.com. I bet you can find something there that your little ones need for school. You can also talk about back to school sewing on the message boards and maybe do some problem solving!

Just a brief note to say hello and to welcome new people. We look forward to you visiting the site and thank you for being a part of our sewing family.

P.S... I'll be putting something on the front page in the next day or two about online sewing classes!

Donna Gettings-Apperson
Webmaster, Online Community Director
http://www.sewingweb.com
http://www.sewingpatterns.com