Dimensional flowers lend beauty and texture to a piece of fiber art, but they are not easily accomplished. When I saw Barb Forrister's demonstration of how to make realistic looking flowers with a combination of machine embroidery and surface design techniques, however, I was intrigued and wanted to share the process with you.

Recently, I was looking through pictures of bird art I've made over the years. After the winter we've had, just seeing this bird building its nest on the flowering apple branch makes me happy! Spring has arrived (by the calendar, at least) with coming soon, and that means that even if it snows again, the wintry remains will soon melt away.

In this free eBook, Sewing Techniques for Quilters: 5 Free Articles on How to Sew a Quilt Including a Sewing Tutorial on English Paper Piecing, we give you four options for how to sew a quilt from expert quilt artists, plus a basic guide to sewing machine techniques, including a quick reference guide to basic  tools and terms.

So many of you have told me that you learned how to quilt—or at least how to sew—at a young age. While passing on the tradition of how to make quilts went by the wayside for a couple of decades, recently quilting lessons had seen a resurgence, and many young people are signing up for them.

I just returned from the Quilt Market trade show in Houston, and my head is buzzing with ideas. There was so much to see: so many colorful booths filled with the latest fabrics, embellishments, and tools for quilt making.

When I saw Lynn Krawczyk's Wishing Owl plushies in International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene magazine last fall, I knew I had to make some of my own. Encouraged by her suggestion to jazz them up in your own way, I gave mine patchwork bodies made from vintage feed sack fabrics.

Put this in the category of "Why didn't I think of that?" A few weeks ago, Assistant Editor Kristine Lundblad came up with a terrific way to solve a problem we have at Quilting Arts.