Interview with Bonnie of Fishsticks Designs

Bonnie from Fishsticks Designs is joining us today.  She is sharing a little bit about herself, her company and a few sneaks at what she designed for the quilt group. (join here!)

I’ve known Bonnie for a bit now and she was even a designer for the Round Robin a few years back –hers is the house block! Which reminds me….I’m working on a new one for the next year! Stay tuned.

She has some great tutorials which are perfect for beginner sewers. Including a simple quilted blanket and a super cute Jungle Jalopy Zipper Pouch.

Here’s a bit more about her — enjoy!

How did you get your start into sewing?

I learned to sew when I was a child. My granny actually worked from home doing alterations and sewing for neighbors, and I remember watching her sit at her sewing machine that faced the front window in her family room. She could sew there and watch what was going on in the neighborhood! Since I grew up with sewing machines buzzing all around, I felt comfortable sewing things here and there, but I really fell in love with sewing about nine years ago when I was pregnant with our fifth child. The funny part of that is that the first thing I sewed for baby Jamie was cloth diapers!

What inspires you?

colors, beautiful handmade things, my family

What’s your favorite notion?

My Seam Fix seam ripper! We have quite the relationship, she and I. It’s sort of a love/hate thing. I love that she fixes my mistakes, but I hate having to use her.

What’s new or fun you’d like to tell us about:

I’m sort of on a business slow-down … I’m sure there’s an official word for that. We accepted two new foster babies in January of this year, not knowing at the time that both have significant medical needs. Once they were here, and we were in love, we couldn’t just send them away, so I’ve set aside my pattern designing for a little bit to care for them. It’s definitely been a learning time for our whole family. I’m squeezing sewing and blogging time in between medical, therapy and case worker appointments, and attempting to sleep when I can!

Quick quirky fact about yourself:

I’m a Whovian! Actually, I love all sci-fi, but the Doctor is my favorite. I’m almost done with my third time through the new episodes, and I’m just starting the classic Who. (Thankfully, my husband and my teenagers are sci-fi lovers, too, so we have a shared geekiness going on in our house right now.)

Tell us a bit about the project you have designed for the quilt group:

I’m sharing a practical project because that’s really my first sewing love, but practicality can be beautiful! My project, the Sewing Machine Hideaway, is a custom-fit, reversible machine cover. It includes some simple piecing to make it pretty. Instructions are included to customize the cover to fit your machine perfectly. You could use it for your serger … or even your kitchen appliances! This project is a great way to show off your favorite fabrics in your sewing room, and it will keep your machine free from dust, little kid fingers and kitty paws.

Not a member of the group? Hop on over here to find out about it and join us!  Every month we have guest designers, block of the months, sewing projects and more!

Get to know Bonnie more– visit her here:

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