Hi, my name is Carole, and I am a quilter, crafter, sewing enthusiast, wool worker, stamper, gardener, hiker, reader, photographer, and I like to cook. I have written articles for various sewing, quilting and book newsletters for years. I have taught sewing classes, held leadership positions in sewing and quilting clubs (and one car club), written articles for book blogs, and finally decided to write for my own blog. I’ve been writing this blog since 2014, and now have hundreds of posts with ideas, patterns, recipes and more!
I am the designer of the Scrap Dance Pattern series, now with 10 patterns in the series! See all my patterns and how to buy them on My Patterns page. All my Scrap Dance patterns began as mystery quilts. Generally, these begin in January and post once a month.
My grandmother taught me how to sew on her 1950s era mint green Singer portable sewing machine. We made doll clothes, and a vest for my favorite teddy bear when his stuffing was coming out. Over the years, I would fix my mother’s clothes repairing rips or putting in hems by hand as she couldn’t sew a stitch. I bought my first sewing machine when I was in college, a workhorse Kenmore that I still have today. For years I made my clothes, as well as my purses and accessories.
Sewing and quilting have been my therapy, a break from the stress and pressure of work up to the year I retired. Now I can pursue my hobbies full time. I currently own 10 sewing machines, some of them antiques and pictured in the article on the history of sewing machines. See My Patterns page to order my original designs.
My blog is a variety of subjects, a lot of quilting and sewing, but also tablescapes, recipes, book reviews, hand stitching, stamping cards, crafting, gardening, travel and mountain living. I enjoy crafting and anything you can do with a glue gun I am on board to try. Digital cameras have saved me a fortune with my photography hobby. I adore lots of flowers on my porch, and nothing beats a homegrown tomato incorporated into a favorite dish. I am a longtime foodie, with a kitchen full of gourmet ingredients and interesting gadgets. I like reading books, and have lots of reviews on the blog, just click on Books and Reading on my sidebar to see them, or my Goodreads profile, also on the sidebar.
I have my posts organized into categories so you can see a bunch of things that interest you. Just see the category list on the right sidebar. If you like tutorials, see the pages at the top of the blog for listings of my tutorials.
I hope you enjoy my blog and invite you to follow me. To follow by email or blog reader, use the link buttons on the sidebar. If you are viewing my blog on a smartphone, scroll down past the comments to see the options. If you are on a computer, the options are on the sidebar on the right.
If you are looking to buy a pattern, please click on the Buy My Patterns page.
Product reviews and giveaways are part of my blog content, and I am happy to work with companies to provide honest reviews on products I endorse. My mailing address is –
Carole Carter
PO Box 524
Mountain Home, NC 28758
You can also contact me by leaving a comment on any post, or using the form below.
To follow my blog by email, just enter your email in the “Follow This Blog” box on the right sidebar. You won’t want to miss my annual Autumn Jubilee, a full month of projects and giveaways!!
I am honored to be featured multiple places!
If you are looking for information on quilt repairs, please see my page on Well Loved Quilt Repair. I no longer repair quilts for the public.
From My Carolina Home 
Hi Carole!
I saw your awesome tutorial for How to Square Up a Block and I absolutely love it! I am an editor for FaveQuilts and would love to feature some of your tutorials on my site with full credit to you. I know my readers would just love them and generate some nice traffic to your site. If you would like us to feature your project, our readers will simply click the link to your blog to get your full tutorial. To see an example of what this might look like, go here: http://www.favequilts.com/Piecing/Handy-Hexie-Tips
My site is part of Prime Publishing and we publish 19 cooking and crafting web sites. We have over 3.5 million active e-mail subscribers and about 10 million page views per week. You can learn more about us at http://www.primecp.com.
Please shoot me an email to let me know if you would like to get started.
Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!
Mollyhall
Hi Carole, enjoyed your blog. The projects that you have listed are interesting and thinking about trying (jewelry bag, coat hanger cover and the pot holders, etc.) Great Christmas and birthday gifts! Since the falling charms quilt I made and so proudly did for show and tell at the quilt club, I have started another one. The pattern is a log cabin chevron from a book that Peggy McCaffrey gave to me when she did the long arm quilting. I had about 60 some blocks left and all I needed to do was add 2 more strips along the side. This I have completed. Now to make the HST and QST to begin the process of assembling. I have made 3 quilted tote bags, and really having fun sewing some peasant tops and a pink mossy oak fleece jacket for my granddaughter. This I enjoyed doing in the cold first quarter of 2014.
I guess that sewing will have to slow down since warmer weather. Cynthia
I enjoyed several of your posts. I, too, like to cook and have lots of gadgets in the kitchen. We moved to the mountains of NC almost a year ago, and we’ve loved it. I bought a Kenmore sewing machine in college and sewed all my clothes, as well as those of my two girls. That’s about where our interests diverge. I’m hopeless at crafts and have two black thumbs. I look forward to reading about the things we share, as well as the ones we most emphatically do not.
Hello Carole,
As I was sewing together (step 2) of your mystery quilt, I began thinking about your post that I read earlier today. All of your gorgeous flowers and vegies and how they made me smile. Then I thought since I am trying to get my blog up and running once again, updating and that sort of thing, I decided to contact you. Would you allow me to add your site as a followed blog I read, plus figure out how to put a photo of your blog on my side board and provide a link to myself and other readers, about your blog and the Mystery Quilt? Although, a forewarning, at this time I do not have but a few followers.
Explanation, when I began my blog, I was really excited about quilting and reading blogs and so forth. I began a postcard swap and little by little my blog was built up and doing quite well. Then we moved to Texas. We had a hard time blogging and such because we lived with hubbies mom for several months until an apartment opened up for us. Then because of where we were keeping connected to the internet was on and off for the entire time we lived there. Little by little, I just totally stopped posting. After we moved back to Oregon, I began posting once again, but all of the sudden my google account was wanting me to provide information that I did not want to give them. I was not able to sign in at all. So I gave up and forgot about it entirely. Here a few months ago, I began reading more and more blogs and decided I wanted to blog again myself. It took a little time, but I was able to get signed into my blog account and have posted a few posts. I plan on making changes to the layout and learning other information, such as getting the would you like to follow by email, facebook, google and so on.
I am really enjoying the Mystery Quilt and reading your posts. I would be honored if you would allow me to provide a link to your blog. Thank you for considering my request. Will be watching for your reply.
Your quilting friend, Brenda
Hi Carole,
I just received the Autumn Sudoku Quilt Table Topper that I ordered from you. I love it, and is just what I needed in my home. Because i have done a lot of quilting myself, I l appreciate your fine work. Thank you!
If you send me your mailing address, I will send you an envelope of silk ribbons for embroidery, . I tried but just don’t have the eyesight for working with small pieces any more.
Carole, I’m sending my Autumn Jubilee quilt to a relative who is fighting cancer. I would like to give your credit for the quilt design. Should I use your name or just the name of your website?
Hi Carole,
I found your website this afternoon via FaveQuilts.com. What a treat it has been to spent time browsing your blog. We seem to enjoy several of the same hobbies but I spend most of my time making cards. When I read that your banner was from your home I had to look and see where you lived in NC. I am in Raleigh but my cousin recently purchased a quilt shop in Franklin, NC. Thank you for sharing so much wonderfulness!
Blessings!