Hello all, Mary Ellen here

Aren’t those photos on Marija’s post fun to look at? It’s nice to have time stand still for a moment in each shot, so I can really give a good look at everything in each photo. Somehow when it’s all happening in real-time, things go by so quickly they can’t be savored. How did Marija find time to take all those shots, with everything else she was doing at/for the show?!

Real life is back–getting caught up on laundry, tried to catch up on yardwork but the rain intervened yesterday (will finish when it dries out), grocery shopping, dog training class, sewing for an upcoming class, ya-da, ya-da, ya-da.

When I chose the pattern I will next be teaching, I was looking for a small-scale project that used some traditional blocks and could be made up quickly for gifts. I chose one that uses just 2 traditional blocks (half square triangles, and shaded four patches) with two borders and cornerstones. Definitely has a traditional feel to it. When I got into the making of the sample, I discovered that the designer is into triangles! She has cut individual triangles for her half square triangle blocks (I used “Triangles on a Roll”™ for those) and for her shaded four patch blocks she has you cut 5 triangles. Out came a Billie Lauder book (remember her visit to seminar a few years ago) Quick Quilt Tricks, and that block got simplified as well. Now this little table topper is really quite easy and will definitely end up on my list of “go-to” projects for gifts. I love a pattern that looks more complicated than it actually is. (The pattern is called Table Cozees II from Clothesline Quilts)

Perhaps when I have the topper complete, I’ll take a photo and share it here. It’s about time I learn how to insert photos into the blog–we’ve got so much going on that could be shared. If it’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words, that saves me a ton of typing!!