Hello all, Mary Ellen here.

It seems there is some interest out there in the Loosey Goosey Quilt-a-Long. Hopefully the problems some of you had, trying to print the paper piecing pattern have been resolved. Thanks to Marija for her help too, while I was “out of the office” today.

Just a few general comments that may help some of you–first make sure that you have a recent version of Adobe Reader installed on your computer. Almost all pdf file that are posted, whether at Google Docs or any other such sharing site, are readable with Adobe Reader. Sometimes it automatically opens them; sometimes you have to first save the file and then you open it yourself via Adobe. If we get into more of this type of sharing on our blog, Adobe Reader will definitely be a help to you.

Secondly when you are going to print patterns or templates from the computer, make sure that on your printer “scaling” or “fit to page” is turned off. You will want to print at actual size, unless the pattern very specifically says otherwise.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Bought some new summer fabrics today from a line called Meadow Friends by Deb Strain for Moda, which features adorable critters and dragonflies. Holiday things (I’m talking Halloween and Christmas) are beginning to show up at some shops. Quilt Market is next week, I believe, and the shop owners will be coming back FULL of inspiration and enthusiasm. Of course whatever they order there will not be in their shop for a while. The things arriving now were ordered months ago. Wait until you get a chance to see the new Nancy Halvorsen things for this holiday season!! It’s amazing how she comes up with yet another adorable idea every Christmas. I won’t spoil the surprise for you but her fans are going to love the new book and its accompaniments.

Are you getting into the craze for fabric folding and fabric flowers? Being a gadget girl, I love the new Clover “tools” for Kanzashi folded flowers. Of course they can be folded without the tools, as origami, but I say, if there’s a gadget for it, buy it! That’s how I rationalize spending money in a fabric store without buying more fabric. I know, it’s a sickness that many of us suffer from. I actually am going to try a project involving the “A” word (applique), but am getting around the applique of the flowers by using 3D Kanzashi blooms instead. I’m not sure why I don’t mind the hand stitching required to make those blooms, but would rather not do the hand stitching need for the applique. Hmm…it’s a puzzlement. I think there is going to be a demo of the Kanzashi gadgets at this month’s meeting, so if you haven’t seen them yet you have that to look forward to.

Lori and I will be bringing our guild’s accu-quilt machine to the meeting for our demo. We’re still deciding what we should do for the demo. Any requests? There is an inventory of all the dies we own at our guild website in the members only section. If any looks intriguing to you, let me know and perhaps we can incorporate it into our demo.

TTFN, quilters.