Hi, Mary Ellen here.

I enjoy redwork even if it’s done in a different color-like blue or black. I used to do quite a bit of embroidery, crewel was my favorite in my college days. Gave kind of a refined hippy (is there such a thing?) look to ones bell bottom jeans. I also remember embellishing my nieces’ dresses and jumpers when they were tiny. I have an appreciation for the skill of embroiderers, even if I no longer do much of it. Have you ever gone to one of the shows the Buffalo chapter of the Embroiderer’s Guild of America has had at the Kenan Center in Lockport? Knock your socks off pieces of all kinds. I believe it’s held every other year, opposite our quilt show years. Definitely worth the trip-what a perfect venue for showing their handiwork.

Now crazy quilting–there is a combination of my love for “scrappy” backgrounds with my interest in stitching. I don’t know though, can you call backgrounds made of pieces of silk, brocade, velvet and lace “scrappy”? I think some of you might enjoy looking at this collection of stitch “dictionaries”, even if you don’t stitch yourself. The examples are exquisite. Scroll down in this link, below the books for sale, to a collection of sites featuring stitches. I’m bookmarking it for future reference.

Have you explored Pinterest yet? It’s a great place to find collections of images, usually linked to their sources, of things of interest to you. Here’s one link to a pinner’s collection of crazy quilt images. You can click an any one of them to see a larger image.