Hello all, Mary Ellen here.

I enjoy looking around the blogosphere at what other quilters do with the old tried and true quilt blocks. You know the ones I mean–the classic half square triangle, log cabin, flying goose (do you say geese when it’s just one block?), four patch, nine patch, and so on. You wouldn’t think you’d see too much new done with those since they’ve been around for so long.    New look (to me anyway) for half square triangles (or friendship stars if you want a bigger unit): click here.

I know many quilters are knitters as well. I just finished some warm mittens for my godsons and a friend, and have some bulky yarns remaining. I was looking around on the internet for an easy cowl neck that I could wear under a coat or perhaps with a turtleneck. Here’s a link to the one I settled on. (click here) If you go to Pinterest and put “cowl free knitting pattern” in the search you’ll find many lovely ones, in a variety of yarn weights.

Valentine’s Day is around the corner (if you have projects to make). At Jenny Doan’s Missouri Star Quilt Company’s YouTube channel she recently posted a cute little Swedish heart project that she made with “scraps” of felted wool. Jenny calls it a Christmas heart, but I think it could be just as cute as a Valentine heart. Perhaps two shades of pink, instead of red and white would make it more “valentine-ish”. You might have some red and white will scraps left from Christmas projects that you could use for this. If you’ve been a crafter for long, I would not be surprised if you already know how to make this. (click here for video) I’m going to use up some odd bits of wool and make some of these for the kids. I plan to put a paper envelope corner, scavenged from discarded junk mail, down inside so the wool doesn’t stretch from the weight of the candies I will be putting in the little pockets. Not all wools or felts will need this, but my scraps are those lovely soft wools from a quilt shop. I also have some wool felt from a red sweater that I bought at the Salvation Army before the holiday that I am going to try for this.

Well I’m off to put a binding on a quilt that just came back from the quilter. TTFN. Keep warm on this blustery weekend.