November 2016

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Sometimes I drive myself crazy with my perfectionist tendencies. Not every quilt I make needs to be perfect. The baby quilts that will get burped on and dragged around, the kids quilts that will be used as tents and forts, the graduates’ quilts that will be on the lawn behind the dorm–no need to perseverate over points cut off, or stitches that didn’t stay in the ditch. I like Beth Ferrier’s  phrase (that’s the name I couldn’t think of at the guild meeting last week) that she is a “recovering perfectionist”. I describe myself that way too. I have let go of many of my tendencies to keep fixing things until they are just right, but I do like knowing how to make things perfect when the occasion merits it. I love a perfect binding for example. On a quilt that is going to be […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. My copy of McCall’s Quilting magazine  (Jan/Feb 2017) arrived yesterday-and many of us know one of the featured designers. One of our guild’s very talented quilters even made it to be the pin-up in the centerfold. Look for Marija’s quilt right in the center (page 40ff). Any of you who like Marija’s designs should be awaiting our guild’s next raffle quilt (in process right now) with bated breath. Congratulations Marija! It’s a beautiful quilt. Can I have your autograph?!

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I’m starting to think about what quilts I’ll be giving away at Christmas time. I have 2 nieces who are always appreciative of a quilt so I need to pick out one for each girl.  My larger dilemma than which quilt to give, is how to wrap and present it? I have done the matching pillowcase thing already a couple of times, done the boring big box thing, done the rolled up and tied with a wide ribbon thing, done the tote bag with quilt in it thing–I’m looking for something new to try.  Any ideas out there? The larger sized quilts that I have been perusing for the dilemma above are all stored flat on the bed in the spare bedroom. That pile is getting quite deep. Even though I give many of my quilts away, it seems that my own personal stash is […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. One of my chores for today is taking down all of the Halloween decorations, which include quite a few quilted items, and replacing them with fall/Thanksgiving things. Do you have a collection of holiday quilts? After one has been a quilter long enough, it seems that a collection of “quilts” (I’ll use that term to include bed quilts, wall quilts, table runners, …, anything made of a fabric sewn to other fabrics!) grows and grows, until it seems that we will soon have day of the week quilts! Some of you are of an age to recall day of the week under pants! Did you actually wear them on the correct day?! Oops, I digress. What kind of quilts will you be bringing out for the month of November, until it’s time for all of the Christmas stuff? I’ve got a door quilt of a […]