Hello all, Mary Ellen here.

Just sharing a few bits today.

I was saddened to hear of the recent death of Nancy Zieman. I learned so much from her shows over the many years that I was her fan. I have quite a collection of her DVDs and pattern books. Would be an even larger collection, but I have divested myself of the VCR tapes. I started learning from Nancy when I was still a garment sewer. She knew so much about clothing construction, sharing many techniques which simplified the sewing, and gave very professional results. Nancy subscribed to that thought of making the interior of the garment look as  professional as the outside. When I began to transition to a quilting interest, I just followed Nancy’s lead, knowing I would still get good results. I’ll bet many of you also set your VCR’s to tape her show on Tuesday afternoons from Channel 17, and looked forward to sitting with some tea later in the evening to see what Nancy’s latest project was. Nancy had a big influence on my sewing life, and I’ll miss her.

Do you remember a post of mine from earlier this summer where I shared about the quilted heart project? I have stashed about twenty or so hearts around the neighborhood as the canine and I walk each day. They all have disappeared, so I’m assuming they have found homes throughout my area. I’ve received e-mail notifications for 4 of them from the finders (routed through the organization) which always brighten my day. I must say that stashing the heart and walking away from it, wondering if and by whom it will be found, is nearly as much fun as the messages from the finders have been. You might want to give this simple project a try. Our world needs more random acts of kindness. (https://www.ifoundaquiltedheart.com)

“More heart, less attack.” This is explained in one of the blog posts at their site, but after spending even a few minutes on social media, I think we can agree it would make a good mantra.