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Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I just read a blog post from another quilter advertising her classes. She started off by talking about what she called the 3 dirty words in quilting. Can you guess what they are? When I was teaching classes and doing demos at one of our local quilt shops they would often be in the conversation. I taught a couple of classes to attempt to help quilters get over their distaste for these three words. Have I given you enough time to think it over? The words are usually found at the end of a pattern…”quilt as desired”. Do you agree with her? Her theory is that those words are a common source of the UFOs we all accumulate. Let’s take a little survey to see what you readers think. Please answer in the comments. A) Do you hate it when the pattern ends with those […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. The quilting on this piece is just amazing. There’s not much more I can say, except check out all of the sections in the background. Here’s a link to read a bit more about this quilt. click here  

Hello all, Mary Ellen again. Here are two more shots of the Dignity sculpture. One so you can see the back, and one to give you a better perspective of her 50 foot height. She’s beautiful-so proud and majestic.

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I’ve been remiss in not writing anything for this blog in so long. I’ll try to do better. (Comments from readers help to motivate me to write. At least I know then that I’m not just talking to myself. Hint! Hint!) I’ve seen photos of this statue called “Dignity” before, but hadn’t seen the nice story that I came across today. This would be a great destination for a vacation trip to South Dakota. One could have a stop at Mount Rushmore as well. Here’s a link to the story: click here.

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Have you got your new dress and Easter bonnet all set for Sunday? LOL! Are you also in the generation that got all new regalia for spring–not just a dress and hat, but also new shoes, lacy socks, a new slip and … This week’s tip from Material Rewards is about putting coping borders on your quilt blocks. I just had to do that for a piece I’m making from several embroidered blocks. It’s a good technique to have in your arsenal. Teri and Marty will talk to you about several ways to use this technique when working with panels. The one example they didn’t mention where I think coping borders would be equally helpful is for those of you who participate in block swaps. We all know that even if it was agreed in the rules of the swap that everyone’s block would be […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here.Today is the annual celebration of World Wide Quilting Day. Are you working on a quilty project? Last weekend I had to do a deep cleaning of my spare bedroom for a possible overnight guest. In the process of digging down to the bed, I came upon a collection of 9 quilt blocks completed years back for a quilt-a-long on our blog. I’ve decided they need to be put together and finished up. (There were several other UFOs in the pile on the bed which will be coming up for completion over the next few months.) Today I’ve been “shopping” my stash trying to find something to use for sashing between these “tropical” blocks. I’m including photos below. Any suggestions? Maybe a solid or tone on tone would be better–but which color should I pull out? I don’t know that I have a good option here, […]

Hello again, Mary Ellen here.I found another tulip topper idea that some of you may like. It’s not exactly a full on pattern, but it does have enough detail for you to be able to make your own design from the suggestions. And you will be able to use many more of your scraps. See what you think.  click here

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. It seems that every year when we get one of these sunny mornings heading toward spring I will get the urge to find a cheerful quick project to sew. You might want to look back in this blog’s archives for a cute project: try searching for shamrock or bunny or tulip or spring. Well this year is no different. After spending time chopping icy sidewalks with help from my godsons I’m taking it easy today. And here is the cute spring time project I’ve decided to try. If you like this cheerful little quilt you can find its free pattern here: Click here. Let’s get a conversation going! Please comment-even if only one word. What’s your favorite season of the year? Or which quilt camp are you in-the prewashers or non-prewashers?

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything, hasn’t it? Life just gets in the way sometimes. Do you enjoy a good free pattern? And an easy one at that? You might enjoy Gudrun Erla’s Advent Free Pattern series. You do have to go through the check out process, but the cost of each registers as $0.00 so you are not charged anything. Here’s a link to this week’s pattern: click here Here are some free pattern links for quilted ornaments in case you’re looking for ideas to bring to our guild Christmas dinner. Click here How’s your Christmas sewing coming along? Do you remember making faux chenille a few years ago when it was the rage? I made potholders and scarves with great success. I’m currently working on some chenille scarves from a By Annie pattern that I used back then. Easy, cozy […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Thanks to all of you who have been working on projects for our guild’s Sunflowers for Ukraine project. All of you–the block makers, the quilters, the binding gurus, the kit assemblers–have contributed to this cause. We have made about $800 profit to date, with one more raffle date to go. We also have put some of the completed projects in the BNHV gift shop; about half of them sold so far. That will be additional profit to add to our donation. With Buffalo being designated as one of 6 US cities accepting groups of Ukrainian refugees, we will definitely be able to keep our donation here in town. More info will follow as we wind up this project in mid September. While looking for some ideas for fall projects, I came upon a hint from Edyta Sitar for reducing the bulk in the corners of […]