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Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Did you know September is National Sewing Month? What’s a good way to celebrate? Attend a quilt seminar-anybody know of one near by?! Got up early this morning and am checking e-mail before heading out the door. (no, you’re not! you’re writing a blog post). In my e-mail was a notice of a blog hop from Moda designers, showcasing their new pre-cuts which they are calling “Candies”. They are bundles of 2 1/2″ squares. Each designer has a free pattern for using the candies-and the blog hop goes on for 10 days. Go here to get started if you want to have a look. The first designer I visited was Barbara Brackman, a quilter of a bit of renown. The post that came up when I arrived at her site was her Thursday Sept 6 post about problems with Sunbonnet Sue’s anatomy. It brought to […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I’ve been at the computer quite a long time today, working on things needed for seminar. I took a break to check my e-mail and found two things “seminar-ish”. The first is from a blog done by Martingale, a publisher of many quilt books, including those done by Karla Alexander, one of our national teachers from last year’s seminar. In it the writer talks about being a traditionalist and a way in which Karla helped her get out of the box. Here’s the post. If you took one of Karla’s classes last year, or have made anything from her “stack the deck” series, you’ll enjoy this. The second was sent to me by Anita Grossman Solomon who will be teaching for us this year. Anita was a member of our guild many years ago, and has not forgotten her connection to us. If you have […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I think we’re all dating ourselves who can remember what happened for years on Labor Day weekend with Burt Parks singing that famous song “There she is…” I won’t finish it, so if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’ll be able to kid yourself that it’s because you’re too young!! I finally got the next Lucy Goosey directions (#5) worked up. You’ll find the pattern here: sept lucy goosey. I’m kind of amazed that we’re at month 5, one more to go! I must admit that with the summer hub-bub and seminar preparations, I am behind. I have to finish my #4 and get a sample done for #5. I had told myself that if I was organizing this quilt-a-long, I would have to keep up! Oh well, life happens. Do you have any kiddos heading off to school this week? My 5 […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. You probably haven’t heard of Ada Lovelace, a female who was WAY ahead of her time in a man’s world. Well read here to find the connection between Ada and a man billing himself as a “heterosexual quilter”. Maybe a bunch of us should “bomb” a building on the grounds!

Hey y’all, ME here. Just was listening to an interview done by Pat Sloan with Kim Diehl on the American Patchwork and Quilting weekly podcast. If you haven’t tried those out yet, give them a listen some time. I find them perfect for listening while walking that same old boring route with the dog each morning. I had a chance to eat dinner with Kim when she and Jo Morton were our seminar teachers a few years ago. What a nice lady-very “normal” and friendly. Just like a neighbor or colleague might be. (well…some neighbors and colleagues, anyway!) She mentions her freebies in the interview. Here’s a link to her freebie section; lots of goodies there for fans. I’m pretty sure I’ll be making her free ornament for some folks this Christmas.

Hello everyone, yes, I do know today is Thursday…but read on, I’ll explain… 🙂 These summer days, as long as they are, don’t seem to have enough hours in them for everything! Sorry for not posting in some time, as always – promise to do better! 🙂 Anyway…how is everyone’s summer? Are you thinking holidays yet? Making gifts already? I just love, love love Mary Ellen’s instructions for those triangular coasters! (previous post) Those are promptly added to my favorite list of small gifts to make – thanks ME! As we start to rev-up our sewing, quilting and holiday gift making, some new tools might be of help…I just saw this blog post from Moda (fabric manufacturer) and …hmmm, not sure what to think about these QUILT STICKS! What do you think? Another inspiration came from the recent email that came from our Newsletter fairy, Colleen, about Karen Goddard’s quilt […]