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December 10, 2013
Hello all, Mary Ellen here. How have you been? I’ve been AWOL for a while-busy with Christmas preparations. I’m sure you all understand. One of the things I’ve been up to involves Mod Podge. Yes that goopy stuff from the old decoupage crafting craze is still around and going strong. It’s quite amazing what you can get to stick with it. Did you know there is a Mod Podge made especially for fabric? Me either. I found this review (click here) by accident at the site for Craft Test Dummies. After reading what it has to say about the improvement in the fabric texture, I think I will check out whether any of our local big box stores, with my 40% off coupon, have any of the fabric Mod Podge in stock. I do quite a bit of crafting with fabric–making fabric flowers and embellishments in particular—and if it performs […]
November 24, 2013
Hello all, Mary Ellen here. What a surprise this morning when I checked the thermometer before heading out on our daily constitutional with the canine companion. 14 degrees!! He got his sweater put on him, and I got out my Nanook of the North hat! Thank Goodness the wind was calm, or we would not have gone far at all. As it was we only traveled around 3 blocks as my fingertips were protesting, even though they were encased in mittens rather than gloves. I think while I’m out and about doing some holiday shopping, I’m going to get some new outerwear for myself. I’ve been looking for some nice fabric origami ornaments to make for this year. Found this great idea. (click here) I’m going to test this out with paper first, but I love the look of her samples. Just replace her word “hexagon” with the correct word […]
November 20, 2013
Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I’m back at the sewing machine in earnest now. The yard work is done, and the machine is back from its tune up. I hate sending it away, but it does make a difference in its performance and sound. Working on a Christmas table runner from an Edyta Sitar pattern, and a springy wall hanging that is a sample for a class I will be teaching in April. Was cruising some of my favorite sewing blogs this morning and came across these cool pattern weights. At least that’s what the designer had in mind for them, but I can see some other uses as well. I love their shape and when she used the correct mathematical term for them in her directions I was sold. Tetrahedrons–yep. You can take the girl out of the classroom but I still like to call things by their correct […]
July 30, 2013
Hi everyone, time to get out of summer lull and get blogging again! 🙂 It is mind-boggling to me how in the summer, when days are longer and all that, I seem to have less time for everything? When I say “everything”, I guess I sub-consciously mean quilting, sewing…all that kind of favorite fun, he…he… Does that happen to you? I know we all spend more time outside, tend to our gardens…but still, I always think I should have more time? As I said, mind-boggling. Speaking of garden – this was definitely the year for roses? Mine were just exploding everywhere and making me so happy! I guess the years of protecting them, feeding them, cleaning them from pest do pay out sometimes… “Forth of July” is one of my favorite rose and I think it will make me do a red and white quilt one of these days – […]
June 10, 2013
Hello all, Mary Ellen here. How many times has a tech savvy, usually younger, person said to you “you know, there’s an app for that”? Well here’s an app that you might find useful if you are one of those folks who collects apps like the rest of us collect fabric. It’s an app from Schmetz needles, that will tell you just about anything that you might need to know about sewing machine needles. What size needle should I use with this fabric? on the app What kind of needle for this project? on the app What’s the difference between all these kinds of needles? on the app I often get asked needle questions while making demonstrations or teaching classes and this app answers just about all of them. See what you think: click here. I last wrote about the skirts I was making from the “Cute Skirts” pattern from […]
May 23, 2013
Hello all, ME here again. Thank goodness for the rain last night. I’m not one of those who loves the hot weather, and I was getting worried about the drought state of my gardens. I’m attempting to grow some grass seed in a few bare spots in the lawn. All of those issues were helped immensely by the rain. So, thank you! to Mother Nature. I’m teaching a series of lessons on some of the traditional blocks/techniques that I think of as the basis for all sorts of quilting designs. Recently I taught some curved piecing via a small drunkard’s path project. I wanted to find a good tutorial for sewing the curves, that would match the method I taught, so I could add it to the class handout as a back-up reference for my students. I found a pretty good one at the Fons and Porter site, in among […]
April 15, 2013
Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Are you a nut for those gorgeous pre-cut bundles that every quilt store puts out to tempt us? I know we could cut them easily enough ourself, but we’d never get the little sample of every fabric in the line without driving some poor salesperson nuts cutting little bits for us. And the ladies behind us in line would be shooting daggers at us with their eyes. So much time is saved when someone else (actually some computerized machine) has done all the cutting for us. And then there are all the beautiful patterns written specifically for pre-cuts…I could go on and on. It seems, from the ads I’m seeming of late in the newest quilting mags, that a new pre-cut is coming along–pre-cut hexagons. Don’t flinch at the thought of sewing those. They don’t require hand stitching. Here’s a free pattern and a very […]
March 11, 2013
Hi everyone, jumping-in here on another lunch break just to quickly let you know about few things! There is a new tutorial to show you and this time – it is mine! 🙂 Here is a springy little wall hanging or a table topper made almost entirely from Flying Geese blocks – those easy, 3D, one-seam Flying Geese blocks! Add a few little tricks and you will have some neat-looking curved blocks and accent lines – check it out HERE! If you go back one post on my blog, you will find another fun thing – a giveaway! I am participating in current Blog Hop Party and of course besides my blog, there is over 200 others you can visit, be inspired, learn something and maybe win some goodies – hope you have fun! Now if that is not enough, there is yet another big “party” brewing up in cyber […]
March 8, 2013
Hi everyone, yeah, I know – wandering too much, ha, ha. But on Wednesday, my lunch break was given to some other friends – four-legged ones. Recently I started volunteering in City of Buffalo Animal Shelter, that is just a block away from my work. Figured, sometimes before or after work and maybe a lunch-break or two – it is close enough to make it very time efficient and they really need help (unlike SPCA, they do not have as many volunteers and funding and animals keep coming…). So, on Wednesday I spent my lunch break with shy lady, Maple but treats of course work – so she trusted me! And cute boy Bugsley: and big boy Baloo who just about broke my heart because after our walk, he sat down and did not want to move and go back into his kennel…:( But – he did have a “meet […]
February 24, 2013
Hello all, Mary Ellen again. I’m going to be doing a demo on making a super quick quilt top soon (the jelly roll 1600) and have been looking around on Pinterest and other websites to see what quilters have done with the idea. (If you don’t know what the jelly roll 1600 is, go back to my blog entry called “odd bits again” on Feb. 19, 2013 for a quick explanation.) I’ve found some very intriguing ideas–I’ll definitely by making more of these. I think they will really help eat a chunk out of my stash. Here’s what I have found so far-and I’m still on the search. If you have any more ideas, please send them to me or add them in the comments. I think this could be a good resource for members looking for a fast charity, shower, or baby quilt. Here’s what I’ve found so far, […]