2020

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Today is National Tool Day! We quilters all have our favorite tools and gadgets. It seems for me that every time I go to a new shop or to a quilt show I find another one that I must have. How about you? If you could only have 2 tools, other than your mat, basic ruler and rotary cutter, what 2 tools would you say are your must haves? For me–my porcupine quill stiletto, and my Elmers school glue. How about you? Do tell!

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I’m working on the shamrock block made from the pattern shared in the post of February 2. I suggest that when you cut your strip for the shamrock stem that you make them longer than the 8 inches the designer suggests. With 8 inch lengths you have little to no room for errors in cutting or seam allowances or stretching bias. Since you will be squaring the block up after inserting the stems, I’d suggest cutting them at 1-1/2 x 8-1/2 or 8-3/4 to give yourself some fudge factor. I also cut my greens strips for the shamrock at 1-1/2 wide instead of the 2-1/2 the designer calls for. That was just to give me more variety in the greens. I’m taking a lunch break and will add the outer borders later. Then on to the quilting! I’m making several of these for family members, […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. *Don’t forget to add a comment if you’d like to be entered in the drawing for prizes to be awarded at our birthday party in March. If you win, but are not at the party, I will find a way to get your prize to you.* I think I have been caught without a bag when out shopping 4 times already this week! I keep leaving them out in the car.I remember my reusable bags for grocery shopping but not shopping at other types of stores. I think they will have to ride in the passenger for a while until a new habit is formed. Sally G. shared a cloth bag that folds up into its pocket during show and share at our last meeting. My purse is big enough that I could keep one of those in it! I went searching around the internet […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I read a post on Facebook recently, which I know some of you also read, titled “Why the hell did somebody make me a quilt?” Judging by the comments people posted, many quilters agreed with the writer’s sentiments. Here’s a link to it if you haven’t seen it yet: click here. Since I liked the author’s style, I went to the her web page to explore. Here’s another one of her posts which I also agree with. Click here. When I give a quilt, I’m hoping it will be used so much that it will wear out from being so well loved. I don’t make quilts for competition. I don’t want it to go in a cedar chest (yikes what a bad idea!), go up on a closet shelf in the back, or end up in the dog’s bed. It’s okay with me if it’s […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Not too long ago I posted a link to some “quilty” art that an artist put onto snowy fields while walking in his snow shoes. Today here’s a link to something similar on a beach in the sand. I’m guessing that the art doesn’t last even 24 hours as the tide comes back in. Amazing the work the artist puts in, only to have the art disappear before long. Click here. On Saturday we’ll have leap day–an extra day this year for…what? Anything special on your agenda? Have you a friend with a leap birthday to be celebrated? I’m planning to spend this blustery day making a couple of those shamrock blocks that were in a recent post. I’m going to use green selvages and scraps. I just have to find a way to keep the puppy from also enjoying digging in the scrap and […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Thanks to all of you who have written comments lately. I like knowing that people are reading the posts. Please continue! What project are you currently working on? I’ll bet many of you are heading toward quilt shows, finishing up projects to be hung in the show. I’m working on a bargello style table runner which uses some adorable fabric of chickadees (my favorite garden bird). I used the new XL Stripology ruler and Gudrn Erla’s new mat. Love my stripology rulers. I’m just finishing layering it up in preparation for quilting. Now to decide how I want to quilt it. Free motion? Walking foot? What design? Gotta get started on the quilting tomorrow so decisions must be made. What’s under your needle? Do tell!

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Let’s start with some bits from our guild meeting last evening. Our raffle quilt for this season was unveiled-a master work. Sylvia took lots of photos of quilts last night which will be appearing on our Facebook page soon. Wait til you see the raffle quilt. Thanks to the “Quilt til You Wilt” group for all of their work! A group of our members has been working on a mystery quilt project. The finished quilts were also unveiled last evening. All were so inspiring-I always enjoy seeing  how the choice of a different color palette can make such a difference in the finished appearance–one pattern in many variations. Annette Meyer-Grunow told us about an exhibit of women artists currently at the Castellani Art Gallery on the Niagara University campus. Annette has one of her art quilts included in the show. All of the works are […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Getting our blog back up and running. You will now receive notice whenever a new blog post goes up. If you do not want to receive the notices, you can unsubscribe by clicking the button in the notification post. If you know of a member of our guild who would like to get the postings but is not receiving them, let me know. Here’s a free printable pattern (click here) for a very easy mini quilt for March holidays. Since it is basically a one block quilt, it would be quite easy to make more blocks for a larger project. This block would look best with a variety of green strips. Have funny digging through your stash or scraps, or perhaps swap some greens with a quilter friend. Don’t forget to leave a comment in order to have your name entered in the drawing for […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I’ve seen clips of this artist’s work in the past, but never had heard him talk about his process. Quilte a few of his thoughts about the inspiration process for him sound like they could be spoken by quilters as well. And at the end when he’s walking up the mountain for the big reveal, I recalled the feeling of putting a finished quilt up onto a design wall and standing back to get the “big picture”. I hope you’ll enjoy this as I did. Click here.

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Despite the very cold temps today, the bright sunshine is making me think it’s going to be a lovely day. (Of course that will probably change when I first go outdoors!) Do you have quilts for the seasons? I try to change up at least a few of my quilts for the holidays or the seasons. One of my favorite ones for spring is a small wall quilt where I learned my first bits of Seminole piecing. I’ve thought I should make it again now that my 1/4 inch seam is much more consistent. It’s rows of cabbages and carrots with a picket fence across the bottom. I added a big white pom pom between 2 of the pickets to remind me of Peter Rabbit. Here’s a link to 14 patterns for spring.  click here Several of them would be great for using fabrics from […]