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Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Busy, busy, busy! Even though I no longer am going back to school at the start of September, life really ramped up for awhile. How about for you? Let’s check on a few things. How are you coming on the gift-a-long challenge? Remember? The challenge was to make/finish a gift each month this year so when the holidays roll around, you have quite a few gifts ready to go. I’ve gotten a few more things finished since my last update but I’m not at #9 for September! I think I’ll look around for a few UFO’s which are very close to completion to see if I can get back on track. Awhile back I talked about a selvage project I am working on which uses a 60 degree triangle ruler as well. That project is in pretty good shape. The 48 triangles covered in selvages […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. At the end of July I wrote 2 posts about Carol Bryer Fallert whose quilts and awards changed the trajectory of quilting. She gave machine quilting its stature in the quilting world, I feel. The quilting police were forced to recognize the skill and artistry that are required to quilt projects by machine, whether those machines are long arms, mid arms or, for most of us, our domestic machines. If you’re going to be in Massachusetts this fall you might want to visit the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts to see a retrospective of Carol’s work. What spectacular quilts you’d get to see; it might be worth making a special trip with this exhibition as your destination. Click here for details.

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Very short post. Look at these great shoes. Perfect for fabric fanatics, I think. Thanks to Cathy C. for this info. She saw them at the Lewiston Art Festival. Click here.

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I think we all know that most of us hope our quilts are priceless–that they are loved and treasured by those to whom we give them. But let’s be business women for a moment. Many quilters sell their work as their livelihood or to supplement the family’s income. What do you think is a fair price for a quilt? I have seen quilts that I felt were mispriced in both directions. I have seen work at some of the craft shows that abound in the pre-holiday season that I think are very overpriced. Cheap fabrics and poor workmanship give shoppers a false impression of the work that many quilters produce. On the other hand I have also seen many quilters grossly underprice their work-sometimes not even charging enough to pay themselves back for their materials, let alone their time and talent. Have a look at […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Are you also trying to squeeze a lot of summer into the little bit that remains before school starts again? Why do we do that, even when we aren’t going back to school? I will admit that when I was still teaching for my supper, I hated to see the first back to school ad-whether it was a print ad or on tv. They seemed to come earlier and earlier each summer. I would boycott that business for awhile in my own childish protest at summer’s speed in passing. Nowadays I like to comb the back to school ads looking for bargains on school supplies that I can re-purpose into my quilting. Sometimes the item will be a store’s loss leader and the savings will be phenomenal! I’ll list of few of my favorites for you. If you’ve heard any of my lectures, or taken […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I told you in my last post that when I found the correct information about Carol Bryer Fallert’s quilt, that I would share it here. Here’s a link to the story of that quilt that galvanized the quilting community. Many folks thought (in 1989) that a completely machine constructed quilt wasn’t really a quilt. Hand quilting was something that the purists weren’t willing to relinquish. It seems funny today when machine quilting your own quilts and sending them to long-armers is generally accepted among most quilters. I will say that there are a few quilters I know who still feel that hand quilting is automatically better somehow than machine quilting. Here’s a link to the information about the quilt that got the quilting community talking! Click here.

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. If you are a true quilt “fanatic” then you are likely very familiar with the name Carol Bryer Fallert. When you see one of her quilts, you know you are looking at a Carol quilt. She has been recognized as one of the most influential quilters in America. I was researching Carol’s work, looking for a picture of her quilt which was the breakthrough prize winner that gave machine piecing and quilting a place in those top prize winners at Paducah and Houston. Until Carol’s quilt got the conversation moving through it’s controversy, the “quilt police” thought that only hand quilted works deserved those big prizes. (When I find the quilt I’m looking for, I will add it to this post. I don’t want to make an error and tell the wrong story). In this researching process, I came across this post in which Carol […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I think this article explains it all. I will break this habit TODAY! Click here.

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Although it’s going to be pretty hot for turning on the oven, here’s a very easy recipe for using all the great fresh fruits and berries of the season. Mix together 1 can of crushed pineapple (20 oz) and the dry ingredients of an angel food cake mix. That’s it-nothing else. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 min. (Do the toothpick test for doneness). As it cools the center will sink, not to worry. This will have the texture of a sponge cake. Serve with fresh fruit and cool whip. Yummy! and can’t get much easier. Let me know what you think. Got this recipe off the radio, and it was a hit with my family. And if you like them easy, have you seen these recipes? Click here.

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. If you are of a certain age, that phrase has an entirely different meaning to you than it will in this post. I spent some time this morning looking around on Pinterest for NY Beauty block quilting designs. Didn’t find what I was looking for, but ran across this series of posts instead. Click here. I took the pledge this morning. I am often asked questions by my quilting students which have answers all boiling down to one simple fact. I make my quilts to be used; “for keeps” is the phrase the author uses. I would rather have them used up, worn out, stained with grape jelly, or skidded with green grass and red dirt stains than have them be still in pristine condition 20 years from now. That is why I prewash my fabrics (baby skin is so sensitive to chemicals in fabric […]