MARY LOU RETREAT INFO (NEW) ON HER WEBSITE-COME AND ENJOY THE CREATIVITY AND FUN WITH US

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Presents for my birthday and Valentines-thought you would like the ideas too!


So, this past week was my birthday and I got to spend it with my girlfriends. I am working on a new book with Mel and we went to her house first and then to Tahoe. Molly, my friend from Sacramento brought me this darling birthday pin....it is done in parts and think doable if you are into scrapbooking. I can't afford both quilting (and painting) and scrapbooking....though I love scrapbooking stuff.

Here are three packages of trims that Mel rbought for gifts for us...there are a couple of these that did not make the photo. I love the bits and pieces and fun here and I think I may take this idea for my retreats and make my retreat buddies something like this for fun! Thanks Mel.

The purse above was my birthday present for Mel. I think I have to hide this from my youngest daughter who I know will covet this. Gorgeous Alexander Hanry fabric. Look for it on the blog Pink Chalk or Tennessee Quilts. I love buying fabric from these nice gals.

Aove is the darling tin from Molly. Now if you are clever, I think you could do something pretty wonderful using fabrics, buttons, notions and stuff from the scrap book store. I am going to put mine in the kitchen where I can enjoy it. The tiara on top adds to the whimsy of it. And anything given by a friend is more special that something we buy.

Before Molly went home with a head cold, she left us all a Valentines treat to open. There is a candle and chocolate in each one. Pretty special to be remembered on the "Love" day by a good friend. Here is an idea for you to share with your girlfriends or family. Pretty aren't they?

This was the pretty package that Molly gave me-I have never mastered giving a beautiful gift that is wrapped so pretty.

Above are my birthday present to myself. I bought these fun shoes at Nordstroms. Very comfy and fun....though they need some bling which I plan to add to them....

Fun Bottoms on my new shoes.

So, I am always amazed at the money in the LA area and the fresh flowers growing everywhere NOW. It is a different world there and it is always fun to see how those people live. This is a shopping area called "the grove." It isn't like my little Mall here.

I thought this was pretty hotsy totsy with the statues and clock and dome....

I love Crate and Barrel and this one was quite wonderful....

Isn't this pretty? All of the red unbrellas and the beautiful people drinking bloody Mary's as we passed and eating fancy food. It is like something out of a movie. I clearly do not belong there...a simple person with a Target purse and Land's End vest. :0)

This is a photo of Mel's son who is waiting for us to get a table at a great breakfast place. I loved this photo and think it should be a greeting card. Her son has great style and is a young artist which is fun. Hang out with young people and you feel young. Not that he hung out with us but it is fun to listen to what they say. I will always appreciate kids not matter what their age.

This was a true treat for me. Mel's husband who collects cars just bought this "loaded" vintage volkswagon bus which has been redone and is beautiful. He took us to breakfast and on a nice joy ride through Manhatten beach and around the area. It is beautiful there and flowers growing and the beautiful ocean.

Isn't this a cool sign? Loved the patina and the design

I had to take a photo of the nachos we made during my trip. We had leftover pork roast and so we sliced it thin and cut it into small pieces. We also bought smoked peppers in the jar and cut them up. We put down the chips, the pork, the peppers, olives, half of them with jalapeno peppers and then topped them all with cheese. We had salsa and sour cream on the side and homemade guacamole that Robyn made. Wonderful. You should try it at home sometime.

Monday, February 08, 2010

Carol's Quilt Finished and Beautiful!


This is Carol's finished quilt which I just got a photo of. Isn't it wonderful? See the story below.

Sunday, February 07, 2010

Carol from Panama's quilt before she finished it with quilting and other fun things


The quilt above is a quilt made from my angel block of the month pattern. It is very popular and fun to use your best and brightest fabrics with-note-you may order this pattern from me at Marylouquiltdesigns.com. Now these little angels have faces and other wonderful details. Please check out Carol's wonderful blog and also the Jackie who quilted it too!http://pananani.wordpress.com/

A GREAT Recipe to SHARE with GOOD Friends

Cherise's Marvelous Cracker and Vegie Dip
4 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
1 Jar of Marie's Blue Cheese Dressing
1/2 Cup Frank's Hot Wing Sauce
2 cubes Cream Cheese (8 oz)
Heat Blue Cheese and Cream Cheese in Pan-stir until smooth
Then add the chicken and the Hot Wing Sauce
Put in a buttered baking dish
Bake for 20 Minutes-300degrees
Serve with a variety of crackers and vegies you can dip.
This dip is wonderful and not that spicy (I am a wimp when it comes to heat)
Let me know if you try it!

Friday, February 05, 2010

Snow angels, Snow Mobiling, Friends Having Fun and the Beauty of Tahoe!


Above is the snow angel left in a meadow in beautiful Tahoe

Here are the snow angels above leaving their mark for the brief time until it snows once again

Above are Robyn,Sharon, Cherise and Mel all warm and cozy in their winter geer

Here Cherise takes off on her snow mobile!

I am in my warm duds and with Mel, Cherise and Sharon-it is beautiful snowy and sunny too-
Sjharon's house is beautiful off by itself at the top of the mountain over looking the lake

Sharon's log house has pristine and beautiful icicles hanging off like diamonds in the sun

A view of the snow and the trees and the lake and the beauty!

Here are my friends Robyn, Mel and Cherise who went snow mobiling today at Tahoe. It was sunny and fabulous and snowy and wonderful! Quilting took a backseat to the beauty that surrounded it outside! A lovely day with lovely friends- Molly went home with a bad cold so she didn't make these photos but next time she will. :0)

Saturday, January 30, 2010

A Stolen Quilt Gets Remade With Great Results.


Here is Charlotte's quilt that she had to remake from scratch when her quilt was stolen last year in my Story Quilt Class. This quilt is about her beloved brother who died of AIDS. It has all of his favorite things in there and is a nice and lasting memory of someone she loved and wanted memorialized. Who could you be remembering in a quilt today?
Great job Charlotte! I love the subject and the colors! NOTE-she used my alphabet fabric from the Grandma line. If you want some of that fabric reprinted to do your own names etc., write to David@Benartex.com . Charlotte,You overcame the sadness of your quilt being taken and your new quilt is lovely. A pox on whoever stole you first quilt! Can you imagine?
Also, I am on my way to LA today to work on my new book and then will meet friends In Tahoe for painting fun and Red Hut adventures. I hope to teach in Tahoe next year for those of you who live fairly close. Stay tuned! I want to thank those of you who commented on my blog this week. It makes it worth the time away from my applique and embellishing.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Visit pearl the Squirrel for the "real" story of my class at John C. Campbell!



Above is the photo captured from my friend Linzee from the class. Many people asked how the Southwest quilt is coming along and it is on the floor in front of me. Now it has many more buttons and milagros in it. It will weigh a ton by the time I am done.
Here Linzee tells about our fun time in the class. There were so many NICE people in there and we really did discover new things about fabric. I always like to tell people (from an art standpoint, what is wrong with your stash). My classes now center more on creativity and art that on quilting. I want to get my students out of that box they have put themselves inside.
Linzee got an A+ in the class.
It is so much fun to see people come into class not knowing what their quilt might even look like and then going away with a fabulous product that changes their way of doing things. I love my job.
Hope you enjoy her site. I check it out at least twice a week. She is an awesome writer and a good friend too.

THE RIBBON SHOP TO TOP ALL RIBBON SHOPS!


The girl above from the ribbon shop is how you feel within about 5 minutes of being in this wonderful shop called Nicholas Kniel Fine Ribbons & Embellishments . They have a site online you can google too.

This is Tim who wrote this beautiful book on ribbons and the photos are the most beautiful you could imagine. It is a beautiful beautiful book and this fun young man is very talented. There were all kinds of projects here and there with ribbons and also the most wonderful assortment of things. This shop is in Atlanta. I went there with the two Kathy's and we all couldn't believe what a wonderland it is. I love Tinsel Trading in New York, but I think I liked this even better.

Look at the luscious colors and textures they have here.........

They have little sets like in a good movie ala' Marie Antoinette

I wanted this whole display to bring home

Big flowers, little flowers, feathers, ribbons, trims....Project Runway needs to come here!

Who would want to mess up this wonderful board with telephone numbers and messages?

If you click on the above picture and look at the bottom wreath, that was both of the Kathy's favorite thing- a vintage wreath made of white pipe cleaners and entwined. I loved the display.

This is the view when you walk in. WOW. It knocks your socks off in person.

A little balck glitter and a little silver/white sparkle. I left there on overload and it took my heart awhile to calm down. It was such a nice place to visit and imagine.
Take time to look at the details and the wonderful tricks they did with ribbon below

They had all of these red feathers and they were so cool....

Next time you go to Atlanta, I highly recommend you visit this wonderful shop.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

COLOR IN A STASH AND THREADS THAT SAY IT ALL!



So, I am a color person and in quilts, a colorist. I love bright stashes of lovely fabrics waiting to be made into something happy and fun-here are a couple of stashes from my class

Above is Pat's lovely bobbin case

On top of the table and below

Oh, I love the glow of plaids and light givers in my work-these are samples I show the class

Samples of Hoochy blocks with great colors-the hoochy book also discusses the 7 styles of fabric and how you should add things to your stash you don't use-every stash can always use some improvement. This is how my workshops begin.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

FABULOUS RED HEN QUILT SHOP AND KATHY AND I MAKE NEW FRIENDS AT THE HOTEL


So, I was out getting the car or checking out or something and I come into the lobby and here is Kathy with these cute and very polite kids. They are brothers and sisters and cousins (just like my little Grandkids who all play together weekly.) They were at the hotel for a swim birthday party for one of the little girls. The older brother did not want in the photo,he was at that age, you know. I remember that. Kids are so sweet because you say something nice to one and they all have something sweet to say so you will compliment them too. I felt like I was back home. This was one of the best parts of the trip. Look at Kathy, she is happy too. We are just kids in our minds.
And I want that little girls shoes on the left!

Above are out hosts while we were in Atlanta. We are all drinking Perrier and pretending we are in France (well not them but me). Kathy and Greg are attorneys and Kathy has done award winning quilts that are in books and catalgues. They are great fun!

Here is my friend Mary Ann Henderson. She owns the Red Hen quilt shop in Marietta and she is very talented. She has designed fabric forever and she has won many quilting awards. Plus, her shop is fabulous and BIG. I hope to teach there this fall if we can work it out.

Here we are together after she showed me her latest lines of fabric. YOU will LOVE them. They are vintage dogs and cats and so wonderful. She has a creative mind and I think we could get into alot of trouble together-the two "Mary's".

The quilt above was a prize winner and it is fabulous as you can see. It had like 4000 or more crystals on it and on the back (below). I could have studied that for an hour but the quilt shop was closed and they wanted me out of there. :0) It took three of them to drag me out and lock the door.

Above is another prize winning quilt of Mary Anne's. Pretty wonderful stuff- Note the crystal's on the bottom! Each one put on that separately

Pinks anyone???

Yellows and greens and teals and oh my!

Note the stripes on the right are from Benartex (my old Kray Kat designs)-pretty wonderful for great light giving fabrics-Hey! good news. I will have a new line out this Fall that is light giving plaids, my old dots (little with the squiggles), medium dots, tone on tone stuff that I used for face fabric for Uncle Sam and some other surprises. I can't wait to sew with the stuff. Since I am working on a new book, it should work in very very well!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

CLAY'S CORNER-A SLICE OF HEAVEN FOR THOSE WHO HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR



The photo above is of Clay who owns Clay's Corner. It is a real adventure going there for a coke, boiled peanuts, fishing licenses,candy bars, chewing tabacco, and anything possum related. They drop a possom every New years eve and I heard it is THE place to be if you live in Brasstown or thereabouts! I said to Clay, "this is quite the place and fun to come and visit." He said "wanna buy it?"

John C.Campbell is in Beautiful Brasstown North Carolina as is Clay's Corner. So, Sandi wanted me to explain the possum drop on New Year's Eve. I have not been there but people say that in the old days they would tie a rope to the possom and lower it. Then animal rights people said that was not nice so, they have a possom in a cage and as it gets closer to midnight, they lower the cage to the ground. I think it sounds more exciting that that million dollar thing they do in NY. The people who live here are fun, have common sense (no kidding), help their neighbors and are all around great. This would be a wonderful place to live.

Dancing is available in Brasstown too!


I have looked at this many times and I laugh everytime I see it.


I saw this last year and still think it is funny





The first ice chest I have seen like this one


The possom which is Clay's mascot and theme


I looked at these in the kettle and couldn't bring myself to try them



The view of the school property from Clay's corner


If you buy water from Clay's in the case, this is the water you get. There has to be a quilt story in there somehow

Monday, January 25, 2010

THE MAGIC THAT HAPPENS IN A LONGER CLASS-CAN YOU SAY CREATIVITY?


The little bird in the bath is Linzee's to join in with her Hoity Toity House story.

We are missing two students in this photo-we had a great class with nice and creative people! I also wanted to comment that I did not get any single photos of Susan who is in the back row, second to the left. It is her quilt she is standing behind and she owns the "Out of the Box" quilt shop in Alabama and she was a darling girl with alot of pazzaz. I wish her shop was closer to me.

I love showing what you can do if you know how to design without drawing-Eleanor got an A. :0)

The house above is the beginning of Vilma's story-she has an amazing stash!

Above Mary Kay gets creative- she was worried about her elephant strip being crooked-I told her that gave her an A for the day and to add a strip and having something rolling down-doesn't that sound fun?

here is Vilma cutting out her cowgirl

Mary Kay smiles as she cuts-I liked seeing her face-it looked like a child who cuts in gradeschool

Carol on the right is doing a story about her widows and orphans group she meets with for dinner a couple of times a month-her drawing was wonderful and this is going to be great!

Linda did her own drawings of her Grandchildren playing at their lake cabin-I thought this Hoity Toity house was very creative and fun.

Linda has some movement and creativity in this story that is great fun!

This is Jessica (above) who is 29 and a camp host for four months. This was her first attempt at making a quilt. She is hooked on how easy Hoochy Mama blocks are and she did this in two days and then did a back out of hearts to finish it. She is getting married in May and can't wait to start having babies-this is for her first baby. Pretty sweet. She traded me earrings for the Flower Power book which she is going to do next. She is hooked. Yipppeee.

Making friend is what my classes are all about and here are Pat and Linda sharing stories over dinner. They were amazing at getting out of the box and their ideas. Below is Pat's blocks and she remembered the Christmas cactus at her Grandmother's home. So separate from her quilt, she made a wallhanging of a large Christmas cactus with borders and once it is quilted she will embellish it like I do mine. I love an idea that connects us with the past. So nice!

Last year Terry took a class from me and did the hoochy/flower power blocks around the border of my "Sew Spoiled" pattern. It is a great idea and didn't it turn out great?
Terry did some creative things for her house. Note the door top below.

And these hoochy flowers

Linzee brought these blocks and she put them up on the design board. We are going to do this kind of thing in Sept. at the John C. Campbell school only in plaids. I loved her samples here!

Below is Linzee and her handsome husband after they danced for awhile-they have great square dancing at the school at night and it was fun to watch for sure!

Below is Linzee's quilt (Hoity Toity House)-she has lots more to add but I think it is wonderful and I love the use of the great fabrics she did.

Below is "Bun" (her nickname) cutting out an item that one can sew to a quilt

Here is Bun's Hoity Toity House sample-one of the bird's is moon walking she says. Very fun and loved the line of fabric she used.
Below is Terry who is cutting out carefully
Below is Terry's house- happy, creative and interesting!

and look what is in those windows!


Below is Eleanor's quilt. She will be appliquing leaves on her tree to go across the outside border and over part of the house. Love the cheddar fabrics in there.

The photo below shows the beginnings of Eleanor's quilt.
Stay tuned for the ribbon shop we visited in Atlanta. Timothy was a great host and his talent with ribbon is unmatched!
FOR MORE GOOD STUFF AND PHOTOS I DID NOT TAKE AND A GREAT PERSEPCTIVE OF THE SCHOOL I WAS AT LOOK AT THIS LINK! IT IS GREAT.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

A Poem Written about the Hoity Toity Houses Class-What a lovely gift on top of a wonderful week


The lovely quilt above was done by Susan who owns "Out of the Box" quilt shop in Alabama. And she was afraid she was over her head. Since she got an A+, I don't think she was. As with all Hoity Toity Houses, she will be adding things to the windows and doors and sky. A story that she will develop as she sews along. Hopefully she will send us a photo of the finished product for this blog.

The photo above is of Sam Butcher and myself. I met Sam in the diningroom and he commented that my clothes were bright. He told me he was from Maine and in the poetry class. I immediately took a liking to him because of his kind smile and the fact that all of the men in my family on both sides, were poets. Then Sam came to visit our wild workshop a couple of times and observed the color, the chattiness and laughter. Here is Sam's delightful poem. NOTE- Every poet likes to hear they have done their job well.
The first draft he had the word Extravaganza instead of Shivaree and I quite liked that because it sounded so wild. But he is the poet and I, only the reader. I loved this. If you like this poem, please comment. Sam has the link to this blog and will be checking.
Postcards from the Polyphonic
Technicolor Quilting Shivaree
Rows of piles of fabric bright,
red, fuchsia with green rings,
yellow with aqua dots, mauve.
Boxes of buttons, beads, bursts of light.

Ripples of voice careen about,
occasional words:
“Speaking of chocolate.”
“Migosh, look at that bird.”

Thrumm ahumm, tooka tooka
beedle beedle,
tooka tooka tooka
tug of thread, thrust of needle.

Colors sprouting on the wall,
stories of mothers, brothers,
boats and goats, a man with a sash,
a woman asking, “Need some of my stash?”

Sam Butcher

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Hoity Toity Houses at the John C.Campbell school a BIG success and so much fun too


Above is a photo of Kathy's "hoity toity" house which is not completed yet
Below is a photo of Kathy Skomer, Me and Kathy Collins

So, I am home from rainy but wonderful North Carolina. I missed my flight and stayed in Atlanta only to have to catch a shuttle to the airport at 6am. After 8 1/2 hours of flight and waiting I am home tired and with an earache but happy that John C.Campbell brought such lovely people and things to my life.
If you ordered anything in the past week, Kathy was with me at the school as my helper hostess and so we had no way of checking your orders or sending anything out. We are working on this and will have your orders out this week.
We had 12 lovely ladies in a full class and all with giving and wonderful personalities. Each person came to class not knowing what they had to do for the hoity toity houses and Susan a girl who owns "Out of the Box" quilt shop (no kidding) in Alabama said the first night she thought she was in over her head. Wait until you see her wonderful quilt.
My classes are based on art more than traditional quilting and tend to try to free you up through hoochy mama quilting methods and just letting go creatively. This is hard if you haven't done it since grade school but as people said this week "it is hard to go back to regular quilting after you learn how to do this." We had wonderful quilts come out of the class.
We also had one girl who had not ever quilted. She did a large baby quilt all with hoochy blocks and also pieced the hearts hoochy style for the backing. She is getting married in May and can't wait to start having babies. This quilt will be for her first child. Pretty wonderful stuff.
I am going back to bed but stay tuned here for plenty of photos of Atlanta adventures with my friend Kathy Collins, class photos, and photos of the people and places at John C. Campbell.
It is a fabulous place to take a class and if you don't get their catalogue, you should!
Come and take a class from me in September - "Plaid to Meet You"