A Field Trip to the Buggy Barn which is close to Mary Lou's House....

Here we are showing off our bags of goodies and having our picture taken with Pam who is one of the Sister's who own Buggy Barn. Isn't this fun? You should absolutely visit if you come to the Spokane area and good news, "if you come for Mary Lou's retreat, we will be visiting Buggy Barn as an optional day trip to see the area and all that we provide."

Here are three of the gals who greet you with a smile and a lovely greeting- this is a very friendly shop!

Here is Pam with one of their Brand spanking new samples-isn't it pretty?

I thought it would be fun to show just a little corner of this wonderful shop!

If you need creams and whites and beiges, it is loaded with them!

Be sure to visit their website. They have awesome stuff for everyone!

http://www.buggybarnquilts.com/

THE SECRET OF THE PILLOWCASE AND THE SECRET AND FABULOUS RECIPE

OK, I have to share this most wonderful secret that I have had for eight years with my Grandchildren that every Grandparent, Aunt or relative of children will LOVE.

When my first two Grandchildren got old enough to spend the night at my home. I put this very pillowcase on my guestroom bed where I would sleep with the little one that spent the night. It is glow in the dark. ALL year long not just Halloween time, this pillowcase sits on that bed.

Then when it is bedtime and teeth are brushed I always say "I am brushing my teeth and don't go into the bedroom yet as I get the halloween pillowcase." Then like clockwork, they rush to the bedroom giggling and hurry into bed and onto the pillowcase and when I go in, I make a big deal about them stealing my pillowcase and I turn out the light so we can see the glowing things. It has worked on four of my Grandchildren for years and soon the last two will be old enough to sleep here and I know it will work also. No trying to get them to bed...simply a fun pillowcase. I am in the midst of making new pillowcases out of new fabric to replace this pillowcase that is getting rather worn and old. :0) I giggle just thinking about a new replacement for the old one. What fun!

Tonight Mel and Kathy and I went out to dinner and then to Julie and Julia. They had seen it and I hadn't. I was always a fan of Julia Childs. I thought I would share my friend Suzanne's most wonderful recipe with you for a delicious recipe sure to please you and your most picky guests. Get ready for the compliments, it is DELICIOUS.

Suzanne's DELICIOUS Veal Burgundy
16 small white onions, peeled (About one pound) I buy them all ready in the frozen food section
3 1/2 lbs of veal stew meat
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup ketchup
2 1/2 Tablespoons of Herbs of Provence or Fines Herbes
2 teaspoons of Maggi Seasoning
2 teaspoons of Kitchen Bouquet
2 cups of Burgundy or other dry red wine
2 cups small whole mushrooms
I put the wine in the slow cooker then the meat cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
Then the rest I had to the top of the meat and cook on high for about 5 hours.
Add about 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with a little water at the end to thicken.
Just before you serve you can also add 1/4 cup of brandy
She serves this with mashed potatoes, peas and rolls.
Bon appetite!

ART WALK IN MICHIGAN QUITE FABULOUS AND INSPIRING

HUGE metal flowers that were fabulous

More flowers from a different perspective

All twigs....do you know how hard this must have been? Excellent

Loced the motion and color of this!

We watched the young man make this peace sign in the river which was so cool. He said his partner bailed on him-it was hard work digging but I saw it completed at night and couldn't get a photo-it was really cool-art with no expense-I love it. Well, I guess those Dr. visits for back problems is an expense but other than that....

The sign above which my computer will not let me put horizontal is cool and explains the art below-all borrowed ladders

Love the faces in different colors-HUGE-on the side of a building

The piece above was in a restaurant- I thought it was lovely and great inspiration for quilts!

My most favorite piece of art is the tree that an artist made. It is called "The Giving Tree" which is my most favorite book and I read it to my children many times and cried every time I read it.
The artist did such an amazing job and hopes that a children's hospital will buy it.
I want to buy it for my house when I win that lotto and live in the mansion.

The tree holds a kaleidascope you can crank and have fun with.

Image from inside.

Betsy, my hostess made this pretty quilt with lovely colors and I thought it would be fun to share it with you for inspiration.

Better Photos of the lovely ladies of Grand Rapids Michigan

Del Thomas who many of you know edited these photos to make them clearer and better for you to see your friends and the lovely smiles on the faces of these pretty ladies and a few gentlemen.

Thank you Del, you are hired. :0) Good job!

Can you see why it was fun to do a lecture and classes there?

No wonder they call it GRAND Rapids! It is more than GRAND

OK so here are the most lovely ladies who took my Hoochy Mama class. This was my first time to visit Michigan and not many people there knew who I was or what I did. I taught, gave my lecture and I think now people would know what a "hoochy mama" quilt is and what flower power is and why everyone needs to get out of the box and do a story quilt! Such nice ladies and such nice response from everyone. I had such a nice time with the ladies who took the Hoochy Mama class. Very creative group this bunch!

Just part of the blocks that were done as not everyone put their blocks up (maybe there were to shy or more likely they wanted to enjoy them by their own spot)

So here we are on day two after working on Flower Power blocks and quilts and how inventive and fun these gals were! I am amazed how this technique always produces things I never have seen before with people who jump out of the box and into creativity and individuality!

So, as a teacher you never know who is going to pick you up and what that is going to be like. You always hope the person will be nice, a good and safe driver and they will care about your needs as an out of towner with no car.

I was so lucky this time because "Betsy" was my hostess and she did a fabulous job and gave me everything and more than I needed and made sure I had things I didn't even think of. I have been very lucky lately and I hope it keeps up. This is a great year for good hostess's.

No horror stories-like cigarette burns (accidentely) on my sleeve when their cigarette gets too close, dog hair so thick in the back of the van that it was like a mattress (I am not kidding), leaving me in a hot car for over an hour and a half while they help their girlfriend move (I had no idea where she was when she parked the car and said "I'll be right back" and other fun stories.

OK, I am sorry I got off on all of that. Anyway, Betsy was wonderful and she took me to see tons of art in this most beautiful artsy city. AND I got to enjoy her college age daughter Anna who came to look too and go to dinner with us. It is so nice to be around a nice young girl. Mine have gotten past that stage and it is lovely to hear the thoughts of a college age gal.

Here is Betsy and Anna together before dinner. Lovely girls and lovely relationship there too!

Here they are in front of a part with lots of art. I am going to talk about this later and show you incredible art pieces in this city of art. I was so impressed.

I just had to take a photo of this most beautiful catholic church we visited. Isn't it heavenly? A wonderful place I am sure to visit on Christmas eve. Wonderful in so many lovely ways. Grand Rapids has churches like Washington State has drive through coffee places. :0)

OK, here are the lovely quilters who came to hear the lecture. It was quite humid and warm. I am not used to humidity. The church that we met in was beautiful and the classroom there was outstanding. CLICK ON THESE PHOTOS TO GET A BETTER LOOK AT EVERYONE.

I wish the photo above wasn't so dark because these are GOOD looking ladies!

I have to say another thing. I always tell the ladies in the sunshine states I can tell that there is sunshine there because they always come in tan and happy (no kidding).

The midwest states have their gift too. Honestly people greet you in the nicest way, the clerks chat, people in the stores talk to each other like they are long lost friends, the people who wait on the tables care what you think of them and their food, and it is just such a nice place to be when you are around caring, kind and sweet people. This is a place that if you need the door opened because you have packages, or you have a flat tire or a hand at something, they will go out of their way to help you. NO kidding.

Lizann who made this great wallhanging (she is adding more) was like an old friend. She was born in Moscow, Idaho so we felt like we had known each other before. Moscow is very close to where I live. What fun!

I am going out tomorrow to buy my lotto ticket since this is the house I want in Grand Rapids. I could do great things in this house like start the quilter's retirement house.

And what street do I want to live in when I move?

Scroll to the photo below.

I have never been to any other city that has a street called "wealthy" street. Have you?

If you are looking for a great city to visit on vacation that offers lovely art, plenty to do, park like beauty everywhere, good dining and friendliness, then Grand Rapids is the place for you. Visit their guild too, they are very friendly and have great show and tell!

I am on my way to GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan for Hoochy/Flower Power FUN!

Wanna take Hoochy Mama or Flower Power class or come to a lecture Monday or Tuesday?
Contact this email-selc986@msn.com
So, this is my first teaching trip to Michigan. Can you believe -NO hoochy mama/flower power people there. How can this be? Hopefully, I will convert all of them to see how very much fun creativity and getting "out of the box" is. :0) I am planning on meeting alot of lovely and fun people. I will be back Wed. in time for Mel to come and sew and have fun over the weekend! Hope you have fun things planned around sewing and friendship too!

One never knows what surprises you can get from the Mary Lou Retreats. :0)

Just wanted to say that I hope you will be one of the people who come and join us in May or August for my retreat. I just checked out bags and I am going to order awesome ones that will be fun to use all year long for projects. :0)

FULL INFORMATION FOR THE MARY LOU COLOR ME OUT OF THE BOX RETREATS IN 2010

"OUT OF THE BOX-UNLEASH YOUR CREATIVITY IN QUILTS RETREAT!
$575 for the May retreat -May 1,2 and 3-The event ends May 3rd at 3pm
Final no host dinner at the Coeur d'Alene Hotels "Dockside" for those who want to eat together before we say "Goodbye" -we will probably do an extra day of shopping and adventuring the day before for those of you who have not been to Spokane or Idaho. Stay tuned.
Three days of fabulous sewing with Hoochy Mama blocks,Flower Power blocks, Hoochy Houses, and new patterns that are brand new all done with the hoochy technique.
Leave with a quilt of fun color, creativity and your very own original twist.
We will have our own cook, baker and prizes and give aways. Sewing machines may be rented ahead of time through the retreat. We will be meeting in darling Post Falls Idaho at the Jacklin Art Center, a stones throw away from beautiful Coeur d'Alene Idaho and Spokane Washington.
You may fly into the Spokane Airport and take a shuttle or rent a car to the hotel. We have both single and double occupancy rooms.
This will be a wonderful chance to come and meet other creative quilters from many places. Hope you can come and join the fun.
The second retreat will be a story quilt retreat based on Mary Lou's new book "Out of the Box Quilts." This retreat will be held the same place as the first and the dates are August 20, 21,22 and 23rd. The price of this workshop is $785 which includes the hotel and all food with the exception of the final dinner (optional) held at the Coeur d'Alene Hotel's Dockside restaurant.
Both retreats will have discussions and the question of the day along with tiaras and many of the things that make Mary Lou's workshops oh, so special.
We will have a sign up on Mary Lou's website by the end of next week. Marylouquiltdesigns.com

Plaid to Meet YOU

So, I have begun new quilts with plaids for the "Plaid to Meet You" class. I have older ones that I have done and taught over the years. Thank heaven's I have Pam Hansen who helps me get things done! I am making some smaller houses today, an ocean and boats and one or two large houses for a whole quilt. Then later I am mixing more houses into a neighborhood that is "Plaid and bright and fun." If you are taking this class this year, prepare to do something great. One can never have enough plaids. And even if I do say so myself, some of the best plaids are ones I did for Benartex. :0)

More things to smile about from my cousin Lance

Have you ever wanted to write something like this? And how about at the Doctors office?

Just put on the link to order my new book

Look at the right column here where my book is pictured. Kathy got the new book pre-order on my website so those of you who contacted us, can click on it and order. Kathy suggested another nice surprise to throw into the mix and I agreed. For the first 50 people who order, we are going to send a fat quarter of my fabric, the new animal pattern hoochy pattern and a pin of one of the images on my quilt. We appreciate your business more than you know. Thanks so much. You will love the book!

My Favorite Shop and My Favorite Asilomar Artist in Residence and a great letter

Rhonda Mongomery was the artist in residence at Asilomar and worked on her projects while we took classes (or taught them). She gave a lovely talk the first part of the week and there she is with her husband and her daughter (aren't they attractive? and there are four more kids at home). She has taken two workshops from me and did a fabulous story quilt about the many workshops she has taken for years at Asilomar and how many unfinished quilts she has. She had all of her best friends in there and many of the things that happened. It is fabulous and sure to be a prize winner- Watch for it. It is called "The Road to Asilomar"-I think.

Above are Rhonda's best friends who came to hear her lecture. She showed many photos from the past that had all of the wild hairstyles and different outfits we all wore. Very fun. If you look at the photo above, you can see the quilt I spoke of. Her friend Charlene from Utah, (above) quilted all of her quilts and she said "all I want is a poster." So here she is with the poster in hand. I think Rhonda should sell these posters-I would buy one.

When Rhonda took my class (twice) these four ladies (Rhonda, Charlene, Diane and Marilyn) took it together and what a lovely gift to me. Happy, positive, fun and talented. I have my fingers crossed they will take it again. With students like this how can you miss as a teacher?

I have to put photos in of my most favorite shop in the whole wide world. It has the best stuff and the best owners. Be sure to go to Tazuti Zoo if you are on the Monterey Peninsula.

Above is the beautiful Mary and the beautiful Emily. Both as beautiful inside as outside and a real inspiration to anyone who wants to be happy and creative!

Just two little photos I took of a place that has tons and tons to see and buy. Hope you get to experience this wonderful place and wonderful Mary and Emily.

Got this wonderful letter today and I cannot tell you how nice it is to get a letter like this when you work so hard at making everyone happy and creative and content.
Endorsement Letter from Laura-

Hi Mary Lou---I just wanted to add my thank-yous to Charlotte's for such a wonderful class. It was by far one of the best that we have taken in a very long time. Whatever it was, those that had never been to your class or Alisomar won't realize how special this one was for everyone. They will have to figure that out when their next class isn't as good. Remember that: "Everyone is a Princess in Mary Lou's Class" or as I like to put it--in Mary Louie's Class. We were definitely Princesses this time around. Hope to see you soon and in the meantime I send you hugs.Laura Webb

This may be blarney as my Grandmother used to say, but it made me feel pretty darn good!