Getting ready for the retreat and a picture that inspires (attention Patsy Kellogg)

I have had this wine bottle (empty) in my store room for about 5 years. I would love to throw it away but the label is so wonderful I can't. I think that this is a great idea that I would like to jump off of for a story quilt and do my own thing....my friend Patsy loves roosters and has a name that fits. I told her about this bottle and think it would be nice to show her and people who attend my retreat this weekend. Ideas come from all over and as I always say" do not copy that exact design- make it yours so that even the artist would not know you got your idea from their art. There is too much copying out there and you can change anything into YOURS.
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I have boxes of fat quarters, half yards cuts and bolts of fabric to take along in case we need it....lots of fun colors and designs! Plus boxes of books and patterns.

I am packing cake plates and rulers and pressing boards and ironing boards and irons and mats and....well you get the picture...I owe my husband so much, he has spent the past few days with me shopping and making lists and running around....

Collecting serving pieces, bowls and cake plates for all of the food we bought to prepare....I knew I bought all of this stuff for a reason!

Stay tuned for fun photos of fun people and fun happenings from this weekend retreat.

Great examples of what we will be piecing at the Retreat!

So, my retreat starts day after tomorrow. We will be doing a field trip first of all around the Spokane Washington/Coeur d'Alene Idaho region of the world. Lots of fun.
Then Saturday we begin the process of learning Hoochy Mama and making flowers, purses, birds, and other fun things and turning them into awesome quilts. Some girls who are advanced will be doing all kinds of animals and turning their work into story boards for some applique. Sucn fun!
I wanted to comment on the lovely quilts above. A girl sent me these samples along with photos of her darling daughter's wrapped in these quilts. She didn't take a class and she did these from my Hoochy/Flower Power books. Great work and lovely colors! Stay tuned for photos of the girls from all over the US and Canada who are flying in on Thursday. I can't wait to start the fun!

No Thanks, I'll Walk

As someone who travels alot, I like yellow cabs. My daughter, daughter in law and two of their friends just went on a cruise to Mexico. She sent me photos to enjoy. I looked at this Mexican Cab or possibly this is the cab inspectors or the Grand Poobah's of the cabs around town ( I am not sure) and it reminded me of a couple of times when I got into cars that I should not have.
I got into a cab once in Chicago that wasn't yellow and it was two Russian men who were drunk and celebrating since one of them was getting married the next day. We ran a toll booth and I prayed the whole way I would get where I was going. To these two gentlemen in the white volkswagon,I would say "it's a lovely day for a stroll, thanks anyway I'll walk. Comments?

Color You Can Expect at Mary Lou's Retreat this coming Weekend! Plus An Opportunity in Northern California Quilter's Escape

So this coming weekend 20 of you are coming to Spokane and then taking a three day workshop from me in lovely Post Falls at the Art Center. It is my first ever retreat. Phew, lots of lists and thinking. I have lots of tricks up my sleeve and a few girls have taken many workshops and are bringing their latest work to show off. I cannot wait to share the patterns and colors with you.
AND If you live close to Northern California (or not), I am doing a story quilt class for Quiltersescape.com and will be showing some of my latest stuff to girls in the class. Wouldn't you love to do a story quilt about YOU and someone you love and your collections and thoughts in the form of a quilt????
I have asked my students for next weekend to bring some stratas and so I thought I could show just some of the ones I have put together. I have plenty more to show you and then show you what to do with them! Can wait to start the fun. Hope I see you either in Idaho or California! Color does rock doesn't it?

Sensational, Stupendous, Super San Diego and my Students and Friends!

This is the beginning of Deb's owl quilt-Great texture and fabric choices!

Below is samples of playing with colors while doing funky geese from the hoochy Mama book and also Out of the Box book. FUN.

Below is Patsy's border for her self portrait. See drawing down a little farther

This is my hostess Deb with a really cute quilt she made that any pet owner will understand!

Below was Patsy who took me to the airport, gave me homemade chocolate chip cookies and cheese sticks for the plane, shipped my quilts home and was smiling the entire time I was with her. Positive and kind and fun and hey, look at the drawing too!

Nadine worried at the beginning of the class that she wasn't out of the box-she did a great job and the lid was off and she was jumping out with creativity!

Marty below makes clothes and isn't she a cute model?


It was a treat for me to see the darling girl below brought her own tiara....I loved that! Every girl should own their own tiara and I have given many out for my five day workshops....wish I could afford to give them out for every event!


This fabulous chicken quilt was done by the lady below who is really a wonderful artist




Below is Reena who lives in San Diego and has a positive force in my chatroom...she always has something nice to say and interesting too. I was so pleased to spend two days with her. Hope we get to spend more time together sometime when I am back in the area.

Below is Deb who many of you know-she has taken classes from me in Santa Barbara, Asilomar, LA and San Diego-we have become friends over the years along with her sister Harriet who is fun too. Love the colors of these crazy geese!


Below is just a sample of the work from my class....I wish we had had more time....the colors and designs she did were done well-very fun

This is Deb my hostess while I was in San Diego and I had to take a photo of her awesome blouse too....I want yards of this. :0) She was alot of fun.



The beginning of the quilts from my workshop- these ladies were so NICE and really went for it and were so talented in their creative approaches-photos don't do them justice

Below are some of the lovely ladies who took my workshop in San Diego. You know how a process class is...lots of things in your head and on your paper and bits and pieces of the beginning. They are going to have awesome quilts when they are done and I am not just saying that. There were some fabulous blocks made in this class and everyone had their self portrait pictures sketched out also.

The quilt below is the Opportunity quilt for Beach Cities...I already bought the winning ticket...I hope- it is beautiful in every way!

Nuts, this wonderful quilt loaded sideways. It was made by my friend Mary Taback who is inventive and a ball to hang out with because she speaks "art" and is fun to laugh with and enjoy what our eyes see. I hope you can see the fruits she has disected here...it is such a lovely quilt!

California Dreaming......

So, after the four of us went to Dancing with the Stars, we pulled up in our car right behind Susan Lucci. She can't weigh more than 85 pounds....she is so teeny teeny tiny. She was driving an old white Porshe. I wondered what she could order in the Italian restaurant she ate at. She probably ordered water and maybe a piece of a breadstick. Poor thing. She is very pretty but oh so teeny. Anyway, the four of us had a lovely dinner and it was fun to listen to Ellen who just had her 80th birthday talk about the male stars. It was lovely to see how happy everyone was and how much we laughed at the experience to seeing everything in person.------------------
We stopped a young Japanese tourist and asked him to take our photo in front of the Hollywood sign behind us. Then we took his photo. You notice I got new glasses...very colorful and fun. But they didn't stand out there.

I told you about the smoothies at DeLush. Here we are enjoying the sweet taste of banana strawberry....they are tasty and cool on a hot day! The perfect thing to drink while you watch the crazy people down in Hollywood walk of fame. I feel so normal.

Never have I felt so pale as with this photo of Molly, Marilyn and Me. Marilyn has great lipstick on and Molly has great nail polish.....I need both.

Recipes for Spring for those of you who have asked.....

Side Dish Potatoes with Rosemary -YUM
2 pounds of varied potatoes-red, yellow, finger,whatever
Olive Oil
Salt
Black pepper (ground please)
2 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
Fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Cut all of the potatoes in half. Next mis them in a bowl with oil, salt, pepper,garlic and rosemary. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. These are great with any barbqued meat or just oevn baked chicken.
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Someone wrote to ask for a recipe that isn't so calorie laden. This is a good and simple recipe for anyone and good for you. I have used this for over 35 years.
Mary Lou's quick and easy supper
On a medium piece of foil, place a chicken breast with herbs or barbeque sauce or any sauce in the sauce aisle (lemon, teriyaki,Thai,Mexican,there are loads of good flavors). I just grab a spoon and get it on there nice and sloppy. Next place your favorite vegies on top like broccoli (my favorite),mushrooms, zuchinni, carrots grated, celery, onions, caulifower, or any other vegie you love. I put lots of variety on mine as I like them all. Cut them up small. Next add 2 Tablesppons of water to the bottom of the foil to help steam everything. Seal tightly but leave room for the steam (important). I add a little salt and some pepper to mine when it comes out of the oven.
Bake 450 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Have rice made or bread for a little oomph unless you are watching your calorie/carb intake.
This is delicious and can be done with fish as well.
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Hope you enjoy these as they really are quite good.

Walking Hollywood offer Alot to the Imagination-It's Creative and Sometimes downright Creepy

These sayings were on the walk way of the Mall below (scroll down)-I thought many of them were very funny. Love the impact of words, don't you?



King Kong is at this wax museum...thought this was a fun photo. Poor Faye Ray.


So this is Grauman's theatre in Hollywood. In front of the theatre are all of these stars that have signed things in the cement and it is wonderful to see people from the 20's and 30's who wrote things. This was a place that was fun to visit and spend time. Lots of history that was interesting.







I had never been to the walk of stars. The stars goes for blocks and there is plenty of room for more. Some of them are really beat up! There are alot of people I don't consider stars....you know what I mean. All along the street there are people dressed like Michael Jackson, Yoda, Cat woman, super man, the Mario brothers etc., that want you to get your photo with them for money. Can you imagine going down there every day like a job? It is a place where reality isn't. But it is fun to people watch.


I thought this wall to the entrance of the Mall was lovely. Lots of $$$ went into this place.

Only in Hollywood would you have an elephant (there were others too) overlooking a small mall. Our city is being cheated (haha). This mall is on the other side of Grauman's Chinese theatre. If you go there get a Delush smoothie...we got the strawberry and banana one and drank every drop. It must not have been low cal it was too good.

A beautiful view of Hollywood hills and such a lovely day that God provided too.


I saw the sign above and just thought it would be great for any quilt for painting....it could have such possibilities with a little imagination. Don't you think???? Looking at things around you always provides such good imagination.