Story Quilt Sharing Here-Isn't it PRETTY and FUN? Comment please

I got a wonderful email this week and wanted to share this adorable quilt with you....great subject and fun colors and awesome lettering....hope to see the whole quilt on a wall (photo) sometime. I'd give this quilt and A+!

She wrote this to me below: 2 letters so you will get to see both......

Hi Mary Lou...I read it from cover to cover.....Quilted Memories.....put on my thinking cap and produced the attachment. Had more fun making this quilt than any other I've ever done. Have been quilting since 1999. Thought you'd enjoy looking at it. Sandie Duerksen, Aiken, South Carolina

Sorry I had the wrong email address for origianl message. Thought you'd enjoy seeing your inspiration....just loved reading the book and working on my toucans...Sandie Duerksen at Aiken, South Carolina
ON another note, I will be leaving for the Apostle Islands to teach at Madeline Island-a Beautiful place for beautiful story quilts! FUN. I will be there next year this time and if you start saving, you can come and see how to make a story about YOU or someone YOU love!

Advice from a cow...no silly not me.....

	Wake up in a happy mooo-d.  Don't cry over spilled milk. When chewing your cud, remember: There's no fat, no calories, no cholesterol, and no taste! The grass is green on the other side of the fence. Turn the udder cheek and mooo-ve on. Seize every opportunity and milk it for all its worth! It's better to be seen and not herd. Honor thy fodder and thy mother and all your udder relatives. Never take any bull from anybody. Always let them know who's bossy. Stepping on cowpies brings good luck. Black and white is always an appropriate fashion statement. Don't forget to cow-nt your blessings every day.

Autumn things to think about......

This is a rug inside the shop Tasuti Zoo and it seemed like a good one to start today's blog with. Wouldn't this be cute in a quilt? You could do the witch's feet and say "WIPE YOUR FEET"
I love the new fabrics that are Halloween this year....a group of friend and I are trading Halloween Witches. We should each have 14 and it will be alot of fun to have a whole quilt done with them. Any ideas of what a witch would say surrounded by her girlfriend witches? I would love to have it done for Halloween this year but I don't see that happening.....maybe......
Below is a photo of a witch that Wendy Price or Sandy Fisher made....they were the ones that got our group going on these silly witches...poor things, no hair and no broom....

I was looking through photos and thinking of Fall and decided I would download a few. I always loved this sunflower...it made me want to do ceramics...but it would make a keen quilt block too!

I had an owl swap on my Yahoogroups (Marylouweidman) chatroom and here are some of the owls that someone made to swap...aren't these wonderful and so much like Autumn! Who,Who,Hoo. Come and join us for the block swaps, I am working on a book and am sharing some of my designs to give people a chance to hoochy, easy piece for fun and sharing.

Below is an Autumn angel I made sitting on a pumpkin....I like dark reds for backgrounds and turquoises with oranges for Fall....scrappy is wonderful if you know what kinds of scraps to buy.....

I am adding this little bee I put onto a quilt....the bees seem to be all over this time of year, trying to finish up and get ready for winter...that is if you live where I do....

Dark backgrounds (plaids) make for great Fall quilts with whimsical things in them for fun....there has to be an Autumn story quilt just waiting to come out that wants to be told and all you need to do is get some fabric, some simple ideas and jump in! All of my books tell you how to do it and if you have taken a workshop from me, you have a good idea how to approach this! Having a cheery attitude comes first and then action comes second.

Wanted to mention some of the plaids I have for sale on my site and more that will be added soon that were just released....Plaids are light givers and you will find many light givers on my site because that is what i design...I know what works well in quilts and these do! Fun!

A funny story about my friend the teacher when she was new.....

    It was in the Fall and they had a teacher's meeting and several teachers talked about this kid (little) that was trouble. So my friend (the music teacher) was ready for him. It was the day of the Halloween party and they had music in the morning and the boy started acting up.

My friend walked over said "get your chair and move into the closet!"
"You are NOT going to act naughty in my class!" And she shut the door and preceded to teach the music class.

    Later that afternoon, she went to get her coat to go home and there sat the poor kid  and he started to cry and said "did I miss the party?"
She hugged him and said "yes." And she waited to get pulled in and fired.
No one ever said a word about it and the kid was as good as gold the rest of the year. Haha.
Now there is a story quilt idea!
   

Roxanne's, A Wish and A Dream.-Carpenteria opens a new quilt shop!

Many of you remember going to the Treasure Hunt quilt shop in Carpenteria California. My friend Roxanne owned it and later on sold it when she thought she wanted to retire. The shop closed at least a year ago and guess who is back? Roxanne! Look at the fabrics....wouldn't this be a fun place to buy fabric??? You bet! Roxanne obvisouly is creative, fun and she knows what to order to get us excited about color and making fun quilts. She does her own style of story quilts so naturally I love her and wish her fabulous success.  When you go to Carpenteria, ask where the good Mexican restaurant is and make a day of it! It is a darling town with lots to see.

Someone is pretty proud of her and who wouldn't be, she is darling, talented and a great friend to many people.

PANAMOO CANAL - Susan Typpi does it again with COW fun!

So this summer when we had our cupcake retreat I whined and got my friends to make a cow quilt for school house at Market. Susan just sent me this adorable photo of her cow. Isn't she fun? A couple of years ago Susan and Laurie and I and our husbands went to the Panama Canal on a cruise. My husband went to high school there so it was kind of a sentimental trip for us and having our good friends there made it a lovely memory. We girls loved looking at all of the lovely Mola's there and Susan bought some really lovely ones and saved them to do something great. Well, this is pretty GREAT! See how much fun the cow pattern from the new book is? It's the perfect challenge for sure! And on another note, I will be going on another Panama cruise this february and would love you to join me. I am sure to be talking about these cows and bringing at least one. I think this cow take the cake! Susan it takes the cupcake! LOVE it!

Isn't this Funny the Way Life IS when you are young ?

I have to laugh at this photo of my young Granddaughter who is the top scorer on her soccer team. She is on the far left and she made a goal and the girls in yellow all realize it while her teammates are still playing...she is cheering like a cheerleader for herself....really fun to watch. I am reminded of stories my Mother told me about her playing sports and so, it goes on.....isn't life wonderful?

Autumn Serves Up Beautiful Colors and Ideas for Fall Quilts!

I always loved this photo I took at Freddy Moran's house in the Autumn. She had this quilted tablecloth, a super face bowl and little pumpkins and it just looked so charming,,,great colors and textures....

Buying pumpkins and things from the harvest is always big on my list as long as some of my family is there to enjoy along with me. The colors of the different oranges and greens and tans are all so beautiful and the shapes of the harvest are all so different as you can see from the following photos....

Even a bowl of limes next to a few pumpkins is gorgeous and limes in a clear vase are wonderful to look at!

Hoochy Mama quilting or easy piecing can make up any kind of theme and the theme of Autumn was easy and fun. If you have the Flower Power book, you can find a pretty cool pumpkin and crow in there to create from. Having a starting place is half the battle!

THE GRASS IS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE-KELLY GIRL IS AMAZING!

I love checking Kelly Girls Blog and this quilt with the cow from the book is getting better and better and better....and now she is doing the border....it is going to be a work of art and something we will ALL just love. This would be so cute on a kids wall, in a family room or anywhere! Hey, it matches my entry hall! Check our her blog!
http://kellygirlquilts.blogspot.com/

Easy Piecing Hoochy Style for FUN

My group of chatroom friend on Yahoo have been swapping easy pieced blocks for over a year now and it is fun to see how a simple pattern I send them can be changed into original and creative blocks for the swap. We have 36 people swapping fish now.
I am posting three blocks that people sent me out of kindness. I wasn't in the bird swap which I regret. They are fabulous! Dawn, my friend too pity on me and send me two wonderful birds. I love them. Miki sent me this fish this week which was very thoughtful and so appreciated. Aren't these blocks cool? Imagine getting an envelope full of different blocks for a creative, colorful and original quilt. So fun! Join Yahoo groups and type in my name or send me a note that you want to beong to the chat room. The biggest bonus is the people who share in there and the friendships that are made. Sincerely, we have made fabulous friends in there and you can too as well as these great blocks!

Story Quilt Tree Skirt for a small tree and a child! GREAT idea Charlotte!

I love it when people share their ideas and Charlotte from the Houston area brought this idea to show me and I LOVED it! She bought Christmas trees for each of her Grandchildren and she made a little tree skirt for each child and every year she adds a different item to the skirt. The ideas and shapes and embellishments are awesome. Such a clever idea and it is a story quilt Christmas skirt. Don't you wish your Grandmother had made one that you could touch and enjoy and show off? Well, maybe you know a child you could make one for and you would both be very happy!
I had more photos and they disappeared from this post and my file...Charlotte, feel free to send me images if you can. This is so cute. Be sure to click on the photo so you can see the details.

Why are scarecrows always BOYS?

I took my last fabric line from Benartex and made a girl scarecrow. I always love cats perched pon pumpkins and I made a hoochy pumpkin (so easy) and put a cat on top. Then I did a hoochy skirt and jacket for my girl and added stick legs and a head and hat. She needed a purse like we all do and it made sense to make a sunflower handbag. Love birds in my pieces and either cherries or apples (something RED) and added bluebirds. In the end I added a mouse to the cat for fun as I knew my Grandkids would love seeing this.

This little scarecrow looks darling on my wall. I will be bringing her to Madeline island to talk about hoochy piecing pumpkins and gourds and flowers for Autumn (or any) story quilt. October is the perfect time to do a story quilt because it is right in the time we think about the beauty around us and we are going into holiday time. So many good ideas to leave a memorable legacy quilt about someone or something we love!

Buttons for embellishment add to the whole fun and whimsy of the piece.

Fun at Peggy Baldwin's House! Need to be sparked creatively? Look at the photos....

Peggy's amazing eating area...so much to look at and enjoy!

I have known Peggy Baldwin for many years ever since she took her first workshop from me. Her quilts and my quilts are at the Galveston Historical Building along with some of our other friends and it is fun to see Peggy's whimsy and color sense. This week I stayed at her home and gee whiz I could have done a hundred story quilts based on her things and her adorable Mother who has an interesting history and a darling way about her as does Peggy. I took some photos thinking I might tempt you to come up with some ideas on your own of things to make others (and you) smile in the way of happy quilts. Enjoy Peggy's house as much as I did!

 Peggy loves cats and she loves color and these amazing chandeleers.

Awesome aren't they?

Such a cute idea....

The other thing I want to mention about Peggy is that she is always the first one to offer to work and get things going, together, put away etc. She is organized and fun and her story quilts are wonderful....hope you make it to Galveston before the show closes the end of the month! See my other blog- Mary Lou and Cherries Too

for some photos of the show.

I know Peggy would love some comments and me too!

TEA at Queen Mary's Tea Room in Seattle,Susan Typpi shares a Story Quilt Time with her Granddaughter-Lovely!

 My friend Susan has a Granddaughter who loves pretty dresses, ballet and the fine things of life-Susan took her to tea and this will make a wonderful quilt. Susan is my flight attendant friend who makes fabulous story quilts and is one of the best cooks in the world and she is very nice too as many of you can attest! Susan lives in Seattle.

 I didn't see any peanut butter or sloppy joes here-it is too classy for me and my Grandkids. :0) Besides, I have no cool hat-isn't her hat darling?