News - March 13th, 2015
Dear Friends -GOOD Friends,
Good news, I have found a website person who is going to work with me to do a new and BETTER website.
I ordered great bright and cool fabrics like I LOVE to work with and they will be here the beginning of the year and I will be selling them on my new website. It is fabric that most quilt shops do not carry and you can't find them. Many of you ask which shop I buy my fabrics from. Now I just decided to order what I love and pass them on to you. You will love what I have to offer! We'll see how long this takes for my new site to be built and up!
Stay tuned for new patterns and alot of fun things offered there.
I am sure you wondered why for all of these months my website has talked about winter and the snow etc.
I did not get around to changing my website because last June in 2013 my dear husband Mark (the nicest guy in the world) was diagnosed with Glioblastoma a horrible and rare brain cancer.
We had a wonderful ten months left after he was diagnosed and it is bittersweet since we got to tell each other everyday how much we loved each other and reminisce about lovely times together, our children and our lovely Grandchildren.
We had so many wonderful times together and this week marked our 45th wedding anniversary. Sadly Mark was not here to celebrate it with me.
I had the sheer pleasure of keeping him home until he passed away. He was comfortable and I got to hold his hand, feed him and kiss him before he died.
My children and Grandchildren were often here entertaining him and though he was very ill, he always smiled and had something fun to say.
I have been going through the many quilts I have made and the ones I made about our family (stories) mean so much now that he is gone. It just makes my point that a story quilt will last forever.
I am now working on a quilt about us that includes name blocks quilters that held us up in prayer and good thoughts sent. Some quilters sent him post cards and greeting cards and a few sent post cards to him every single week before he died. I kept every single card from when he was living and the beautiful cards that were sent after.
I cannot thank you enough for the lovely support and caring that was shared through the internet and snail mail.
So now I am planning a new single life which is kind of hard but thankfully I have quilt teaching and my quilting friends. I am thankful I can travel and see my many friends out there and that we can have fun with new projects and old ones too.
I have been working on bird quilts which are fun, a wonderful book of girls that will be called "Wall Flowers" (friends helped me get the blocks done and they were all creative and unique!) YOU will love the pattern (all pieced) and I have some really fun ideas in there. This will be a class next year.
I have some story quilt classes planned and am hoping for more opportunities to teach quilters how to do their own quilt stories. Many people have begged for a story quilt in the East-I do not promote my classes, I pretty much wait until a guild or group offers me the chance to come.
My Asilomar class filled right away this year and alot of people were left out wishing there was another venue. I will be teaching this Oct. in Truckee outside of Tahoe (see schedule above for exact date) and we need a few more people to sig up. It will be a great opportunity for Fall beauty and putting our stories onto cloth!
I am very sorry to say I canceled all of my retreats because Mark was so ill and needed me home with him. It was sheer joy to be with him that last ten months and I thank God daily that I had that time with him.
Whats new? A NEW MOOSE that is really quite wonderful. I am going to release him soon as a pattern!
In February, I plan to release the cutest witch you have ever seen and also a booklet called "Wall Flowers". Just wait you will love it!
COWs- We now have 65 cows in our presence (Mel has them at her house and she is the official sender and protector. She has worked so hard on this and I admire her because she NEVER complains. She is a wonderful friend.
If you have been following me in the past two years you know that we have a whole herd of cows that are traveling across the US and Europe.
I am teaching a COW workshop with all kinds of ideas (given in handouts) and discussion of how to develop a fun theme and invent creative things to go on or with your cow. The cow pattern is pieced and easy pieced...no little fussy pieces. I will offer it in two sizes. This class is alot of fun. Make the MOOve to take the class and enjoy the process.If you want to make the cow with NO class you may purchase the book from my (see above to order) and the book is "Out of the Box with Easy Blocks." I wrote this book with Mel McFarland. It has a GREAT cat pattern I teach in there and other FUN things.
2- Christmas themed quilts, remembering Christmas and what it means to us (perhaps a memory or something we want to represent for the wonder of this time of year- these are good size single trees with ornaments done in all kinds of "things" using applique or fusing plus yoyo's, lots of embellishments using buttons, Grandma's jewelry, beads, crystals, old keys, rick rack and other findings. We also add things under the tree that remind us of what we got once or what we would like to get. These make wonderful keepsakes that you can work on all year. Two day or three only.
3- Beautiful Wreaths that are Christmas (or not- think 4th of July, Autumn, Birthday, Childs room) and done in both cottons and wools. I will be showing how I use rick rack, perle cotton and some fun stitches as well as many embellishments to make them oh so pretty and exciting!
4- Small Story Quilts (called SHORT STORIES) These smaller quilts (than my normal BIG ones) tell a quick little snippet of something that has happened or a thought, a theme or focus on a person, place or thing. I normally applique but fusing works here for fun too. These are creative, colorful, happy and fun.
5-Building Quilts with Easy Piecing. My second most popular This is using my"hoochy mama" method of easy piecing and building a great quilt with a theme. We will piece words, buildings and people or trees or flowers (Flower Power book) and make an original FUN and happy quilt that could easily win prizes. Whimsy, invention, process and passion all work towards beautiful quilts with these ideas. Two day.
Flower Power Workshop-My most popular .Easy piecing ideas for all kinds of great flowers, discussion of what's wrong with your stash and cool birds, bugs and other critters. A cotton garden with great color is a ton of fun and there are always students who come up with new ideas and share and we laugh and enjoy this workshop so much! Two day
Come On To MY House- Creative and fun pieced house blocks that make awesome quilts- I give ut an easy tree pattern and ideas for cutting and slashing and easy roof tops etc. LOVE this fun class- 2 day.
I hope you will join me for the fun and the wonderful outcomes as you grow in your design and composition. If you would like a workshop with me, two days or more please, contact me at Marylouquilts@aol.com
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I like to post fun things, recipes and photos of students projects and things that make you smile. Please check out my fun blog.
Check out my blog to see the photos. http://marylouweidman-marylou.blogspot.com/
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MOOOOOO- SPEAKING OF COWS....if you have a cow to show off from our book "Out of the Box with Easy Blocks" please email us a photo We are organizing MORE -The cow parade continues to grow and we hope to have new venues next year! We have 65 in our possesion now and hope to show off even more.
Good news, the cows are traveled to Holland and to Switzerland this Phoenix and Sisters this summer!
If you wonder where the cow pattern is, it is in the book Out of the Box with Easy Blocks which you can order from me here. Look at the tab that says "Go Shopping." Every !***************************************************************
I have only ONE blog now...please visit it and comment and you might win some fabric...I don't announce this, I just do it on the sly once in while for fun.
http://marylouweidman-marylou.blogspot.com/
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A SINCERE thank you for being there for me when I needed it so much. Quilters are the BEST friends in the entire world and I mean that. I wish more girls knew what it is like having quilters for friends and having a hobby that is so very fulfilling!
On a personal happy note, my dear son made his Iron man attempt in Whistler BC last month- we are so very happy he did this in less than 14 hours...who would want to? Anyway, he worked at it for a year and did it! Jason is an Ironman!
"If you always do what you have always done, you always get what you've always got."
Think about this if you are still doing the same old things over and over- this might be the year you change and expand and invent and challenge yourself!
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"A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains it's original dimensions. " Oliver Wendall Holmes
Thank you for coming here and for supporting me, I love my quilting friends.