Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day . In between the BBQing and opening weekend for the pools, lakes and beaches, just wanted stop and take a moment to think about the real meaning of this holiday weekend

Also to share this information about

Quilts of Valor . What a great way to say thank you to our troops !!! Be back soon! Toodles, Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Cat on a hat (and other NYC adventures)

So, in New York City you see all sorts of interesting stuff .....

for example : Fred Flintstone with a cat sitting on his head !

..... a GIANT button and sewing needle

.....and a statue of a man sewing

And even though sight seeing was fun , the real reason for the NYC trip this past weekend was a Girls' Weekend to celebrate my sister Boop's xx birthday. One of our fun activities was going out Saturday night to see the new musical Once .

SUCH a GOOD show !!!!

Here's the whole gang after the show in front of the theater (except for Beth and Jenny who were taking the pictures)

....the birthday girl herself (wearing her birthday hat) being sung to by this suave guy at a GREAT Italian restaurant we went to after the show. Don't you just LOVE Girls' Weekends !!!!!! (lots and lots of fun .... but now I need a week to recuperate ! ) Be back soon! Toodles, Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Polka Dots ..... Lots O Polka Dots !!!

Lookie what I found whilst out and about shopping at Michael's today .....

....the CUTEST polka dotted stuff !!!! in the CUTEST colors (turquoise and red !!!!) LOVE those little journals with the pretend ric rac edges ! .....and that polka dotted pen !!! AND the little mushroom (filled with candy) ..... do you SEE that little mushroom?!?!?!? Don't you just LOVE it !!!!!!! I bought this stuff for some fun little gifty gifts for a Girls' NYC Birthday Weekend coming up, but its all so dang cute I might just have to keep some of it ....or all of it ....

AND, speaking of polka dots... this partially polka dotted quilt is getting it's name tag sewn on and is.....

being packed up by the MBIAJ Packing Up Dept to leave home and go all by itself on an exciting big adventure !! Don't forget to send a postcard little quilt ! Be back soon! Toodles, Mary Anne (aka Mare)

(gasp) ....SWOONING !!!!!

Well, it's 2 AM here at MBIAJ Headquarters and I really, really, REALLY should hit the hay and get my desperately needed beauty sleep, BUT I happened to spot ....

...the new summer issue of "Stitch, Craft, Create" at the grocery store today and I just can't put it down !!!! I LOVED the Christmas issue and couldn't wait to see the new summer issue.

....look !

......look at all of this GREAT stuff !!!! I think I would make every single project in this magazine .... yes, yes I would ! I don't think there isn't a project in here that I don't like ! .......OK , so now I have to come down off of my "Stitch , Craft , Create" high and try and get some of that beauty sleep . Be back soon! Toodles, Mary Anne (aka Mare)

How was your weekend?

ZOOM ! Where the heck did the weekend go? Here it is Sunday night ALREADY !!! When I get home from work on Friday, I always have great aspirations for Saturday and Sunday ...... then, before the laundry pile is caught up and the groceries are put away, it's Sunday night and all my delusions of grandeur (aka Martha Stewart Syndrome) have gone down the drain! So, other than laundry and groceries (and piddling around on facebook and reading blogs ..... I know ..... THAT's where a chunk of my weekend went!), I spent WAY too much time trying to get caught up on .......

.......last week's PAPER WORK for the day job (so what else is new , UGH!)

Good thing I had my "power lunch" to keep me focused !

......AND , of course, Daisy was "helpful" as always ! (her jobs consist of sitting on any paper I need to write on AND shredding/ playing with all others)

......in spite of all of the afore mentioned drudgery, the MBIAJ Sewing, Quilting and Design Dept is happy to report that they did manage to squeeze out a few minutes of the weekend to work on something new .... (not quite moving at the speed of light, however)

AND, last but not least on this MBIAJ Weekend Update is just a teeny tiny bit of exciting news from these nice people ...... :) P.S.) I'm trying to figure out this new system here on blogspot .... everything seems to run together ..... sorry ! Be back soon ! Toodles, Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Handmade handwriting fabric (in small doses)

So, what do you do when you can't find what you need .... you make it right? (or attempt to!) Well, I LOVE the look of handwriting (hate the fact that "they" might discontinue teaching good old cursive handwriting in school .... I learned cursive from nuns .... and it was serious business let me tell you !) ANYWAY, as I was saying, I LOVE the look of cursive handwriting and wanted it on fabric. I have seen "handwriting " fabric somewhere (don't remember where) but I didn't really feel like searchinig for it and thought "how hard can it be ? I have fabric, I have a pen, and I can write" so ......










here it is ... well, it's nothing that I would show Sister Victoria (I think I got a "C" in penmanship as I recall) but ......






....in small doses I think it'll look OK. (I just wrote out the words to the song "Swinging on a Star"). By the way, ironing freezer paper to the back of the fabric stabilizes it and makes it easier to write on . Also, the pen I use is a Millennium pen ......found it at either AC Moore or Michaels I think.

AND, speaking of the art of handwriting,





how about Moonbeams Boy Evan's latest art of doodling ..... aka "this is a boring class"










....pretty cool !











Guess he was bored to tears !!!







Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Piddling around with petals

Well, we here at MBIAJ Headquarters are just now emerging from our Easter candy hangover ....how about you ?

Anyhow, the MBIAJ Sewing Dept has had their eye on ......




this GORGEOUS pillow on the cover of this issue of STITCH magazine for the past few months !!!! LOVE that pillow !!!! SO.......







......lots and lots of pretty colored wool felt petals have been cut out and now....








....I'm trying to figure out how to arrange and assemble them (because, as usual, I'm not exactly following the directions in the magazine, which of course would make my life much simpler ......)

Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)