Bloggers' Quilt Festival ~ Fall 2011

Well Happy Friday and Happy Halloween Weekend !!!! (although, it might look more like Christmas here in Pa this weekend since the weather people are telling us we may get 6 to 10 inches of SNOW here tomorrow ....... WHAT ?!?!?!?!!!) Anyhow, lets talk about something not wet and cold and requiring shoveling .... lets see, I know .... how about the Bloggers' Quilt Festival organized and hosted twice a year by Amy of Amy's Creative Side. Amy invites quilters of all skill levels and styles to link up and share one of their quilts and the story that goes with it . Well, being that it's Halloween weekend and all, the MBIAJ Sewing and Quilting Dept decided to share .....





.....our "Practical Magic" wall hanging that was in the ...











Sept/ Oct 2010 issue of Quiltmaker Magazine last year as a design contest winner!











To think that , thanks to the boredom caused by my endless pile of mind numbing paperwork that I do in the evenings and on weekends for my job, and my procrastination tactics that I've perfected over the years in coping with those endless piles of paperwork (which often includes doodling, drawing and coloring) my little drawing "Practical Magic" went from my notebook to ....



.....Quiltmaker Magazine !!

I was so THRILLED when I found the magazine at Barnes and Noble that I took a picture of it !!! (with a few people wondering what the heck I was doing)







Anyway , this is the back of it. I decided to applique all of the shapes with a straight stitch and black thread through all layers so that it would be quilted at the same time. (this is a little different than the instructions for the project in the magazine. That was appliqued first, then quilted)



.... to hang it, I added loops that I sewed into the binding , a long fabric hanger with stars on the ends, and painted a stick to hang it from. You can see all of the instructions for the loops and painting the stick on this post.





Well, thanks so much for stopping by and don't forget to visit all of the other Quilt Bloggers / Blogger Quilters over there at Amy's blog.







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

Evan's Birthday ! and a "Small Blog Meet"

He's 19 !!! My BABY BOY is 19 !!!!







Today is Evan's 19th birthday and it has me wondering where in the world those 19 years went !!! .... really, WHERE DID THEY GO ?!?!?!?!!! Last I checked I was still 29 !





......and, NO , Evan's graduation quilt was NOT finished by today (making it his graduation/ birthday quilt) as was planned with high hopes by the MBIAJ Sewing and Quilting Dept. (Here it is hanging in sections, kind of crooked, on our cheapo design wall). At least his dirtbike racing # "595" is appliqued on. Next on the agenda is to applique some of Evan's original doodles which he did with fabric markers on white fabric instead of his political science notebook. And, even though Evan has been covering his school notebooks and book covers with his doodles for the past few years, I recently found out somebody has put a name to this type of doodling (and has made a business out of it!) .... it's called Zentangle !!! "Yoga for the Mind" .... who knew ?!?!?!?!!! We just thought Evan was completely and totally BORED with high school (well he was) .... who would have thought his doodle style actually has a specific name ?!? So, anyhow, next post I'll show you his "Zentangle" fabric circles that I plan to applique onto this already Wild and Crazy Quilt ! (right now I have to go clean up birthday dinner dishes and cake crumbs off of the floor .... oh wait .... nope .... cake crumbs have already been taken care of by one of the kitties).

Oh, before I go, just want to tell you all I'm linking up with

over at Lily's Quilts . You can link up too if you're a blog with less than 50 followers.

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

LIVE from MBIAJ Headquarters ... it's Saturday Night !!! (FNSI Report!)

Well it's Saturday night ....24 hours after the "Friday Night Sew In" ... and you know what that means .... it means it's report time (uh oh .....well, our new motto around here is "getting a little bit of something done is better than not doing a darn thing " ). So, anyhow, here's the "little bit of something" .....




.....a few stitches on this long suffering Halloween stitchery I started a couple of YEARS ago and ....




.....finished stitching down #595 on Moonbeams Boy Evan's graduation quilt.








Well, a few stitches here and a few stitches there, and EVENTUALLY (by the turn of the NEXT century) some of these projects will be FINISHED !!!! (that's the plan anyway.....)

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

Friday Night Sew In !!!!!

Happy Happy Friday !!!! We here at MBIAJ Headquarters have ....




.....put on our PJ's and slippers,












......gathered up some snacks and a nice cup of tea,






.....our sewing stuff and ....







....a few cats to keep us company for tonight's ...



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

W.I.P = Work in Progress Wednesday .....

Well, OK .... why not ..... maybe, just MAYBE if those slackers in the MBIAJ Sewing and Quilting Dept feel a little pressure to show a smidge of progress every Wednesday they'd get something , ANYTHING done once in awhile !!!! So, as of today, we are joining ....




...."Work In Progress Wednesdays" created by Lee on her blog Freshly Pieced .....and HOPEFULLY we won't be showing THE SAME "W.I.P" every Wednesday for the next 25 Wednesdays !!!! (because it COULD happen .... really .... I'm thinking there should be an expiration date on some of my W.I.P's ! I'm also thinking our W.I.P. Wednesday posts might be / will probably be W.I.P every OTHER Wednesday ... or, W.I.P every THIRD Wednesday every other month ....sigh)

OK, anyhow, since there are quite a few W.I.P's here at MBIAJ Headquarters, I'm sure you're wondering just how on earth we narrowed it down to pick just one .... well, it came down to this train of thought ..... the MBIAJ Sewing and Quilting Dept has been working a little bit here and there on Moonbeams Boy Evan's graduation quilt .... AND since his 19th birthday is coming up THIS MONDAY (sob ... my baby boy will be 19 !) we thought it appropriate to choose it as this week's W.I.P ..... and here it is .....



...the top is almost all pieced and now it's machine applique time ....


......stitching down "595" (Evan's dirtbike racing #).

Hmmm..... making about as much progress as a turtle ..... thinking the MBIAJ Sewing and Quilting Dept should also sign up for this Friday's Friday Night Sew In over at Handmade by Heidi's blog. Yep, that's what we should do .... OK! See you Friday !

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

Fall Foliage Festival in Jim Thorpe, Pa

Well it was another lovely fall day and time for another MBIAJ Field Trip! This one is very close to home - well, it IS home ! Sometimes some of the best stuff is right in your own backyard ... such as the annual Jim Thorpe Fall Foliage Festival. It has gotten so popular that it has caught the attention of Yahoo Travel 10 Fantastic Towns for Fall !

There is much to do and see here in ....




.....old Mauch Chunk (the town's original name).....


.....we'll start here at the Mercantile (est. 1882) which is right across from the ...



...train station where there are train rides to view the fall foliage ....



....the train station is right at the park where there are alot of craft and food vendors ....


.....and also the gazebo where a great local band played all afternoon. After you are done shopping and eating your way through the vendors in the park, you could either stroll up Broadway or .....




......take a horse and buggy ride to see all of the great shops, cafe's, and restaurants which are all decorated for ....



....fall with ...



























......mums and pumpkins

























































.....and don't forget to meet at ....


......The Inn at Jim Thorpe for the ....





......ghost tours (many of the lovely old buildings in town, including The Inn at Jim Thorpe are supposedly haunted ..... BOO!)


While you are visiting Jim Thorpe, you should also make sure and take a stroll down....




....Race Street where there are even more great shops and .....



restaurants !


.....well, the sun is setting over the roof tops and mountains here in Jim Thorpe, so it's time to say ....

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

Sewing in honor of a soldier .....

Today, with the help of "Betty" (my 1941 Singer Featherweight) I had the honor of sewing 2 red, white and blue star blocks for a fallen hero. I wanted to have "Betty" do the sewing today since she may have, unfortunately done some similar sewing during WW II.


Here are the finished blocks along with some Quilts of Valor labels I found at a local quilt shop, ready to be packed up and mailed out to John'aLee (mother of the fallen soldier's fiance' ). She has received quite a few star blocks pictured here and here , but I think she is collecting blocks until the end of this month if you'd like to make one (she needs quite a few since she is making a quilt for her daughter the fiance' of the soldier, the soldier's mother and 2 younger brothers, and also his best friend.)

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

Airing of the Quilts 2011 - FIELD TRIP !!!!!

Happy October Blogland Neighborhood !!! We here at MBIAJ Headquarters LOVE the month of October and the whole autumn season !!!! To celebrate , we thought it was high time we had a little field trip, so this past Saturday we hopped in the car and headed north , then west?(I think) to Tunkhannock, Pa to the annual Airing of the Quilts . This was the second time we went to this event. The first time was back in 2008 and I wrote about it here. Back in 2008, the quilters had a beautiful sunny 65 degree day for their annual show..... not so lucky this year. It was a rainy, cold day (47 degrees !!!)and we wondered if the outdoor part of the show would go on .... not only because of the weather on the day of the show, but because of .....





....the recent floods that hit this town and really did a number on it. But, these quilters are a hearty breed and they rallied and got their annual show together. The show is not only an outdoor show, but an indoor show (with vendors) in three different locations! In addition to all the quilt show locations (as if that wasn't enough to keep us busy!) Tunkhannock is also the home of Endless Mountains Quiltworks ..... a really, really , REALLY packed to the ceiling with great stuff quilt shop that I could have gotten lost in for a few days !!!! Anyhow, of course I took pictures (of the outdoor show ... my battery pooped out by the time I got to the inside quilts .... dang it). So, if you love to look at quilts ... AND if you love to look at really cool old houses with unbelievable architectural stuff (porches and doo dads and iron fences, etc) you are in for a treat ! OK .... I will shut up now and let you all enjoy the show ..... (oh, and you can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them so you can see them better ) .... now I'll shut up.....










































































































......I must break my silence here and just say : isn't this one AMAZING house ?!?!?!!!!!! (I wouldn't want to clean it, but I guess back in the day if you could afford this house, you could afford to have somebody else clean it!) .... OK, I'll be quiet again ...


























































Didn't you just LOVE all the quilts and those HOUSES !!! .... difficult to pick a favorite, but I must say ....




...this one would definately be in the top 5 !!!! and ....








......wouldn't you just love to go trick or treating there !!!!! SPOOKY !!!


Well, we hope you enjoyed this MBIAJ Field Trip as much as we did !

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