Mary Lou Quilt Designs

  March 17th 2022 - The sunshine is starting to come back to see us this March. Thankfully! I am sewing and painting and drawing and really in the creative mood since masks have been voided and the talk about the Pandemic has been taken over by other things. It is a relief to me. Locally our count is 95% less than it was. So happy to hear it. I avoid the news mostly. I watch or listen enough to get the gist of what is going on. My heart cannot take anymore. I read sad things and know I cannot fix them. So I out that energy into people and children and my family. And this has made a difference with my output of art and my input of energy for creating. :0) Staying positive goes a LONG way!

     I am teaching small Christmas Tree quilts in Irvine California around the 13th,14th, and 15th of May. I love the guild there and am having a senior moment trying to type it out. Nuts!

       June 5th I have a really nice group of girls coming to Paint stories and also to choose their project of a Story quilt out of their stash, a portrait quilt, a Flower Power Quilt or something else they want to try from what I offer. I have hired a nice lady to cook for us for three nights and we will eat in my beautiful garden. It is alot of fun and gives us a chance to really get to know each other.    I will be sharing some of my library books to inspire and drawings in handouts and also bigger that can be traced. Fun! With the sunshine it will be a great adventure of the Road Less Taken. Or not. We have some beginners and some advanced girls and they can get ideas from each other. I love it!

       We will be going to Farm Chicks here in Spokane and seeing what we might love to have. Lots of old quilts, linens, cowboy boots, vintage clothing, darling things for the home, jewelry, leaded glass, etc,etc,ect and inspiration to create from. :0)    After we spend some time there we will go downtown to a large park on the Spokane River. It is beautiful and a great chance for unique photos. :0) Then we will grab a snack and go to Manito Park which is wonderful, maybe Browne's Addition which has a juried Art Show yearly or the historic Davenport Hotel. We take the end of the trip at a great wood fired Pizza Place called Perry Street Pizza. I but different kinds and salads etc. We all agree it is delicious!

     Lunches are ordered out and Continental breakfast is available along with snacks at the retreat though the hotels usually provide breakfast.   Then we have four wonderful days to sew and create and we will be visiting a large local quilt shop that was just selected by Quilt Sampler Magazine. There are a couple of cute gift shops here and we are on the Idaho border and often people come a day early to see Coeur d'Alene which is beautiful and fun.

       The last day after class we go to Post Falls Idaho to the White House which is Mediteranian and delicious. You can smell garlic for blocks around this place and the staff wear shirts that say     "I stink". We all laugh as they go from table to table. But the food is amazing. It is a lovely way to end the fun.

       I have a whole group of things I am working on and hope to be busy this Summer and Fall finishing them up. I am excited about a Nativity Wreath I am working on and hope to do a fairly large Nativity Scene for my wall this Christmas too.      My Granddaughter graduates from University and has been chosen to start her Masters at West Point as a Trainer for the Hockey and Football teams there. She got an A average and was an Ambassador to the University and we are so proud of her. She worked the entire time she went to school too. 

        I hope you are learning to be positive and creative and Inventive and Happy. Isn't that what we all want?  My favorite charity is the Mission here and they are so loving and kind with the homeless and it is a blessing to see how their eighteen month program can change a person's life to be accountable and happy and given true purpose. Just meeting these people you soon learn that many are really wonderful people who had bad circumstances, educations, no love or guidance and they just need someone to care. I feel very grateful to be so blessed in my life.

        Open your eyes to the beauty of color, texture, fabrics, paints, threads, beads, embellishments and decorations on textiles of all kinds. Stretch yourself and try something new often. It doesn't hurt to get out of your comfort zone and grow. Thats what makes life full.

Thank you for visiting here.

Christmas is coming and soon we will be in 2020 after New years! How exciting! Remember when we were so worried about the Milennium? Well, that sure floew and worked itself out well. "Worry never helps tomorrow, it only ruins today."

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SESSION I

FEB 8- 23rd -, 2020 
Sunday – Friday
   First of all I will be teaching NEW Story Quilts and showing some new ideas, middle backgrounds (for more ZIP and interest and details of eyes, noses and other things. We will discuss embroidery and ink and paint this time. Lettering ideas that can help you tell more to leave as your Legacy. Words are Powerful and this is a chance to say more about You or those you Love! Asilomar-   Emptyspoolsseminars.com  I will either have a new booklet or I will have handouts to give you from the new booklet. I will give you a list of ideas for Stories and how to help make your story more interesing on cloth! You will be first for drawings of people and other things you want in your story. :0) 

        TWO RETREATS! in 2020

June - FULL FULL FULL

October Harvest Gardens and Christmas Trees                

 October 18th- 22nd - (fly or drive in a day early to be ready the morning of the 18th)

Come into Spokane Valley and get ready to enjoy the beauty of the Northwest with our changing of Seasons, Our Quilt Show with over 500 quilts,Our Venor Mall that is varied and excellent,  a trip to two wonderful quilt shops one local and one in Coeur d'Alene, A trip to a couple of local and fun gift shops, A Meet and Greet at Perry Street Pizza (wonderful salads and pizza!, A trip to Green Bluff where there are great lunches and salads and apple pie (this is where they raise pumpkins, gourds, apples of all kinds and other produce. We will end at the White House in Post Falls for the best Mediterranean Food ever!     Class will center around Harvest, Gardens, and Christmas ideas. I will have great handouts and fun samples. We will also do a bit of painting and I will show you some embellishments. price for Workshop and food is $750. 

If you love Autumn like I do and have not experienced it here, come join us! I already have fun people signed up. 

NOTE- if you signed up for June and would like to come in October instead just let me know and I will swap you.Lots of neat things to see in October here too.

 

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HAPPY FALL 2019! iT IS JUST GLORIOUS HERE AND SO NICE TO HAVE AUTUMN COMING IN SLOWLY WITH WARM DAYS AND A BIT CHILLY NIGHTS!

I am very excited that this month I had my Grade school reunion here in town and almost 20 of us showed up. Memories just flood in. I had a lovely grade school experience!

I will soon be in Cape Cod! A dream of mine!!!

Bayberry Quilters of Cape Cod
August 24 at 8:10 PM ·
Ready to "step out of the box" and try something new?Bayberry Quilters September Workshop
"Self-Portraits" with Mary Lou Weidman
9/25 Wednesday afternoon 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm and
9/26 Thursday 9:30 am - 3:30 pm (1 1/2 days) $95.00 Bayberry members $120 non-members

i WILL HAVE MANY QUILTS AND NEW HANDOUTS FOR THOSE THAT NEED INSPIRATION AND FUN. WE ARE MAKING A PERSON AND THEY CAN BE WHO YOU ARE INSIDE! THEY DO NOT HAVE TO LOOK LIKE YOU. I AM WORKING ON FRIDA KAHLO (LIKE) NOW. JUST ENJOYING THE PROCESS, THE COLOR AND THE IMAGINATION...LIKE GOING BACK TO GRADE SCHOOL. 

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REALLY EXCITING TO GO TO TEXAS DURING AUTUMN!

                                                                                                                                                        October 17th,18,19th GOLDEN TRIANGLE BEAUMONT Texas (2 lectures the 17th) quilt class each day the 18th and 19th - FLOWER POWER ONE DAY AND HOITY TOITY HOUSES ONE DAY- ENOUGH TO ONLY START BUT GET ENOUGH HANDOUTS AND INFO TO DO SOMETHING REALLY FUN AND MANY OF THESE HAVE WON PRIZES. ITS FUN, ITS POSITIVE AND ITS COLORFUL. 

Oct20th-21s  LAKEVIEW QUILTERS in HOUSTON TX - Jonnienottingham@aol.com  HOUSTON ALWAYS IS A HAPPY PLACE WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE READY TO HAVE FUN AND DO WONDERFUL, INVENTIVE QUILTS. WE WILL BE DOING CREATIVE AND IMAGINATIVE HOUSE QUILTS- PERHAPS YOUR SCHOOL, CHURCH, HOME, OLD NEIGHBORHOOD OR SOMETHING NEW AND FUN! 

I HAVE SPENT MY TIME GETTING NEW THINGS DONE AND NEW IDEAS DEVELOPED.   I WILL BE AT EMPTYSPOOLSSEMINARS.COM SESSION 1 ON FEBRUARY 23- 28TH. WE WILL BE DOING STORY QUILTS AND SOME PEOPLE WANT TO DO HOITY TOIDY HOUSES AND OTHER PORTRAITS. WE CAN DO ANY OF THESE. THE IDEA IS TO MAKE SOMETHING THAT IS A MEMORY TO LEAVE FOR MANY YEARS AS A LEGACY. IT IS NOT HARD AND IT IS CREATIVE AND FUN AND IT MAKES YOU THINK OF CHERISHED THINGS AND PEOPLE. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE. 

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IF YOUR GUILD NEEDS A LECTURE AND CLASS I AM FREE MOST OF THE YEAR (2020). SIMPLY EMAIL ME AT LATTEGIRL@AOL.COM

 phone number is- 5095906340

 

 

 

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NEW RETREAT NEWS! ALL MEALS, BREAKFAST LUNCH AND DINNER PLUE SNACKS PROVIDED DAILY. WE HAVE GREAT PLANS FOR EXTRAS AND FUN AND A NICE KIT FOR EACH OF YOU PLUS FABRICS AND PRIZES. WE ARE LOOKING FOR TWO MORE STUDENTS. 

PLEASE READ THE RETREAT PAGE FOR MORE INFO. FUN GALS COMING AND PLENTY OF CREATIVITY IDEAS AND INFO ON COLOR, COMPOSITION AND YOUR STORY IDEAS PUT INTO CLOTH. 

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IGNORE ANY PATTERN OR BOOK ADDRESS'S. Since I have moved out of my studio and back into my home, I now have a new address. If you need to reach me about teaching please use the new information. My email has stayed the same for years. Lattegirl@aol.com

The end of 2018 I added up all of the costs of my studio and was shocked at how much money I was putting out for a place I was not spending enough time in. So I decided as hard as it would be to move back into my home. Since I sold alot of the furniture and purged fabric and magazines and books and lots of things it was not as bad as I thought. I turned a nice little TV room into my sewing room where I can look outside through French doors onto my garden. Then I took all of my cabinets,shelves and containers into my daylight basement along with a great easy chair where I can sew and enjoy comfort. I have space and actually I like the convenience of laundry etc and having everything under one roof. Change is something that always happens so it is good to roll with it and enjoy the day. :0)

   Retreat- This year ouR retreat is the beginning of June and we have lots of fun planned and will be meeting in a nice space with great tables and lovely people. It always starts with a field trip day to Farm Chicks which is an antique and collectible sale. Thousands of people come in to shop. There are loads of old linens, tablecloths, quilts, clothing, cowboy boots, furniture, jewelry and anything you can imagine and GREAT ideas for projects to do for your home. I will be bringing a quilt that I did using old linens and a good story to show. We have lots of surprises including going to Coeur d;Alene Idaho and seeing the beautiful lake and lunch at the hotel later in the week not to mention TWO big quilt shops, one in Washington and one in Idaho. You can connect here on this site, just click on retreat. 

   I start off the year agoing across the US to Sarasota and we will be doing dogs and cats and flower power. Since it is cold here in the Northwest I am happy to go to Florida and sunshine plus nice friends I have made over the years in that area. 

        I have stacks of fabric to do a story quilt my Father who when retired went to garage sales and bought me hundreds and hundres of buttons. I have other ideas for some story quilts and I am excited I will have time to work on them. In 80 years when people look at your quilts you made, what will they know about your life? Telling a story lasts for generations to come and are interesting and fun!

     Thank you friend for visiting. Don't put off sewing something fun and experimenting and making mistakes too. They lead to great new ideas! 

Join me on Facebook at Mary Lou Donahue Weidman. I show lots of photos of people, quilts and some pretty fun cartoons to make your day and mine happy! Here's to hopeing your New year is a great one too! Lets be positive and optimistic together!

                                       Love to You- Mary Lou

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Home from Vacation and sitting here painting some designs and piecing some Story quilt backgrounds. I am getting ready to head out on the road to teach. I have learned so many things lately and while in Sante Fe I saw so many wonderful images, colors, met so many Natives whose work is clearly God driven and beautiful. I met so many wonderful and kind people plus Taos was amazing and to me when I was a little bit alone, very spiritual. I loved the feeling there. My friends and I went to the the Pueblos and met artists and one lady who made us Navajo fry bread while her husband sat and beaded lovely things More inspiration.

      Fall is coming soon I am thinking pumpkins and Fall colors on scrappy Backgrounds for stories. I will be at Madeline Island and am doing five day Story Quilts. Fall reminds me of so many stories in my life. It is my Favorite season and we will be on the island where the leaves are bright oranges and some eggplant and even a little purple. I will be providing leaf patterns and pumpkin ideas and a package of blocks I have done along with Fall birds, cats, my witch quilt, and images I drew up. I hope you and your girlfriends can join us as I bring prizes and lots of information on getting out of the box and making a one of a kind quilt about YOU!! The dates are here on my schedule page. You won't regret it I promise!

       I am open for some dates coming up to teach my crazy birds on pieced backgrounds, How to's on taking my book blocks and stretching and manipulating them to make them YOURS. I also am teaching Christmas trees that have lots of decorations I give patterns for a discussion of how I embellish them. Ofcoasrse I still am teaching Flower Power and Easy Piecing. Two day only classes or two -one day classes. I need to settle in and be there more than one day. It is just too hard to come for a dat and leave and I hope you understand. We can do some really great and prize winning things. :0) I am so inspired with ideas this week I cannot tell you- I am bursting to share and help you stretch!!                                                                                                  We have too much smoke here in Spokane and I am using an inhaler and an air cleaner in my house. It is supposed to rain this weekend.

HAPPY NEWS!! My daughter got engaged last week on my anniversary! He is a wonderful person and I am thankful that he is so nice to her teenagers. Not trying to replace their Father, just wants to be there and be a positive experience. She is very happy. This marriage is going to be a very happy one and she can trust this guy which is wonderful. He knows he got a prize and buys her flowers weekly, writes her poetry and is interested in what she is interested in. He has two grown kids and his parents sound like lovely people. So we are all over the moon happy about this!                                                                                                                                       If you follow my blog and wonder where I am, it is not letting me load things. I have ner recipes I really want to share and some prizes so this week, I am going to work on it AGAIN! Wish I had a bored kid that could here for the heck of it to helpl                                                               Just wanted to say how many lovely people there are in this world. Girls who have been in my classes wrote and offered their homes for me to stay until the smoke is gone. I am so touched and thankful for this lovely gift. My heart is happy and I love so many people that I can still be in contact with. Everyone has great stories and i just love hearing them and thinking of ideas for getting them drawn and on a quilt!                                                                                               Not much of August left but hope you are still enjoying it. I am inside but thankful for my many blessings. I bought Native things this week in Sante Fe and am broke again. It is worth working hard and saving because then you so appreciate what you bought and worked for. If you have loads of money it is only something else you bought! And if a friend buys something, it is always worth more than anything you bouight no matter how small! Do you know what I mean? Sentimentality.

 

Summer makes me happy whether it is sunny or rainy or gray . I have started making it a practice to get up in the morning and saying out loud "today I am going to be very happy!" It sounds so simple but it works because if I start thinking anything that is not happy or constructive, I stop myself. Using a page daily of gratitudes has really made a big difference. I must do at least ten and they can't be anything I said in the past couple of weeks. It helps me look around and see how many things I need to be thankful for. AND I am so thankful for people I meet as I travel. I had such a good time last week teaching for the Monterey Quilt Guild. Positive and wonderful women who gladly volunteer for everything that needs to get done. This is a rarity but they have such a nice friendship with one another and everyone realizes they need to spend some of their time perpetuating quilting which we all need to do.    Quilters make the BEST friends as you well know and we want lonely people and people who need friends, a great hobby and a passion for colors, shapes and stories to come and join us!!

     I am working on new neighborhood story quilts and getting in my grade school name, some address's from the past, friends, animals and things that make me smile when I remember them. Think of your past and where you lived and the people that made it special and the land marks that may be gone but not in your memory.

I am working on blocks from my book and invite anyone to send me a small block with light green (limeish) or light blue background. I am hoping for two quilts to take on the road. They are fun and make people smile when they see them. They are simple and give you a chance to jump off of creativity. Will put your name on the quilt along with others. Thank you for considering doing this.

      I am teaching at Madeline Island School of design in October. It is the MOST beautiful in the Fall and I will be bringing Fall quilts and Christmas tree quilts for inspiration. I have some surprise handouts and plan on a fun and creative time!! I am bringing my paints to show a technique I love to play with too and some embellishment ideas which people have asked for.

      Speaking of I will be teaching embellishments in Nebraska the end of the month! And also BIRD BY BIRD. A easy piecing technique to do birds and maybe a flower or two if we have time. The quilt is darling!

       I am going to pick up two of my Granddaughters to spend the night but plan to write here again this month and maybe share a couple of ideas to make YOU more creative.

    If you see someone that lost their smile, share YOURS. It can help in ways you have no idea!

                                                Love,    Mary Lou

Its a beautiful sunny day here and I have many quilts at my feet to be packed to go to Mississippi to teach self Portraits (who is the inside you?" I love this class because it has nothing to have to do with looks. It is simply imagining who you are and putting it into a quilt. I have made a good number of these and I am blond and red headed and pink once. We all are different inside sometimes and imagine ourselves different than what others see. This is fun because you create who you want and can imclude dogs or cats or antiques or tea pots or? Anyway, I will be doing this in Mississippi this week!

     I did not mention that now I have my cousin staying at my house and I have to worry about cleaning before I leave. It is nice coming home to things tidy but when I am packing I hate worrying about washing sinks, mirrors, getting sewing things out of the livingroom etc. On the other hand I am thankful I can do it and not hurt. I am blessed.

Right after that I will be in Pacific Grove teaching story quilts at Asilomar. I am hoping I can get my blog to allow me to show photos. It is so pretty there and I love taking photos of everywhere I go. I have 22 nice ladies that I bought tiaras for. :0)

http://www.woodlandridgeretreat.com.Then shortly after that and the day after Easter I head to Wisconsin to a beautiful retreat center. This is my first time but I hear it is beautiful. I am hoping the class gets a few more girls as I get many requests in the midwest and east to teach story quilts more often in those areas. Now is your chance. I will be bringing tiaras and fun things and quilts you can see up close. Everyone is surprised at the embellishments and embroidery and details photos do not show. 

I will be in Helena Montana after that and we will be doing Easy Piecing and have fun sewing animals, tweeked traditional blocks, and many other fun things. Come join us please. 

This month I have been embellishishing and I made a really fun neighborhood quilt for the class I teach. I am adding flowers and buttons and a clothesline for laundry and other fun things. I love this stage of story quilts.

If you are not my friend on Facebook, I have three posts now with many story quilt photos. Please come and join me. I add recipes and some nice posts that everyone should think about. I keep it light hearted and happy. Thats how I like my life to go. On facebook I am Mary Lou Donahue Weidman

The sunshine is on its way. March is though for us Northern girls. Everyone is sick of cold and gray. As people complain I simple say, wait out March and it will get better!

Here is wishing you lots of sunshine, happy surprises and good friends and family to love and be loved back. 

 

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Time to finish off Winter and get some colorful Spring things going! 

      I am headed to Asilomar to take a class and then I go to Mississippi and then back to Asilomar to teach. Class is FULL.   I am going to teach STORY QUILTS here April 3rd through 7th- Woodland Ridge Story Quilt Retreat -www.woodlandridgeretreat.com/classes .

I am posting this because there is actually room for other students and I will be bringing tiaras for all students and many other surprises as well as new and great handouts and more directions on drawing people and developing your own story. Think of your life from gradeschool, college, to courting or dating, to marriage, to your favorite cats or dogs or horses, or collecting antiques or perhaps you love garage saleing etc. We all have hundreds of stories and a quilt doesn't have to have every story. Think of one. If you can't I bring a handout to read to prompt your memory and listening to other students helps too. Each one of my story quilt becomes more meaningful as time goes on and my kids are finally at an age where they LOVE and appreciate the stories told.       Come and join use for three FULL days to imagine, create and make unqiue quilts people will love to see! Many people ask why I only teach this in the West. Well here is your chance to take it in Wisconsin. I am flying into Minneapolis which is an easy airport. Nice classroom, nice people, nice owner, colorful fabric and lots of smiles and tips on techniques you probably have not tried!! If you are on Facebook come join me at Mary Lou Donahue Weidman.

     My retreat here in Spokane is fuller than full so we will not be taking any more students. Try next year for a great time and lots of field trips and lovely girls and Farm Chicks. Thanks to those of you who signed up. Its going to be GREAT!

     I have really been working on enjoying people from the grocery store and every walk of life. I have been taking time to open doors, help them lift things , put away their grocery cart etc. People are shocked. It feels so good to be helpful and loving. I would like to recommend it to everyone. A nice thing to do and it feels great that they so appreciate it. 

     It is still cold here and thankfully I have someone to stay in my home and to shovel while I am gone. I bought security cameras for every door. Though I really feel that God watches over me and my home. :0)   Stay warm dear friend and for your girls in the East like Atlanta and South Caroline, stay COOL! The weather this year is kinda weird right?

    I have some great fabric you will not find in the stores. I just cut a yard of everything for my project at Asilomar. I think you would love it too.! :0)                                                 If you see someone without a smile, give them yours. Ignore the news on television if you want to be happy. Thats my advice. You cannot change it anyway. Honest. :0) And as I tell my children, I choose to be happy and hope they make this choice too! 

 

 

 

Where did 2017 go? My goodness no year has gone faster than that year! 

Its a New Year in 2018 and the word is "BEGIN." I think it is a perfect word for all of us. There are always things that we put off or things that need action and not promises. My friend Gayle has promised to finish 50 things in 2018. She has done more than this in years past and I asked her if she helped me finish something if that counted and she said "YES." Yippee!

    I received a new dog block for the quilt taken from my Hoochy Two-chy Book. There are so many variations and each person takes the same pattern and it looks different! Such fun! Perhaps you might like to make a dog or cat quilt of the same pattern but with different fabrics for fun. This book provides a way to make your quilt your own! Reduce, Enlarge or repeat blocks!

     My retreat has only two openings left in June. Great gals have signed up and we are getting ready for many give aways and new ideas and techniques for story quilts. We will be holding the class in large classroom next to my studio and Miss Tina will be cooking again. We are wondering what theme would be fun? If you have any ideas email me please. I will look for napkins etc to go along with the theme and Tina will cook some things to go along with the theme.

      Madeline Island School of the Arts is advertising my Story quilt class for October 8-12th. It is filling as I am not only teaching story quilts but ideas for drawing, a new booklet of drawings for you to enlarge and cool easy pieceing borders using my Hoochy Two-chy book that you may not have thought of. The week will be all centered on creativity and fun! I plan to bring some embellishments and discuss this and flosses and why all quilters should use them for creativity. Come and join us for fun. For you girls in the East this is a closer trip for you than many of the Western places I teach.

      Quilts and linens and old blocks and other vintage things for sale here. I have things I am parting with because I am moving and so I am pricing and loading things here that are great quilts, original and one of a kind. I have long collected vintage blocks to work in but I cannot keep everything. I paid top dollar for these and they are in great shape. I put them into my story quilts and sometimes make new blocks to add with reproduction prints. I also am putting quilts on that are featured in my books and they are worth more because there is only one quilt and it is published. I also am including quilts from my fabriclines that are one of a kind. I will be adding weekly. Stay tuned for fabric packets too.

     I am looking foreward to a new year and new people to meet and new happy adventures and of coarse new quilts. I am some new tricks up my sleeve. Stay tuned.

     Let this be a year you smile and bless others. It makes you feel good and it makes them feel good too. Listen to happy music, look at happy magazines, read happy and upbeat books and hang out with girls who know how to laugh and are compasionate.  It makes you feel good and you can pass it along.

HAPPY JANUARY! 

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November brought in the snow and now it is windy and chilly. Brrrr. Along with the bad weather comes happiness with time to sit and applique and piece quilts for classes next year! I am excited about baskets from my book Hoochy Two-chy and also garden ladies and easy piecing samplers with dogs, fish, flowers, cats, cakes and other things from the book! It is available on this website. If you order before Christmas you get a bonus of some Alexander Henry fabric, a scarecrow pattern and my Big Dot book that I did years ago but still has ideas for fun quilts and even better something fun to show kids and guys who want to quilt. I got a dear letter from a man in a returement home that has made numerous quilts from the book. :0) Isn't that wonderful?

      Had my Grandkids spend the night this weekend and it was fun imagining things and they gave me some good ideas for story quilts! It is always fun to draw out happy items and to look at my books and figure out how to do some really fun things! Hoping to get a drawing booklet out this Spring sometime. I have requests for things I have not included in other books.

Thank you to those of you who write me and say such sweet and positive things. I have made such lovely friends through quilting!   A reminder that if you are thinking of coming to my retreat in June it is almost full. We have girls from all over the US that are coming and I have already started to shop for nice gifts for everyone and fun ideas! I will have new handouts and new things no one has seen yet. And of coarse trips to local quilt shops, a trip to Coeur d'Alene for lunch on the lake and a quilt shop there. I heard there is a new shop in Spokane and I will check it out before June also. Don't forget that we will be going to Farm Chicks which is going to be huge and sells all kind of gifts, antiques, collectibles and surprises. I always love what I purchase there. We will all eat together at Perry Street Pizza that night which is fun! Everyone loves the pizza that are wood fired and the salads etc. Its a great kick off to the next day when we start creating!

     This is the month to be most Thankful. I am so Thankful for you and friends who come to visit here. Orders from my website help me buy pajamas for the homeless men who sleep at the downtown Mission here. They must bathe, leave their clothing in lockers and put on clean pajamas. Volunteers clean and mend their clothing there. I buy many pairs every year and pray that they give comfort and hope to those that have lost it. If you live in a home with warmth, food and love you are very fortunate as am I. Aren't we lucky?

Thank you so much again for visiting here. Sending you love and good things to come your way!   Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

 

 

OCTOBER ROCKS!

     I have been with my five friends in Oregon for a week. It is our 20th year together and we call ourselves the Cupcakes. We each do one dinner during the week and bring little gifts that are part of the table scape. It is fun! This year I bought a black candleopera for the table in black and we switched out candles and little jars we turned into mummies. If you are on Facebook you can see these ideas! The hit was dutch babies that Tina made. I will probably start posting some of my recipes. I get so many and normally I love to cook! I have tons of family favorites.

     I still have pumpkin kits to sell. I also have scarecrow patterns and fabric and Big Dot books for those that order two patterns and also my Hoochy Twochy book! I am trying to raise money for my own charity that I do each year. I buy pajamas for the homelesss men at the Mission here. We have very cold and snowy winters and they are mean. The Mission takes in men and they must shower and put on pajamas before bed. They never have enough and so for years I take my Grandkids and buy pj's and take them to drop them off. I am teaching the kids that you need to help be responsible for those in your community and elsewhere. It is a lesson that falls short on many and our world needs it. :0) Please consider being part of helping people who are trying to stay warm, fed and cared for this winter. 

     I worked on blocks from the Hoochy Twho-chy book and Molly made a weiner dog for me from the book. It is fun and funny. I put it with blocks from Terry and Janet and am doing my own blocks. It is going to be alot of fun and great to hang. I will post it on my blog and on Facebook so you can see it.

      Have a wonderful and happy week and share your pretty smile. We all love seeing someone smile and it could make the difference in someone's day. It makes a difference in mine! God bless you!

                                Mary Lou

 

 

 

HAPPY AUTUMN! 

Isn't it wonderful when the seasons change? I am cutting fabric for Halloween and I love these colors!

The NEW NEWS is I have a great KIT of 8 darling pumpkins available on the pattern page under the store. If you click on the thumb nail you will see the whole wallhanging. It is easy to do and I give you everything for what you need plus extra bobbles should you wish to try your hand at making your own happy Jack O' Lantern! I have included darling Fall prints for the keyboard border! Prepare for lots of compliments and smiles! $48.00

I have been taking reservations for the June retreat which falls on the Farm Chicks weekend again. I have new quilts and new ideas. I will have some full size drawings this time around in case you want to try something Mary Lou style. Sign ups are here under "retreat."

Guilds are booking for for the next couple of years and my most popular classes are the self Portrait (which does not look like you but who you feel you are inside that day!) Leads to lots of imagination and creativity and fun! And the second class is Easy Piecing! Creating great quilts of all kinds of themes using Mary Lou's new book and her suggestions to changing patterns in creative and exciting ways!!

I am loading more fabric on that is Alexander Henry which flies out shop doors. I always know that most people will not be able to find what I have. GREAT stuff!

If you have not gotten your free scarecrow pattern, the Big Dot book and a fat quarter of fabric and you still want these, simply order the Hoochy Two-chy book and I mail you the extras or you can order two of any of my patterns and I will mail you the extras. Its a good deal. :0)

My things are all about imagination, being happy and having fun! There are alot of sad people out there and my theory is if we are happy we can share our smiles and goodness with those that need them. :0)

Thank you for visiting! I appreciate you!

 

 

 

 

 

Phew! Its hot but oh so beautiful! I am putting photos of my backyard on my blog and showing things I am doing this summer! Hope you are enjoying ice tea, lemonade, colorful fabrics, summer cow quilts, dogs and cats from my new book (Hoochy Two-chy), good friends, family get togethers, water, blessings that show up here and there, Green leaves and plants and the bounty of summer. I got enough huckleberries to make a cream pie which I do once a year! Delish! 

       I am working on embellishing a quilt about where my husband and I met and the lakes and oceans we enjoyed that first year together. Lovely and we were so young and had so much to go through. Too many stories to do all of the quilts but this one is fun. I am using rick rack in a fun way for waves and beads for lights on the lighthouse and buttons for trims on the houses and flower gardens. It is a good chance to think of the old days and how lovely it was.

     I have made a list of stories that are important to include before I die. There are things I want to be remembered for. I would like to do a small quilt about my Mother (who was a good softball player when she was young) and she had a lovely garden, liked to cook and was fun. My Dad had so many things that I would like to say about him. He kept me in buttons to this day thanks to garage sales and each Christmas he took me out to a lovely restaurant and bought me something I really wanted. It was very special. He had 6 siblings and they were Irish and a lot of great stories there. I seem to never run out of stories of my Grandparents.

    This month I am invited to a dinner and a luncheon with my grade school friends from 1st through 8th grade. I loved living in that neighborhood and have so many lovely memories of school. Halloween parties, Christmas and growing up together. I have not seen most of them for over 50 years! But I remember them so well and dearly. Lovely children now grown. I moved away in 9th grade. I will no doubt have a great story or two after the get together.

     I am hooked on florals for a basket or I should say baskets from the Hoochy Two-chy book. There are so many pretty ones and I am adding a chicken or two and some other fun things. I teach this as a class and it is fun to add other things to make a one of a kind basket and think of a Fall basket or a Christmas basket or? So many ideas. 

     I am hosting a Retreat in October as well as next June. You can find information on these if you click on "retreat." There have been many prize winning quilts made here. And ideas from the girls and from me. I have my library open and my studio where we can find just the right touch to make your quilt a lasting memory that people will love. I have things in the works here and next door to my studio is a lovely classroom and great cooks to provide all meals except a lunch and a dinner on our field trips which I pay for. Its not only fun but an opportunity to make lasting friendships with women from east to west. I have already started to gather gifts. You get nice things each day. It is so much fun!

     I am cleaing out my inventory and I found a box of "Autumn" scarecow patterns. I do not have any covers left and will find a photo to post on my blog and facebook. It has a darling scarecrow and a cat and a chicken and pumpkins. It is a true "Mary Lou" pattern. I also found a box of Big Dots books. The fabric called Big Dots is gone but they are five inch circles so you can fuse anything instead of using the fabric.  I am offering these two things with any order of "Hoochy Two-chy" or an order of two of my patterns or an order of the angel BOM. I will throw in a fabric surprise of GOOD new fabric too. 

     Sewing on the deck at night is fun and thankfully I have air conditioning here at the studio. It is cool and alovely to sew here!  I finished up a couple of portrait quilts for classes this Fall. I have openings for next year if your guild wants a fun lecture and fun, ah ha! class! Please contact me.

      Stay hydrated, do something nice for someone, give a hug (its healthy for both of you), Keep a gratitude journal, smell the flowers, smile and feel the good feeling a smile can give! You mean alot to me and I am thankful for my friends and pray for them. I pray for good things to come your way in the way of happy attitudes and thankful hearts. Blessings to you. 

 

 

 

 

It is a beautiful and happy sunny day. I have a pile of fabrics to make blocks from the new book with and am making plans for good ideas you would like to see in this club. I am giving out a nice prize of pretty fabrics to the person with the best idea. :0) FUN is going to be the theme and sharing friendships as has always been a theme in all of my clubs and blogs. Many of you have been with me for years and I thank you for that. Friends and Quilts are my favorites along with great colors and embellishments and giggles. 

    I am preparing for my retreat and we will have great prizes and alot of fun! I have new samples and enthusiasm and we have really creative people attending! What fun!  Once the retreat is over weI will announce the dates for next year. I think I have waited to late to announce and there are people interested now in signing up and planning a fun trip to see this part of the world, tell their stories for history, Meet new lifetime friends, visit great shops, see Farm Chicks, visit Coeur d'Alene Idaho, see my studio, enjoy great food, and other surprises. 

    My book has been well received and I have gotten many nice personal letters from those that are stretching and getting out of the box as I have always invited people to do! Yes I do sell these wholesale to shops, just contact me for details.   For those of you who d not want to use a charge card you may send a check through snail mail. Send it so Mary Lou Weidman, 2406 S. Dishman-Mica, Suite 5, Spokane Valley, WA 99206. The book is $22. and priority postage is 7.50 shipping and handling. for a total of $29.50.   The book has many many ideas and get some friends together to stretch and have fun!!

    The last couple of weeks I was in Dallas teaching self portraits! The idea is to think of who you are "inside" today and not what you look like! The results are awesome. The girls in Dallas are so much fun and they took me on some adventures and I am hooked! Would love to just go to visit and see what all I missed! Lovely guild members there. And alot of talent!

      From Dallas I went to Atlanta to see my friend Kathy Collins who I just adore. She has made many winning Story Quilts over the years and has an amazing history of what and who is important to her. I admire her great style and she and her husband are great historians who are sure to teach you alot about our country and anything brought up historial! We went to the Atlanta Historical Museum with many mnay acres of gardens. The Swan house was amazing. The trees in Atlanta are just thick. If you have never been there it is friendly people and green trees thick everywhere and the most beautiful leaves and shades of green! It is a beautiful city with alot to do! 

   From Atlanta, I drove to John C.Campbell to teach a story quilt class! Loved the girls in the class and their stories and sense of fun and sentiments. The stories are always amazing! I took many photos of leaves this time. I normally only do this in the Fall. The spring greens were lovely and the red bud tree was so pretty with reds and greens! It just made me think I want to do more leaves in what I am working on now! I believe I might see some of these girls next year at my retreat. Will be fun to show them this part of the US. It is beautiful also in a different way. We have alot of trees and lakes and mountains here. The gardens at John C.Campbell are always lovely and I went there to visit the chickens several times. Wanted to sneak one into my suitcase. I was good though and let them stay there with the most handsome rooster I have ever seen!

     I have good news for those that live East of Washington State! I will be teaching at Madeline Island school of the Arts in October next year! https://secure.madelineartschool.com/Classes_detail.cfm?recordno=26&Product_CatalogID=555&ProductNumber=QMLW100818&ProductCode=48&NewProduct=0 I asked for October because of the color and the beauty there that time of year. I am excite about this and plan to make a large story quilt to bring with Autumn ideas of some of my story ideas in my life and hope you have ideas to come and enjoy. Many of you have asked for Story quilts classes closer to the East. For those of you who like California, I am teaching at Asilomar next year too. There is nothing like a Story quilt class to help you leave a legacy quilt telling who and what you love.

Have a wonderful time this time of year. I just love the colors, the ideas and the pure joy. If you are thinking of something sad, turn it around with happy music, weeding your friendship garden of begative friends (Wjimsies and Whynots suggestion), being around young people, helping someone who needs help, getting outside, going for a walk and starting a new happy quilt and making blocks out of my new book! Hoochy Two-Chy.  God bless you today. YOU make ME happy!

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Just got back from beautiful Asilomar in Pacific Grove. I took a class on painting things with inks. So much fun and a step back into realism. The girls that go are all lovely and Suzanne and Gail who are in charge do everything they can to make it a wonderful time. Food was good this year and lattes there are great! The ocean had many beautiful flowers all around and it was lovely to walk and see families on the beach making castles...it was very windy but the ocean is a draw and two days I saw many surfers out there. Burrrrrr. Lots of lovely spring casual outfits and fun hats. Made me want to sketch and do some things with people at the beach!

     I am on my way to Dallas in the Morning for a lecture and then self portraits. These are self portraits of who you are "inside" not outside. We vary the faces and hair and eyes. It is all about who you imagine you are that day! Imagination and creativity are the point of these great quilts. Lots of fun and bring smiles from the creatoers and the viewers. Being happy is the point while we create and create something original and happy. Who doesn't want the goal of their life to be happy and positive? We all should! A happy life is a good life!

    After I leave Dallas I am on my way to Atlanta and then I will drive to John C.Campbell Folk School. We will work on story quilts there in an area that is lovely and rich for creative thinking and going back to our happy memories. I have a very full class so there will be many stories and the studio there is quite well lit and nice. The walking trails are great and the people from all over the world that attend are so very nice. Meals are communal and so you sit with someone new every day and you learn about them and the areas they come from and what they do etc. It is lovely to see all of the folk art there and the things for sale in the shop. 

I get home and get the gifts and lovely fabrics together for the retreat girls and the handouts and some of my paints to show ideas for lettering and adding paint to fabrics in the Story quilts. I will be showing great ideas with Easy Piecing and discussing my new book and the Block of the Month we will be offering. Farm Chicks will be the fun event to kick us off. Thousands of people fly and rive in to shop there. SO many ideas and fun things to see! It fills many buildings and has everything you could imagine. I always find treausres there! We will wear our tiaras and then we will go out to Perry Street Pizza for dinner! Wonderful place with great pizza! Looking forward to our field trip to Coeur d'Alene and lunch at the large hotel too. Lots of fun things planned and fun girls coming this year. Happy they can see my studio and we will have everything we need right next door to our classroom. The people who own this complex are hoping girls will bring quilts to hang and show off in the foyer. Sounds cool! They are lovely to work with! And I love my studio! Can't wait to see everyone come to town! :0)

Spring is a time of hope and happiness and I am focusing on things that are positive and good and true and excellent and beautiful. No time to listen to negative things that bring me down. As you get ready for warm weather and beauty, think positive, happy and lovely thoughts of things and places and nice people!

I appreciate YOU stopping here. There are books and patterns and fun fabrics for sale. Thank you for supporting me Friend. 

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It is a lovely sunny day outside and two days past Easter. I spent Easter again this year at the Mission with the homeless who hang on every word said there and their faces show it. It is lovely. One man and one woman share how their lives took a bad turn and often it is related to their family growing up. Loving mentors help put their lives on track with love, understanding and no condemnation. When we know better, we do better. This is what the world needs. Being taught better methods to be giving and a blessing in life to others which actually blesses them. :0)

      I am getting ready for many things on my plate. I will be taking a class at Asilomar and kind of doing my own take so I finish it. It is a class from Lenore Crawford and we will be fusing. I do not use glue or fusibles normally but I like stretching and doing things that are out of my comfort zone. "If you always do what you have always done, you always get what you've always got!" And NO ONE should want that! Right> We want to grow!

      I will be leaving Asilomar and going to Dallas to teach self portraits. My self portraits as they are "who you are feeling you are that day INSIDE." Not what you look like. Thats too predictible. It is fun to see the ideas and creativity and growing in this class. I am thankful it is two days which it really needs to be too have time to think overnight. :0) I am a process teacher and this is the process. 

     From Dallas I will be flying to Atlanta to drive to John C.Campbell folk school. A lovely place to learn and stretch and have time to think about who you are as an artist and a quilter and as a person. No one teaches there for the money as it is little but for the experience of many people there sharing ideas in many classes and meals served family style. The people in the community are lovely and loving and it is an experience like no other place I teach. Lovely and fulfilling.

     Two weeks after that I will be hosting girls from all over the US, Canada and a part time resident of Germany. I have lots of fun things planned and a great cook that will be making sure we are full and happy while we stretch and grow and create! What fun! We have a field trip I love going to Coeur d'Alene for adventure and beauty and fabric and great food at the Coeur d'Alene Hotel which is lovely. Lots of prizes and tiaras and Farm Chicks and adventure and life long friendships. A treat for us all.

       My new book is out and is great and its fun to see what people come up with by changing angles and sizes. The idea is great quilts and imagination and giggles as you sew and stretching. For $22. it is a good buy. I have also included what is wrong with your stash which every quilter should know! Your stash is what makes your quilt!

       I hope you have fun and positive things planned for the sunny time of our year here in the US and for Fall in Australia and New Zealand. No matter what the time of year, be a blessing to others by sharing what has been shared with you. Stay away from negative people, negative energy, negative comments and choose instead to be around laughter, good vibes, upbeat people and people whose purpose is to make the world a happy and better place. 

      I appreciate YOU and hope you enjoy what I provide. I have some fun fabrics that you might not be able to find other places. They normally are sold out immediately and that is why I have them here. :0)

       

  • Self Portrait Again
  • Self Portrait
  • Cup

Happy and Colorful Greetings to my friends coming to my new website. It is long past due and there are things I need to add as time lets me.

Many changes are coming along to my life. Two years ago I lost my husband of 45 years to cancer and the next year I found out I had cancer. After treatment I am cancer free. Hooray. Now, my daughter and her 15 year old and 12 year old will be moving in which is quite wonderful. Both children are straight A students and really very thoughtful and sweet.

I needed to free up my studio in the daylight basement for a TV family room for the kids and so my Happy news is I have a new studio space in a wonderful space about five minutes from my house. My daughter in law helped me pack a studio I have had for 28 years. Imagine! Oh so many treasures I had forgotten about and lots to go to the Mission store. You cannot keep everything. I gave away a few quilts and lots of gadgets, gizmos and dolls, projects, baskets etc etc. It felt great to purge.  Tomorrow I move in. I will be posting photos here and there and I will have them on my blog and Facebook. I am so excited to have a new clean space in Bright warm yellow and turquoise. Just the thing to be creative. Later on I will have a SMALL retail space but not for awhile.

I have some patterns I am developing and hopefully some kits once my fabric gets there. They tell me spring. I am working on some smaller little story quilts. Fun ideas and embroidery and some beads make them extra fun!

Speaking of story quilts I will be teaching this at Emptyspoolsseminars.com and also at John C. Campbell Folk School the end of May. I have some drawings I am bringing to help out. My new book will be available then also.

“Hoochy Twochy” is at the printers but most likely with their schedule it will not be done until after Christmas. I am down the list. I am including the seven styles of fabric and what Is wrong with your stash you might want to think about. There are secrets to making a great quilt and sometimes its nice to see how to improve your colors and impact. I am excited about the whimsical dogs, cats and fish in the book plus other fun things for happy quilts. Who doesn't want to be happy?

If you are wondering about other information you would like to see with “hoochy easy piecing” or Story quilts, drop me a note at Lattegirl@aol.com

I would love to hear from you. Soon we will be into the New Year and I am looking for 2017 to be a year filled with happy surprises and positive people.  And I am wishing that for you as well friend. Thank you for stopping by.

                    Mary Lou

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