Red & White Quilts Take Center Stage...

The buzz around "The Red & White Show" is in print, on the web and television. This show was a BIG DEAL. Joanna S. Rose claims she is not a quilt "collector". But she is. She recently turned 80 and her darling husband decided to give her 651 Red & White Quilts a 6 day show at The Armory in NYC. This show was curated by the Folk Art Museum. The layout and presentation was stunning. The quilts, more so. A high society Red & White Gala kicked off this event and then the show was open to the public for 6 days with free admission. Wow. What a guy, what a gift and what a pleasure to see 651 quilts hung and displayed so artfully and lit so perfectly. Quite a production.
The visitors had much to say, "Just came back from the exhibit. Visually stunning. Felt like Alice in Wonderland wandering around the deck of cards!"
"An unbelievably gorgeous exhibition! I would never have thought there could be so much variation in such a simple color scheme; the graphic quality of the quilts is impressive and incredible."
"As a quilter and a person who appreciates art, it was amazing to see how these things blend so seamlessly together. Thank you to Ms. Rose.".
For inspiration click on any, or all of the following links. These are talented quilting bloggers and newspaper writers who waxed poetically not only about the show but also about the history and the fantastic possibilities of Red & White Quilts and this exhibit. All of these sites have many photos of the show. This will be a true inspiration for all of you quilters and for those of you who love beautiful pieces of art.
Folk Art Museum , Wall Street Journal, Pincushion Blog, Helen James Design, Blackbird Design, Repro Quilt Lover, and The Bohemian American.



This show was a wonderful tribute to the art of quilting, which is great for all of us who quilt, or aspire to quilt. Take a minute and Google, "Red & White Show New York", you will not only be inspired, we think you will be amazed. We certainly were.

Mary Jo's Cloth has all of the Red & White fabric you will need for your next, collectible quilt. So what are you waiting for, great prices and amazing choices. Please send us your Red & White quilt projects, we will do a follow up article in the next few months, and your quilt could be featured. Have fun. Please take a moment to explore the sale section, you will never be disappointed, we promise. Happy quilting.

Quilting, Dresses & A Bit Of Dr. Suess...

Spring is in the air. In a few weeks we will be featuring some of the new lines from the fabric designers at Marcus Brothers, designed just for quilters. They have created some fantastic "Hobo" quilt fabric. It is terrific, you can cut the printed fabric up, re-sew and have a Hobo Quilt in a snap. Does your guild or organization have a show coming up? Drop us an email, include your web address, we will feature your Quilt Show info on the Community page section of the website. We also will list some of the shows in our special quilt article, featured on this blog at the end of March.

A special thanks to all of you that have been sending us your projects and letters. We are always impressed with the projects and special stories that you share with us. It is a delight to feature your projects on this blog. We encourage you to continue to share your magical creations and your heartwarming stories. It is as simple as an email, remember to include photos and if sewing or products derived from your projects is also your business, go ahead and provide your website or Blog address. We can then can share it in the article with our Mary Jo's Blog readers.

The other day a gal sent us a sweet note. She had been hearing about our store form several online sewing groups and could not resist. Thanks Jerry, so happy to see the lovely outfits you created.
First, let me tell you that I had the TIME OF MY LIFE the week before Thanksgiving when my husband and I took the “long way home” from DC to Mississippi. We came down through Williamsburg to spend the afternoon, and then drove on into Gastonia to spend the night. I belong to several online sewing forums and had heard all about the shopping adventure awaiting me at Mary Jo’s. I told my husband that I would need 3 hours at the minimum to be able to browse and see everything. Bless his heart, he dropped me off at 9 and was waiting in the car when I exited at 11:45. He told me I had cheated myself out of 15 minutes!! I bought three sets of coordinates to use for outfits for my granddaughter, Mary Kennedy, age 6. I have only finished up two of the outfits so far; the other set of fabrics is sitting in a holding pattern until I can get going on the heirloom Easter garments for MK and her little brother Charlie, age 2. I already have visions of how it will turn out! The first picture is of a Michael Miller Eiffel Tower print I loved. I found the perfect red-orange microcheck and Kona cotton coordinates to really make it special, I think. I loved that you had such a large selection of colors in your “basic” stock. And I bought that Children’s Corner Jacqueline pattern at Mary Jo’s too! (I bought four Children’s Corner patterns. One of them will be used for the Easter dress, done in a beautiful pale blue batiste I bought that day!!) The next one I finished up today. I had bought three of your Dr. Seuss prints, but found that the red fishbowl print just wouldn’t work for me with the panel print and the Cat in the Hat print; so I had to order the red “egg” dot to coordinate. I wish I had bought it that day. Darn. Thank you for the wonderful shopping experience. I hope that we will pass by that way again one day. I will have to hurry and sew up the fabric stash I have so hubby will agree to stop in next time!! J Jerry
Sweet, Thanks for sharing.
Springtime brings many new colors, patterns and prints to our collection of fabric available on the web and at the store. Take a few moments and cruise around maryjos.com, you will not be disappointed, we promise. Happy almost spring.