Quilt Artist, His Work & Mary Jo's...

Last week we featured an article about "Artful Quilting" and we received quite a few responses. Ben Hollingsworth from Georgia sent in a photo, his blog address and a lovely note. Read on...

"I retired from teaching in 2006 and shortly after
that I started quilting. My wife got me involved with two quilt
guilds. I am actively involved with both and have worked on the show committee for both guild's shows. Fortunately, they alternate with one show in even numbered years and the other in odd numbered years.

In 2008 I had 5 quilts in the Chattahoochee Evening Stars show and
won two first place ribbons and the Viewer's Choice award for my
landscape quilt "Reflections Along the Chattahoochee". That quilt was
also accepted in the Houston International Quilt Festival in October.
I am attaching a photo of that quilt to this email as well as a link
to my blog about the show.

About three months ago I finished my latest art quilt which I hope to
enter in the Houston show next year. It is called "Sunbonnet Sue Goes to the Museum". The concept is basically - what would happen if
Sunbonnet Sue had the same zeal as Johnny Appleseed and spread
sunbonnets every where that she went? What if she went to the museum
and put hats on all of the people in the paintings? Several of the fabrics
for this quilt were purchased at Mary Jo's.

I also make traditional patterned quilts but really enjoy modifying
and manipulating fabric and then embellished as a quilt.
I am also a member of a art quilt group called Fiber Art Fusion in
Marietta."
Ben Hollingsworth
Alpharetta, GA

Such an inspiring fellow. He leads an artful quilting life! Thanks so much for sharing, Ben.
Do you have a story to share? Send it in today, we always love to see what you all are up to and how you are turning Mary Jo's Cloth into your own personal creations!

When Quilting Becomes Art…

Quilting is an age old “necessary” craft. The practical job of keeping warm was the original inspiration.
Today we are blessed with the opportunity to quilt not because we have to but because it has become a passionate and artful expression. Quilt Guilds all over America continue to thrive and the members meet each month to inspire each other and to try more intricate and clever patterns and styles of quilting. Books, Friends, Magazines, Museums, Craft Shows and Antique stores are the primary spots to find some of the finest American Art featuring the medium of quilting.

Today the first “Recycled Artful Tie Quilt” we are featuring is an “Art Quilt” made by Caryl Bryer Fallert. She calls it “Unwinding MBA” It is a true piece of Art and hangs in a private collection in Massachusetts. She simply used her husbands many discarded silk ties, fabric and old watch pieces along with fabric for backing. The energy and motion in this piece is like a spiral with the feeling of movement.
“This quilt was inspired by my husbands decision to sort through and discard a twenty-five year accumulation of old clothes. I wanted to use his old clothing to represent the high-pressure business man coming home and "unwinding" after a hectic day at the office.
Many design and construction details of the original clothing were retained in the piecing. Forty-two dress shirt cuffs, forty-seven collars, and fifty-seven ties form a spiral at the center of the quilt. Pieces of shirts and suits fly out of the spiral as it unwinds. Behind the spiral, at the top are six inch squares of "serious suit" fabrics. Progressing toward the bottom of the quilt, the fabrics become more casual. The squares mutate into 45° and 60° diamonds as corduroys and denims are added. At the center of the bottom is an area of "crazy pieced" distorted rectangles made of old jeans, flannel work shirts, and "T" shirts. Thirteen watch faces are sewn across the "serious suit" fabrics to represent time pressure. One hundred seventy-six designer labels spill out of the spiral into the 60° diamonds and continue around the entire border of the quilt. Buttons were sewn back on all the collars and cuffs. They also serve to tie the layers of the quilt together. The binding is made from ties, and the backing is striped "shirting" fabric.”

Another fun quilt was made with many ties from an retired English teacher. It is sweet and really very bright! This quilt is currently featured on a blog called makeitawonderfullife.blogspot.com.

“The "Ties that Bind"quilt represents just a portion of a tie collection. It was put together by my husband's sister Joyce and her friend Cindy. It measures 59x80 inches, and is made up of over 50 ties. About four or five of the ties were handmade by Joyce. Some of the tie labels are sewn on the front of the quilt, and we had fun talking about the stores, long out of business, represented by those labels and the beautiful (and not so beautiful!) ties. This photo actually tones down a few of the hot pink ones...”

From Mary Jo’s Cloth Store Family, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”.
We will be closing at 4 PM on Christmas Eve and are closed on Christmas Day. As always the Website is open 24-7, log on and noodle around, you will find all sorts of amazing fabrics at terrific prices. Enjoy the holiday.

Go Green, Fabric as Gift Wrap...

We all have a closet, room or at least a box of fabric hanging around that "someday" we will get around to using. What if you considered "Recycling" this fabric? Check out this idea, it will serve you well in many ways. The pluses, first you will have more closet or shelf space and second you will have an opportunity to give and share some of your favorite "scraps" of fabric with friends and family.
Imagine what someone else who has been gifted with your

treasure will do with it. It could hopefully become part of a future project or well, who knows.

Here are a few "Let's Be Green" ideas.
1. Wrap your package with the extra fabric. You can easily fold the edges in upon themselves and tie together with a big piece of extra Satin Ribbon or just pull the corners up and tie it together. You could even pop a faux Flower/Birdie or piece of Holly/Pine cone to create an impressive gift.
2. Marcus Fabrics (one of our favorite fabric manufactuers) came up with an idea from Japan called "Furoshiki". Wow. Lovely, artistic and you can create it from just a bit of extra, recyled fabric.
Instructions:
With all of the emphasis on minimizing use of plastic bags and other environmentally friendly practices we wanted to introduce you to one of the prettiest & most creative ways to wrap gifts - furoshiki. This versatile ancient Japanese practice of using tied cloths to wrap and transport items allows you to wrap almost anything, regardless of its shape or size.
We thought quilters around the world could easily adapt to the concept of furoshiki on many levels: (1) you can show off your favorite fabrics even before you've committed them to that perfect quilt design (2) the cloths are reusable, reducing the impact on our environment; (3) they're perfect for gift wrapping, grocery shopping (and fabric shopping!), even basic home décor.Try these ideas as a starting point:

• Select several prints and cut squares of varying sizes. Hem the edges. Fold them up and wrap them up in one of the cloths, tying it at the top. Insert a gift card with an explanation of the cloths.
• Wrap a bundle of fat quarters with a coordinating furoshiki cloth for your favorite quilter, or as a door prize at guild functions.
• Wrap a basket of basic quilting essentials in furoshiki to encourage a beginner.

For a double-sided furoshiki that's perfect for carrying heavier items, sew two coordinating fabric squares with right sides together, and turn right side out, sew the opening closed and press.

With only 11 Days until the big Holiday, we wish you well. Stop in the store or log onto maryjos.com. The website is open 24 hours a day. Easy to fit into your schedule and you never have to find a parking space!
Happy Holidays...

Holiday Madness, Quilting and your Holiday Table...

The Christmas and Holiday countdown are in full swing and it is a little more than 2 weeks until the "Holiday Madness" is over. Then it is safe to hunker down, relax and find your quiet self. With the New Year, you can keep that promise to quilt more, teach a young person to sew, create some new outfits, re-cover a sofa or chair, clean and organize your sewing studio or even create the studio of your dreams. Now is the time to be planning your "Winter Sewing Adventure". If you are a quilter there are many spring shows that are coming up that are truly spectacular. We will be featuring an article on these quilt shows during the next few weeks. It is not to late to plan and finish a quilt to enter into one of the many upcoming shows. Mary Jo's has all of the historic patterns and colors you would ever want at an average price of 6.99 per yard. We also have some incredible spring themed patterns and colors including Sunflowers, Tulips, Leaves, Poppies, Iris and Daffodils to name a few. These are fun choices for the "Whack and Stack" style quilts and any pattern that requires lots of color and pattern. It is fun to work with these colors on those dreary dark winter days.

Mary Jo's Cloth Store still has some great choices for your holiday table decorating. It is simple to whip up a few table cloths, some napkins and maybe even some placemats. A holiday table is not only fun to create/decorate it is also a special family/friend event. Our prices for Holiday fabric is very affordable and our selection is still good. Take a moment, browse around online or pop into the store. You will be happy that you did and so will your guests.

Stay calm, have fun and enjoy the next few weeks. They only happen once a year!

Christmas Stockings, Easy as 1, 2, 3...

Tis' the season. Once a year it is truly the season for Holiday themed fabric! We have, in stock: Santa's, Angels, Ornaments, Reindeer, Poinsettas, Pinecones, Drummer Boys, Nutcrackers, The Nativity, Snowy Scenes, Snowmen, Bells, and many other holiday themed choices. Most are available online, shop early for the best selection.Stockings are not only easy and fun to make they become instant family treasures that are pulled out and used for many years to come. Did you know you can make Christmas Stockings without a sewing machine? eesortmnent.com had some super ideas for easy to make Christmas Stockings. These hand-stitched stockings are very unique, and they can be personalized with names or special holiday messages."To make a hand-stitched Christmas stocking you will need 1 half yard of either Satin, Fleece, Velvet, Holiday print or any other fabric you wish to use. You will also need a skein of embroidery floss, ½ inch wide satin ribbon, straight pins, a needle, scissors, and fabric chalk. Optional supplies are small jingle bells, fabric paint, cotton thread, beads, brushes, fabric glue, glitter, pretty buttons, pompoms, lace and rickrack. Use fabric chalk to draw the outline of a stocking on the backside of your chosen fabric. When drawing the shape, be sure to take into consideration the loss of size that will occur when the stocking is stitched around the edges. Also, you may want to consider making the stocking taller than desired so the top can be turned over to form a cuff. Also allow extra length if you intend on cutting out fringe on the cuff. This works best when using fleece material. Cut out the completed shape, turn the fabric over, and use it as a stencil for the other side of the stocking. Trace around the shape, and cut it out as well. Choose a color of embroidery floss that coordinates well with the colors of your chosen fabric. Pin the two right sides of the stocking together using straight pins. Thread an embroidery needle with 2 strands of embroidery floss, and begin whip stitching the edges. “Whip stitches” are made by inserting the needle into the fabric and “whipping” the thread over the cut edges of fabric and inserting the needle into the other side. Make the stitches approximately ¼ inch apart. Continue this process until the edges are completely stitched. Turn the stocking right side out. If you have made the stocking long enough for a cuff, turn the fabric out to form the cuff. You can either hand-stitch lace or rickrack around the edge of the cuff, or if the cuff is long enough you can create a fringed edge. Do so by evenly cutting out ½ inch sections of fabric around the edges of the cuff. Make the fringe any length you desire. If you’ve opted to make fringe, you can tie on small metal jingle bells or pretty beads to the ends of the fringe. If you didn’t form a fabric cuff for the stocking, make a faux cuff using pretty buttons. Sew buttons of your choice around the upper third of the stocking. Use buttons of all sizes and shapes in colors that coordinate with the fabric used for the stocking. Pompoms or faux gemstones can also be used to embellish a hand-stitched Christmas stocking. Glue them on with fabric glue. You also might want to consider using glue and glitter to personalize the stocking with a name more or special holiday message. Just draw the name or message with a bottle of craft glue, and sprinkle on glitter of your choice. Use your imagination to design the perfect holiday stocking.Make a hanger for your finished stocking using ½ inch wide satin ribbon in a coordinating color. Cut off a section of ribbon approximately 6 inches long. Fold it over and hand stitch it to the inside corner of the stocking. Hang the finished stocking on the edge of a mantel or shelf. Special stocking hangers are available where most Christmas supplies and accessories are sold. Wow, making future family holiday heirlooms could not be easier. If you want to be inspired, Google images has loads of great ideas. Go to google.com, type "Christmas Stockings" into the search field click images and viola, tons of stocking photos. Have fun!

Remember Mary Jo's Cloth Store has outstanding choices for all of your holiday fabric needs. Log on to our website www.maryjos.com or stop into the store in Gastonia, we would love to see you and your friends! Take a moment and send a photo of your Christmas project to us. We may post it on our community page or feature your handiwork in a future Mary Jo Design Blog article. Happy Holidays and make sure to have fun.

Thanksgiving at Mary Jo's Cloth Store...

Thanksgiving is a special time of year. It is a holiday filled with great food, company and good cheer. It is a time to re-connect with family, friends and neighbors. There is nothing better than eating a great meal and breaking bread with those that we love and acknowledging all of the blessings in our lives. May your "Thanksgiving Week" buzz with the energy of love, sharing and true hospitality.

At Mary Jo's Cloth Store Thanksgiving is a very special time of year. We are truly thankful for all of our wonderful customers who shop in the store or online. It is always a joy to be able to help folks find what they are looking for, answer questions whether it is in person, on the phone or in an email.






We are thankful for our staff. They work diligently to get the job done, on-time and with a smile. We are thankful to the manufactures of the fabric we stock in our stores. We are able to order what we need, when we need it, at a price that is so great we can pass the savings onto you. So thank-you everyone, may your holiday season be filled with all that you love and all that you care about.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Mary Jo's Cloth Store

In the spirit of giving,new specials, just log onto our SALE PAGE (Special Edition)... We have some new postings that are well priced and lovely.

Where Does The Time Go?

It is the middle of November, we are getting very busy online and in the store. Many folks are stocking up on fabric to get them through the holidays. The project lists we hear about are endless. Thanksgiving Tables are being outfitted with some truly amazing tablecloths made from exquisite Damasks, Satins, Polished Cottons, Batiks and classic prints. Companion fabric is available for napkins and place-mats. As always at Mary Jo's Cloth Store the choices are many and the possibilities are endless.

We have heard from many of you in the past few weeks and would like to feature a few of our letters and comments as well as a darling "Polka Dot" project.

Miss Sue in Georgia writes...
Dear Mary Jo and friends,
Thank you so much for going online. There is nothing like going to your store and shopping for the project you are doing, but sadly some of is are now housebound. I was so happy to know that I can now go online and get a few things that I need. I think you are a wonderful group and I wish you continued success. You really go out of your way to see that we have a great shopping experience. You ladies are the greatest.
Hugs
Sue in GA

Sarah from NC, wrote in to share her beautiful Doll that she made from fabric purchased here at Mary Jo's...
Hi Mary Jo's.
I just wanted to share my newest obsession...art dolls made of fabric with yarn for hair. They're called Blume Dolls. Each one is an indivual with painted faces, about 6 '' tall. I can't stop making them. So....I'm cruising Mary Jo's alot to find that special fabric for a dress or body. Right now they're sitting on my sewing room shelf watching me! I've made about 25 and have given a few to friends. Thanks for letting me share, Sarah Monteleone Dallas, N.C.

Miss Connie was kind enough to share her Polka Dot Handiwork...
I read your article on using Polka dots in our projects. I make primarily custom kids clothes.
I've enclosed a picture of what I call my "Little Black Skirt."
I've used a combination of: Micro Dots, 1/4 Inch Dots, 1/2 Inch Dots, Flocked Dot Tulle along with a Stripe for this fun little skirt.
It can be worn so many ways: With a Personalized T Shirt...with a Blouse and Vest....With a BOO T Shirt for Halloween....or with a Minnie T Shirt for that Disney Trip.
I just wanted to share my contribution!
Thanks
Connie Turner
Thanks for all of your great notes, letters and kudos we appreciate hearing from you.
Remember it is that "time" of year. Holidays, Parties, Gifts and Dinners. So get to cracking on all of your projects before the time, well, just gets away from you.
An early Happy Holidays from Mary Jo's Cloth Store.