Batiks, Quilting and Summertime...

The weather is warm, the flowers are blooming and in some parts of the country the kids are already celebrating long summer days. It is the time of year for lazy afternoons at the beach, lake or river. Gardening is in full swing and BBQ-ing on the deck on warm evenings. But how about those rainy summer days? According to the Farmers Almanac we are in for a few more than normal. Be prepared, and occupy your time, with a fun sewing project? How about some Tropical Chic?


Bali Batiks from Hoffman fabrics are the perfect weight and are filled with the colors and hot energy of summer. Why not think about piecing together an inspired quilt, a tablecloth or even a super lightweight bedspread? It just could not be easier.
The Bali Batiks are soft and yummy to work with and at 45" wide it allows for plenty of different creative applications and at only 7.49 per yard it is a steal. The 1895 Batiks are hand dyed in such rich and sometimes even vibrant colors. From a subtle seafoam to an electric orange. This series truly is the perfect companion to the texture and pattern rich Bali Batik collection. The width is 45" and the price is 6.59 per yard. Wow.
We are always checking around and the average price of these two specific collections from Hoffman fabric is upwards of $10.00 per yard.
So really the more you buy at Maryjos.com the more you save!
By the way if you are a contesting creative quilter or creator of fine fabric masterpieces, Hoffman Fabrics has a contest. The rules are simple, you must use Hoffman Batiks and Sulky thread. The deadline is July 15th. At Mary Jo's we do not carry the Sulky line of thread, but we sure have a stockpile of the Hoffman Batik fabric collections. If you are interested in reading more about this cash prize contest go to Hoffman fabrics for the full set of rules. You can check out the past winners and plan your own strategy.
If you would like to be inspired, check out these blogs. They are filled with inspiration, good ideas and some great advice. 1. Artistic Quilting. 2.The Curious Quilter. 3. Feathered Fibers.
Do you have a great blog or a new project you would like to share with us? You could be the next article. We always love to hear from you. Email us today. One last item, did you know we are on Facebook? Be a friend and be one of the first to hear all of the latest news on your Facebook Wall.

What Shape is Your Seat In?

Upholstery. Spring is the time to look around with fresh eyes. When was the last time you thought about changing it up? A new, well made chair can cost upwards of 800.00, if you get a good deal. To re-upholster a chair can be under 100.00 for the materials. 3-4 yards of fabric, depending on the size of the chair, a staple gun and you are off to the races. Remember, upholstery fabric at Maryjos.com can be as low as 8.98 per yard and usually no higher than 18.98. Typically the average price is about 14.98 per yard. A steal, when you consider how much the same fabric can be at a chain Home Upholstery fabric store.

Don't know the first thing about upholstery? No worries. It really can be as easy as 1, 2, 3! How? You have several options. The first, log onto Google, search "re-upholstering a chair", or couch. The first items that pop up are how to videos on YouTube. I love this way of learning. The things you can learn in a how-to video are endless.The second is the DIY online network. They are another terrific resource, for all kinds of projects. From faux finishes to garden tips. Thirdly there are countless blog entries form folks all over the world who proudly share with their readers how they re-upholstered a chair or sofa, usually with lots of how-to photographs, tips and their sources. The Internet is an easy way to get acquainted with the process, supplies and the level of skill required.
If you would rather learn in a classrooom/workshop setting there are several "Schools" that specialize in Upholstery. You may be able to take a continuing education class at a local college. In Charlotte, North Carolina,we are lucky, very near our store is a "Custom Home Furnishings" Academy! Imagine an entire school devoted to the Home Furnishings trade. Here is what they have to say about their special spot in the world of Home Decor...

"The Custom Home Furnishings Academy is the premier destination for hands-on learning. The state-of-the-art facility includes classrooms outfitted with professional workroom equipment, industrial sewing machines and a design studio. The instructors are experts in their field, dedicated to empowering students with the professional skills necessary to enter and thrive in the custom home-decor industry. Courses offered include window treatment and slipcover fabrication, upholstery, drapery installation, home staging and redesign. Whether you are a beginner at the sewing machine, or experienced in the workroom, you will find classes that fit your schedule and interests. Tuition includes fabrics, trims, workroom supplies, lunch and instruction manuals. You will leave the Custom Home Furnishings Academy with new skills, great resources and a network of supportive colleagues."

Think about the possibilities... Now let's take a minute and peruse some of the cool, modern, retro and colorful fabric selections Mary Jo's Cloth Store has, just waiting for your vision and your magic touch. On the website, click on fabric, then upholstery, then click on the different options for Patterns, Colors and Themes. Some of my stand-by favorite are, Flowers and Leaves, Stripes, Paisleys & Abstracts. Some designs are modern, others are traditional in style but all are heavy duty and designed for everyday wear and tear. Beauty matters but when you add in some practicality, perfection has been achieved. Of course there are many other categories to choose from, so block out some time and get inspired! It is always fun to dream and shop online!Enjoy the swatches we have put together for this article. They are all available online. It is fun to mix it up and use a few complimentary fabrics for different pieces of furniture, table runners and drapes. Have some fun and send us some photos of your work. We would love to feature you on a future blog.

Sunny Skies Ahead, Save Money, Time & Energy...

It seems that lately every time we pick up a newspaper it is not good news. With the price of gas going sky high it seems like there is a whole lot of belt tightening going on. At Mary Jo's we have come up with a few ideas on how to save some time and leave more money in your wallet. Did you know Mary Jo's posts new "Sale" items almost everyday? Yes. At Mary Jo's Cloth Store we are sticklers for low prices and great service. Mary Jo has been in the cloth business for over 60 years and in that time we have seen good times and bad. This is another rough patch, but we know it will all be fine, life goes on and we will be stronger for the experience. Having said that, we are very sensitive to your needs at this time. Check on our Sale page often and remember the prices in all of our regular departments beat most fabric stores, across the nation, hands down.
Save gas, save time and find exactly what you are looking for at www.Maryjos.com. We have a vast selection of Quilting Fabrics, Fancy and Fine Fabrics for upcoming weddings, dances and special occasions. We are always adding to our Upholstery & Drapery Fabric Selection featuring name brands, and fantastic pattern and color choices. Our everyday fabric for children's clothes, men's shirts and summer dresses is colorful, bright and beautiful. So make yourself a deal and shop online. You will save money, time and energy. Sometimes everything you are looking for can be found on your computer screen. (Well almost everything, but fabric, especially!)
A while back we asked you to share your recent quilting projects with us. Thanks to all of you who responded, such lovely work and wonderful stories. Today we are featuring a gal named Jean Loussarian. She Has also created a website for her quilts.
"The quilt was inspired from when I was in Bonn, Germany touring the house that Beethoven lived in. He was also born in this house.
My name is Jean Loussarian from Westminster, SC. I travel at least twice a year to Mary Jo's to load up my car with the beautiful fabrics from Mary Jo's. My web site is loussarian.com if you would like to see some other quilts that I make. I have attached a picture of a quilt I recently made using fabric from Mary Jo's.
Jean, thanks for sharing your quilt and the inspiration behind this beauty.

If you have a quilt to share, we would love nothing more than to feature you here on our Fabric & Design Blog. Email us today.
Thanks for reading, save some money and log onto Maryjos.com today!

Mary Jo Has A Favor To Ask...

Today we have a special request. Mary Jo's granddaughter Rebekah is quite the horse woman. She has had a passion for horses since she was a young girl. She is now a sophomore at William Woods University and is still going to competitions and showing her horses. So here is the deal. A photograph of her with her horse at a competition has been chosen to possibly be one of this years best photos for National Horseman Magazine! But here is the catch. We have a big favor to ask of you all. Could you please log onto The National Horseman website on the photo contest page and vote for Rebekah. She is #8. We appreciate your participation. It would be super if she could win this prestigious contest and we can do it with your help. Thanks in advance.

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.

Sewing Seeds & Giving Back...

Have you often thought of the many things you could do for others, but haven't stumbled on your exact course of action? We recently received an inspiring letter from a gal who figured out her own special path to giving. She was haunted by the passage in Matthew 25, 36, "I needed clothes and you clothed me".

This was Jennifer Sinclair's course of action.
I'd like to share with you about my "Sewing Seeds" project for orphans. I was feeling led to sew for orphans but didn't really know where to start and what was needed. Just recently, I was approached about a need for girls' dresses in Uganda, Africa. Talk about an answered prayer! For more details, see a recent post on my blog: My two year old daughter and I had a great time strolling through Mary Jo's picking out fabric. Within a week, I have completed three dresses, but I'm excited to do more. I've attached a picture of the completed three dresses from Mary Jo's fabric. I wanted fabrics that were bright, colorful, and durable. Of course, at Mary Jo's there is a lot to choose from and I found just what I needed. The employees were great to offer help and suggestions. Although my project seems small, it is my prayer that God will use my dresses to make a precious girl not only feel special, but also feel God's love. Mark 4:20..."Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop - thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what is sown." I'd love for this to become much bigger than me and my little Singer sewing machine. God may just make that happen. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share. Well, the sew must go on, Jennifer Sinclair
Thanks so much for your inspirational story. We hope some of our customers will be inspired to follow their "Giving Path". We have bolts and bolts of the style of fabric Jennifer did choose for her Passion Project. Bright almost retro, yet somewhat modern, this is a sturdy cotton blend with a giant pop of color. What could make a young girl, in any country happier then these sunny dresses. Remember, we also have incredible, beautiful fabric ON SALE in the store and online. Shop the Sale page frequently as the stock is always changing.

Do you have a project you would like to share? We are all ears and always delighted to see the handiwork of our Mary Jo's Cloth customers. Please send us an email with a brief description today.
Enjoy this lovely almost Spring day.