My Latest Project - Hoochy Mama Border

We recently found a source for Mary Lou Weidman's Book, Hoochy Mama Quilts and bought them for the shop. It's full of instructions for "wonky" blocks that are cut without a pattern. Mary Lou uses these blocks as the borders for her story quilts.

I've been working on a little quilt for Baby Dylan with a sheep (although Gina thinks it looks like a dog) and I couldn't wait to try making some Hoochy Mama blocks for the border.

Here's what I've done so far. I just pinned them together to take a picture and show you. I love making the blocks, although it's kind of daunting to not have a pattern or specific measurements. I'm going to have to make the middle of the quilt bigger to have the right scale for the Hoochy block border. Just thought I'd share...don't judge the little quilt yet. It has a long way to go to achieve maximum cuteness!

Mary Lou Weidman...Fiber Artist Extraordinaire

In the unlikely event that you haven't heard of Mary Lou Weidman, I would love to introduce her. She is a fabulous artist who works in fabric and produces lovely quilt masterpieces. She became famous in the quilt world for her story quilts that incorporate images and words that are meaningful in her life. Lucky for us, Mary Lou has designed patterns and instructions so that you, too, can expand your creativity and learn to tell your own story in fabrics!

Mary Lou's "Angels" quilt is a block of the month favorite you can buy by clicking on the picture of the quilt! We all love this one!

Mary Lou teaches at retreats in fabulous vacation spots. You can enjoy a wonderful quilting vacation, great food, a beautiful location and have the pleasure of taking lessons in creative fabric expression from Mary Lou herself! Click on the quilt below to sign up for her latest fabulous quilt retreat!
Mary Lou has also written books and patterns that you can buy to make your own artistic version of a fabulous, bright quilt! The little quilt shown below is from Mary Lou's book, Flower Power, that is on sale at her website or from 44th Street Fabric.


I love the way Mary Lou encourages us to all find the joy of the creativity within us and the power to express it. Visit Mary Lou's website to see more of her fabulous quilts!

START OF A BABY QUILT

Well, I started another baby quilt this weekend. Here's the beginning. I haven't finished the applique yet-the basket needs more flowers. I left the space at the top for the baby's name. Gina thinks the sheep looks like a dog...sigh. I was going to put the blocks I have pinned together on the side as the border but think they are too big for the applique design. They are Hoochy Mama blocks from Mary Weidman's latest book. You don't have a template, you just start cutting and sewing. It was harder to do that randomly than it would be to use a template. I didn't realize I have such a problem with "casual cutting"! So just a start--I have a few more months before it has to be finished. Have any of you guys made these blocks?