Amherst Quilters Guild

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Yesterday I finished up the quilting and binding on my corona quilt. I was a bit worried–I did not have enough of any of the fabrics in the quilt or its FQ bundle to make the binding. Fortunately I have a small stash (cough, cough) and found something close with just a bit more than I needed. Finding thread to match the binding (I sew the entire binding process by machine) was a challenge. I found a partial spool that was perfect but had a concern that I’d run out before I finished top-stitching the binding. But hey-nothing ventured, nothing gained. So I set out on what I’ve heard called a game of thread spool chicken. And guess what, I won! Not by much but it doesn’t matter by how much–I got the whole binding done with just a bit to spare! That’s the most […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen back again. With the help of the Clarence Log Cabin Quilters we were able to send 303 child sized masks to Children’s Hospital this week. With our other donated masks, that brings our total to 4, 253! When we started this initiative on April 1 (our first collection) I wasn’t expecting this to catch on in the way it has. Quilters to the rescue! I suspect we’ll be wearing masks for a long while.  Some of you must be so speedy at construction–chime in please, about how quickly can you make a mask? We also started a corona quilt challenge/quilt-along back at the beginning of April. I’ve received photos of their finished quilt tops from 2 of our members . I really enjoy seeing how  a change in placement of the values in the quilt, or a bit of a rearrangement of the block placement, gives […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Still stitching away on those masks? Gotta wonder how much longer we’ll need to be helping out in this way. You guys are doing great — as of today we’ve made and donated 3813 masks. Did you see Jackie’s request for “kids” masks that came in an e-mail blast? Those will be a little more fun to sew–cute kids prints or bright and cheery colors will make the task a bit more enjoyable. Do you remember a bit ago I posted about some fun mask maker T-shirts? Linda H’s arrived and here she is proud of herself. I bet it’s a conversation starter! If anyone else has gotten one of those fun shirts, send us a picture please.

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Before you have a look at the 2 documents attached here, play with your blocks to see what layouts you come up with. You may find one you like better than mine. Both of the documents show my final layout for the corona quilt. There are black and white line drawings, and photos. Feel free to contact me with any questions, or suggestions. corona quilt assembly corona quilt unit assemblies

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Some of this is a repeat of the article I wrote for our most recent guild newsletter. The additional things that I had submitted to the newsletter,  that did not appear there, are included here. (BTW, after Friday’s pickup of masks our guild total is up to 3135!!!!!!!!!!!!  You go, girls!!) Be prepared, it’s a long post! Linda Hunter was contacted by the Army Corp of Engineers, and she “enlisted” Annette’s help. First is the letter to Linda that prompted this effort.“I am the EEO Manager for the Army Corps of Engineers in Buffalo and have an engineer who is deaf. If you know anything about American Sign Language, facial expressions are a big component of the language.Traditional face masks hide the face, presenting an issue for someone who reads lips and/or needs expression to understand what is being communicated. I found two sources for […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here.Mask making has certainly been in the news of late, hasn’t it? Our guild received a very nice mention on Spectrum local news, and Mary Ann sent it out via our e-mail tree. Niagara Hospice gave us a thank you for the masks that we have donated them. I know that Mary D. has done a great job providing them with the majority of the masks we sent there. Roswell sent a nice thank you to us as well, but I can’t get it from my phone to this blog to share it. So please take my word for it, the patients and staff appreciate the masks we have sent to them. This week we sent 477 masks to the Air Force base. The Clarence guild is assisting in the effort for the base, so hopefully their request for 1000 masks will be filled soon. Our […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. In my NY Times summary this morning this article appeared. Capitalists will find a money making opportunity in nearly every situation. See what you think about this. From The New York Times: Should Masks Be a Fashion Statement? Capitalist opportunities often emerge from times of trauma. That doesn’t make the origin stories any less uncomfortable. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/fashion/coronavirus-fashion-face-masks.html?smid=em-share

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. You ladies are amazing. With the Monday pickup of masks we reached our 2000 donation challenge goal. I’ll wait until after Friday’s pickup to give you an exact number. Maybe we’ll hit another milestone! Remember we are working on getting 1000 masks to the Air Force Base (Did you see them featured on 60 minutes on Sunday evening?) Remember for the Air Force masks use predominantly drab colors, and no patriotics. If you have already made masks with patriotic fabrics, we can donate those to veterans. I’ll be posting our last construction step for the corona quilt in the next day or so. There is a slight hold up due to a puppy chewing up a friendship star block for which I do not have enough fabric to repair. So I’ll be making 3 new ones. Then I can decide on the  value placements in […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here.I’m guessing you’ve all gotten calls this week asking about masks since the governor put out his requirement for all of us to wear them in places where social distancing is not easy to do. I’ve gotten a couple of calls from neighbors I haven’t spoken with all winter asking if I knew where they might be able to get a mask LOL! I’m sure they knew — and I gave them the masks of course. Our guild tally of donated masks (that we are aware of) is up to 1848. We’re going to hit 2000, I know it! If you can make even a few for us to give to the Air Force Base, that would be super. They have asked for 1,000. A few parameters for them–no patriotic fabrics please. It makes them easily identifiable as Americans when they are deployed. Drab colors for […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here.In case you missed it… one of our guild’s long time members wrote an opinion piece published in yesterday’s Buffalo News. You mask makers should take particular note. (BTW We’re approaching our next milestone as a guild of 2000 masks made and donated!) Thanks, Linda, for letting the readers know what quilters are up to these days! Quilters are cottoning to face mask production