Amherst Quilters Guild

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I’m feeling like my small portion of the world is getting back to normal a bit. Whatever the new normal is going to be anyway.  There are parts of the old normal I won’t miss, and parts of the new normal I’m not happy about but…isn’t that what “normal” is all about? There’s been so much in the news of late about shopping delays with the advice to get Christmas shopping done ASAP. I’ve decided to do some of my “shopping” from the crafts I’ve done through COVID and some of it from my stash of craft supplies. I’m going to try to get a few sock knitting and fingerless glove projects organized for knitting in front of the tv. My nieces always like quilted projects so I’ve been looking for fast and easy quilts. The fastest project I know of is a jelly roll […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I’m sure we all have experienced trying to work with a block which is too small–not quite what the designer called for the size of the raw block to be. Even those of us who have been at this quilting thing for a long time have those days when even a good steam/stretch cannot make the block the size it should be. And if you’ve ever participated in a block swap you know that there seems to be a wide variety in rulers out there! Here’s a hint from our Linda H. to enable you to work with small variations. It won’t help you if your block is WAAAAYY too small, but if it’s just a bit this hint will save you having to redo the piecing. Please do not photocopy this handout for friends. If they would like a copy give them the blog […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Already the back to school ads are appearing on tv and in print. Before I retired I used to hate to see those beginning –summer vacation was on the downhill! Now I react differently–it’s time to get those supplies to use in my quilting! The prices are great at this time of year–watch for the loss leaders! My favorite school supply that I use for all sorts of things is Elmer’s washable school glue. The number one use for me is holding my bindings in place for hand or machine stitching. Once I discovered how well this works I have not looked back! A second use for me is holding miters in place on borders and sashings. The glue makes accuracy so much easier! The washable glue in stick form is great for holding appliques, buttons and other embellishments in place temporarily. (There may be […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. It’s been quite a while since my last post. Life gets away from me sometimes. How about you? The garden is still a work in progress. Will those maple whirlygigs ever be finished falling? It seems I rake and sweep them up and in an hour or so it looks like I never did it. Oh well, those of us who are gardeners put up with those things I guess. What patriotic quilts are you getting our for the 4th of July? I have a set of 4 placemats that feature red, white and blue fabrics that I use for most of the summer. They work well on the tray that takes my dinner or lunch out onto the deck. Do you have a favorite summer project? I seem to gravitate to watermelon colors and designs for the summer too. Any that you can share […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I’m hoping our notification issues with blog posts have been resolved. If a few of you comment on this post today, that will help me and Shez ( our web guy ) know whether or not the problem is now solved. Last night’s guild meeting was enjoyable. The ruler demos were great; I always learn something new from our resident experts. Congratulations to Annette M-G who won our guild’s spring challenge. We were each given a postcard which we were to interpret in any manner we chose in quilt form. Annette’s block printing of drift wood found along Lake Erie ( I believe, correct me Annette if I’m incorrect) was a perfect interpretation of the Japanese print on her postcard. It also was a perfect complement to Betty L’s early bird special on printing from nature. She demoed using vegetables and air brush paint in […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here.Some of our most basic tools in quilting, after our rotary cutters and rulers, are our scissors. If you’re like me you have several (lots?) pairs, and one or two favorites. I thought I knew most of what there was to know about scissors, but I’ve discovered that I did not know some important tips after watching this video. I enjoy this woman’s channel; try some of her other videos too. Click here for everything you need to know about scissors. We still have not resolved the blog notifications issue. Keep checking back now and then to see if I have posted anything new. When the issue is resolved I’ll send out something to all of you.

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. 1) We finally finished and posted our first guild quilt showcase. Have you visited our guild YouTube channel to see it? We’ve had around 100 views to date, which is more than the number of members we have. Not exactly going viral, but encouraging. 2) We’re having issues with notifications not being sent for blog postings. You must have come around another way to read this today. Our web host is working with the software designer to try to resolve the problem(s). It will be obvious when it’s fixed, because you’ll get an e-mail notification. Please keep visiting us via our guild web page, choosing blog in the drop down menu. 3) How’s your guild challenge project coming? Judging is next week at our guild meeting. Read Betty L’s article in the monthly newsletter for details. It’s a beautiful May morning today, going out to […]

Hello all, I hope you enjoyed our showcase of quilts-some new and some seen before. There will be a second showcase early in 2022 to show more of the talent our guild members have. The details of the quilts in our first showcase are in the pdf attached here. The showcase will premiere on our guild’s YouTube page on Saturday May 8, 2021. quilt showcase 1 commentary

We’re having trouble with this posting. Please let me know if you receive this, or if you had also received the first attempt.   Hello all, Mary Ellen here. How does your garden grow? I think Mother Nature is a bit confused as to the correct weather for the month of April. I’ve been working on weeds more than anything else so far. I’ve been tempted a few times by the annuals I see some of my neighbors putting out, but I think I’ll wait on those. I’ve been fooled before. I’ve also been working on the quilt showcase that has been put off a few times because of Covid restrictions. My sister, who was to be our techie tutor, is immune compromised and did not want to get together to work on the project until things settled down. We have done some things on the phone but that only […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here.So…have you gone on any road trips lately? Now that I am fully vaccinated, I’m feeling a bit braver and am venturing further afield. (Don’t you hate it that nearly everyone starts their sentences with the word “so” these days?) Last weekend a friend and I drove out to the Iroquois Wildlife Preserve (Alabama swamps) to eagle watch. We were quite lucky to see about 5 bald eagles and 2 nesting sites. There are having “eagle watches” at the Cayuga overlook each Saturday through April. Volunteers have spotting scopes out and are very friendly in answering questions. Nice relaxing day. Another nice road trip for some of you might be a drive to the Material Rewards quilt shop outside of Dansville NY. I used to pass by it on the way to visit my mom. And since I was going right by it, of course I […]