Blog – Page 26 – Amherst Quilters Guild

November 9, 2014

recent finds…

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Still not adjusted to the new times yet (nor is the dog!). I find myself wide awake quite early and find it’s better to get up and moving, than to just stare at the ceiling wishing I could sleep for another hour. Instead of heading out on the morning walk before the world awakens, I have explored the web instead. I’ll share a few of my recent finds. fabric twine–love this! Can use up very narrow scrappy strings since she says 1″ wide is the maximum! Does anyone you know make blocks with pieces narrower than that?! click here Houston Quilt festival (on the bucket list!) click here Recently I made fabric baskets from a pattern from Aunties Two. Their patterns are very well illustrated and explained. I went to the website to see what others they have that might be fun and found a […]

October 30, 2014

Don’t hurt yourself!

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I’m sure if you’re more than a rank beginner to quilting, you know that quilting does use a lot of muscles. It’s not difficult to make your body tired and sometimes sore after an extended period of any of the processes involved in producing a quilt. We had a speaker at a guild meeting not long ago who gave some tips, but perhaps you weren’t at that meeting or you would like a review. Check out this video. Tips are given for finding more comfort or less strain in each step along the way, starting from cutting the fabric all the way to the hand stitching of the binding. If you are an embroiderer the hand stitching tips and the stretches suggested would be helpful for you as well. Have you got your project ready to work on in between tomorrow night’s trick or treaters?

October 28, 2014

Ruby Jubilee

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. A Ruby Jubilee is a 40th anniversary of an event. This fall marks the 40th anniversary of the International Quilt festival in Houston. The exhibit of red and white quilts, inspired by the red and white exhibit that was in NYC a few years ago, is spectacular. I’m sure there will be more and more about that on all the social media etc before too long. Have a look at this newsletter from Quilts, Inc. to read about the birth of the quilt festival, pick up a free pattern, and some great recipes. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to do some of your own internet surfing to find more about those “ruby” quilts. click here You might also enjoy this summary of all of the special events to take place at the quilt festival this year. Wouldn’t this be a great quilters’ trip?! click here.

October 24, 2014

odd bits

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. What have you been up to lately? I recently drove down to Penn Yan with a friend to have my sewing machine serviced. Discovered that Mapquest and Yahoo maps can’t always be trusted. After having a very detailed tour of the Cayuga Lake shore neighborhoods, we eventually ended up at the shop we were aiming for. Fortunately it was a nice day, and the hillsides were gorgeous with fall colors. After dropping the machine off at the shop, we headed further on for some quilty fun. Our first stop was at Quilters’ Corners in Ithaca. I had known of this shop from quilt show venders malls, but had never been to the brick and mortar place. Wow! Lots of eye candy. So many samples to look at, and of course many different fabrics than our local shops. I love seeing the different choices that each […]

October 17, 2014

decorating for the holidays

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Most quilters have made a piece or two to bring out during the Christmas season, but I wonder if you’ve made anything for the Halloween or harvest time of year. I’ve read that more money is spent in the US on decorating for the Halloween season than for any other time of the year. Perhaps that includes all of the costumes, outdoor “freaky” fun and pumpkin villages as well as the typical indoor stuff. How about you? Do you have any quilty things for this time of year? As I sit here at the kitchen counter and look around the house, I can see that I have quite a collection amassed over several years. I’ll share a few of my things and I hope you’ll tell us about yours in a comment. Here’s a list in no particular order: Stuffed cotton apples and pears in […]

October 16, 2014

seminar 2016

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. It’s now official. Nancy Mahoney will be our national teacher for the 2016 quilt seminar. She is in all the quilt publications, so I’m sure that even if you’re not familiar with her name you have certainly seen some of her work. Here’s a link to her blog. Go explore and get to know a bit about her. Please be thinking about what you’d like to see in the open years in between our seminars, instead of a seminar. I’ll be asking for ideas in the months ahead.

October 10, 2014

Eye on Elegance

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I come from a family of folks who spend their days immersed in math and science. Except for one. I have a niece who loves history, in all of its forms. She is currently living in the Washington D.C. area, discovered this exhibit at the DAR museum, and sent me the link. Eye on Elegance is an exhibit of quilts from the Maryland and Virginia area. This “show” online is wonderful for those of us who will not be in Washington soon. There are video clips from the curator, and many photos of the quilts which you can explore. You are able to zoom in and look at the details of the quilts. If you are interested in the history of our art form, I think you’ll find this very interesting. So much to learn about the beginnings of quilting here in the US, and […]

October 8, 2014

quilting bucket list

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Do you have a quilting bucket list? All those quilted projects that you want to accomplish before the end? I do. Lots of things on it, but here are a few… a totally red and white Irish chain, a white on white with feathers drafted and quilted by me, a very fun Halloween “redwork” quilt with 15 blocks so detailed that I can’t even get started!, … Well I just found another quilt project to add to the list. I love the fabric manipulations (origami, smocking, etc.) on this quilt. Definitely want to try this out. Check it out here. What’s a project on your quilting bucket list? Come on, share!

October 3, 2014

Wicked Quilts

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. How do you find inspiration for your next quilt project? Here’s a link to quilts made for a challenge from Cherrywood hand dyed fabrics was to use 3 “wicked” greens from their 2014 line and make a quilt inspired by “Wicked”. It’s the 11th anniversary of the show “Wicked” in NYC, so many chose their inspiration from there, but other worked from the meaning of the word itself. Good theme for Halloween season, isn’t it? click here (if you dare!) How are your seminar projects coming? I hope you enjoyed yourself and learned a least one new thing. Those are the goals of seminar. We’re working on getting our national teacher lined up for 2016, and hope to announce the name at the next guild meeting. Bring those completed (tongue in cheek) projects for show and tell in October.

October 1, 2014

Seminar – already two weeks ago?

Hi everyone, this can be yet another issue of my Wednesday wanderings but I have been thinking and meaning to post all my Seminar photos here only to realize just now – it has already been TWO WEEKS??? That’s just not possible…. You know how they say that time goes faster as you grow older? Well – I must be REALLY old then…it just flies by!!! Well, better two weeks after than never – wasn’t Seminar just a TON of fun?? I heard several times from Bonnie (and that’s just in two separate occasions) how well organized it is and how nice it is!! So I know you all will join me in saying a BIG BIG THANK YOU to Mary Ellen and Jan and everyone who worked on Seminar to make it yet another wonderful success!! I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen a crowd that big […]