Blog – Page 47 – Amherst Quilters Guild

November 19, 2012

Seminar past and future – in one!..and few other thoughts (recipe too)

Hi everyone, I very much second Mary Ellen’s thoughts about Seminar and really, really hope all of you will get involved – first in looking and suggesting classes for Pat Sloan to teach at the next seminar, and then in anything else when time comes! Same goes for any local teachers and classes – let me know what you would like to see and who would you like us to invite (either by commenting here or sending me an email, phone call…etc.) But TODAY, here is some fun for you all that includes BOTH, out past teacher, Beth Ferrier and the next one – Pat Sloan: Beth is a guest on Pat’s radio show and you can see all the info HERE! Hope some of you will see this in time to tune-in and listen! OK, so while I am on this coffee break, let me share few other finds […]

November 17, 2012

looking ahead

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Just gave my “sort of” final report about seminar 2012 at this week’s guild meeting. Already Kit, our chair of national teachers, is telling me we need to think about what classes to ask Pat Sloan, our 2013 teacher, to do for us in the fall. This will be the first year we will have only one national teacher-all of our eggs in one basket so to speak. Pat has a great presence on the web. Start by visiting her blog to get familiar with all she does. Look around on her sidebars for freebies, and links to her other enterprises. If you are interested have a look at her listing for classes she offers and let us know if there is something you’d like us to bring to seminar 2013. You can reply right here, or contact me or Jan Reilly or Kit Willey […]

November 16, 2012

last Lucy Goosey

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Finally…the last Lucy Goosey block. It’s a nice easy variation of the Friendship Star block. Several variations are mentioned in case you need a few filler blocks. The directions are here: lucy goosey #6

November 16, 2012

Kudos to a member

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. If you have been to any of our quilt shows, I’m certain you have admired the beautiful quilts made by one of our guild members, Lauren DeVantier. Her piecing and applique are wonderfully done, and always complemented so nicely by her friend Norma Chapin’s quilting. Lauren is one of the 10 finalists in the Morton Masterpiece contest. Photos of the quilts made by each finalist are posted here and you can vote for your favorite. Voting for the winner is open now and will close on December 15. The quilts had to be made totally with Jo Morton fabrics, and could be a maximum of 60″ square. Lauren’s is just under 57″ square. Use the magnifier option at the site and have a close look at the detail in her blocks. I was told that she started this quilt in April. All of the quilts […]

November 5, 2012

we’re famous

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I should have visited her blog sooner. Beth Ferrier writes about her trip to our seminar in her blog. Some of you may recognize yourselves in the photos. She was quite impressed with Niagara Falls. Here’s the link. In case it doesn’t take you directly to the right spot in her blog, you are looking for the September 19 entry.

November 2, 2012

bits and bobs

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. 1. Our president, Kathy T., has asked me to post this for you. Awhile back, at a guild show and share, Kathy shared a quilt with pieces like puzzle pieces. She had lots of inquiries about the pattern, which she found on the internet. Here is the site for you. You can see a photo of the quilt in the photo gallery at our guild site. The link to that is in the side bar of this blog. 2. I just discovered that I never posted the October, final, Lucy Goosey block directions! So sorry for that negligence. I found it just now in the list of “draft” posts. I’ll finish that up and get it posted ASAP. 3. Are you going out to the “old” Pine Grove workshop location for Judy and Bonnie’s Christmas Open House? It’s this weekend and next. I’m sure that […]

November 1, 2012

A little pocket of time….

…makes for a quick blog post! 🙂 Hi everyone, here we are, post-Sandy the Frankenstorm – hope none of your loved ones are badly affected over on the east coast – I just can’t stop watching news… I hope they will all rebuild stronger. During that night I did what makes me the calmest – some free-motion quilting! Hence, a few UFOs got finished and that is a good thing. There is a big push for me to finish some of my UFOs and I will tell you all about it later, but here is one of them: I really love these easy watercolor quilts – such an instant gratification! While digging out that one, I found another one that was kind of an experiment…did not have borders, so with midnight-hour inspiration strike, I did this – what do you think? : Something is not quite there for me…but just […]

October 27, 2012

Mystery block unit and the game…

Hi everyone, yeah…that was me mentioning how glorious weather cuts into my quilting – and look what I have done! Rain, rain, rain…YES – you have full right to blame me!! But…maybe you will get to sew just a bit more? 🙂 Anyway – I just wanted to follow up on my crazy, quick post from yesterday and make it more clear so everyone will have a chance to play the game and win! I showed you the entire quilt and block that makes it was quite small in the picture, so not easy to see it parts. Remember, I asked what is the PIECED UNIT that makes this star block and what would you call it? So not the ENTIRE block but what SINGLE UNIT makes it? Here is the star: Can you find it? Of course, there is many different ways one can piece this […]

October 26, 2012

It is…isn’t it? IT’S FRIDAY!!

Hello everyone, can you tell I am ready for weekend? 🙂 Life has been just a bit busy, busy, busy these days and I am so ready for the weekend! There will be some sewing…I am sure of it!! How about you? This amazing weather we have is really beautiful and – NO, I am not complaining, but…it does cut into my sewing! Oh, it is nice – let’s clean the garage…lets have an extra long dog walk…lets do some more yard work – GEEEZ!! OK, enough whining! So here is a good thing about it – colors! inspiration! – it is everywhere!! Last Sunday my husband and I took an extra long walk along the Ellicott Creek with dogs and I was clicking away with my camera – so here is some glorious autumn inspiration for you: Don’t you just have to smile when you see these colors? Jewels […]

October 20, 2012

knitting and quilting

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Quilting isn’t my only obsession. I have tried many a craft in my day-started crafting as a child -so that long span of years from then until now has given me lots of time to experiment. I have a few favorite crafts but, generally speaking, I’m game to give any craft a try at least once. Knitting is one of my craft obsessions that comes and goes. These chillier mornings and evenings bring it up to the top of the list. I am by no means an excellent knitter-just proficient I’d say. What holds me back is my inability to fix some of the my mistakes. Dropped or twisted stitches usually require me to start over-which is really a wet blanket on one’s enthusiasm for a project. Now a quilting mistake on the other hand, I can fix. I have lots and lots of tricks […]