Blog

Hello everyone, did I scare you yet? Ha, ha! I simply couldn’t think of a better title for this post…maybe because it is a bit all over the place? 🙂 Oh well, that would be just like me…I am somehow trying to catch up with my life, again. How does this happen? Oh I know – I simply want too much!! To teach, to design, to sew, to cook and bake, to play with my dogs…oh yeah, all that in my spare time. Sound familiar? 🙂  I keep thinking longingly about retirement, but then I remember that all you, my retired quilting friends are also busier than ever, so I might as well not dream about it but get my you-know-what in gear and JUST DO IT. (is that a Nike commercial?) So what are we all doing while the glorious autumn rolls into our neighborhoods? Are you feverishly working […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. We made it through seminar successfully. No major crises to deal with. Generally happy attendees. I am in the process of catching up on sleep and will soon be tackling the tasks that need to be done to close out this year’s event. I have glanced through the evaluations (thank you to those who took the time to give us feedback) and will be sharing a summary of them with the board and the membership. Most were positive (thank you to all), and we will deal with the others as well, so we make necessary improvements. Just one note to those of you concerned about the irons and ironing boards (the most common “negative” comment submitted). Our guild owns 4-6 boards and irons as far as I know. Ours are in pretty good shape. The rest are borrowed from the museum’s costume area. Those are […]

  Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Finally Quilt Seminar week has arrived. Spent yesterday afternoon at the museum with Kim G. and Jan R. setting up folders etc. I know more ladies are there today working on door prizes and favors. Jan and I will be picking up the two national teachers, Anita Grossman Solomon who is visiting her brother in Williamsville after teaching in Rochester last week, and Beth Ferrier who is flying in from Michigan. Planning to take them up to Niagara Falls and then out for a nice dinner. By Anita’s request they will be back at the hotel early so they can  be well rested for tomorrow and the remainder of the week. Hoping you will be joining us for a class–either from one of those two ladies or from one of our talented local teachers. You still can sign up for some of the classes-check […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Did you know September is National Sewing Month? What’s a good way to celebrate? Attend a quilt seminar-anybody know of one near by?! Got up early this morning and am checking e-mail before heading out the door. (no, you’re not! you’re writing a blog post). In my e-mail was a notice of a blog hop from Moda designers, showcasing their new pre-cuts which they are calling “Candies”. They are bundles of 2 1/2″ squares. Each designer has a free pattern for using the candies-and the blog hop goes on for 10 days. Go here to get started if you want to have a look. The first designer I visited was Barbara Brackman, a quilter of a bit of renown. The post that came up when I arrived at her site was her Thursday Sept 6 post about problems with Sunbonnet Sue’s anatomy. It brought to […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I’ve been at the computer quite a long time today, working on things needed for seminar. I took a break to check my e-mail and found two things “seminar-ish”. The first is from a blog done by Martingale, a publisher of many quilt books, including those done by Karla Alexander, one of our national teachers from last year’s seminar. In it the writer talks about being a traditionalist and a way in which Karla helped her get out of the box. Here’s the post. If you took one of Karla’s classes last year, or have made anything from her “stack the deck” series, you’ll enjoy this. The second was sent to me by Anita Grossman Solomon who will be teaching for us this year. Anita was a member of our guild many years ago, and has not forgotten her connection to us. If you have […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I think we’re all dating ourselves who can remember what happened for years on Labor Day weekend with Burt Parks singing that famous song “There she is…” I won’t finish it, so if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’ll be able to kid yourself that it’s because you’re too young!! I finally got the next Lucy Goosey directions (#5) worked up. You’ll find the pattern here: sept lucy goosey. I’m kind of amazed that we’re at month 5, one more to go! I must admit that with the summer hub-bub and seminar preparations, I am behind. I have to finish my #4 and get a sample done for #5. I had told myself that if I was organizing this quilt-a-long, I would have to keep up! Oh well, life happens. Do you have any kiddos heading off to school this week? My 5 […]

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. You probably haven’t heard of Ada Lovelace, a female who was WAY ahead of her time in a man’s world. Well read here to find the connection between Ada and a man billing himself as a “heterosexual quilter”. Maybe a bunch of us should “bomb” a building on the grounds!