seminar – Page 2 – Amherst Quilters Guild

Our annual fall seminar where we host national and local teachers, learning new things and having a great time with other quilters.

May 9, 2014

more about Bonnie

Hello all, Mary Ellen again. Bonnie Hunter, our fall seminar teacher, has been on the road quite a bit lately. I’ve subscribed to her blog feed and was so jealous of the seminar she gave at Mackinac Island. An absolutely gorgeous setting, both in the Grand Hotel (grand in every sense of the word), and the naturally grand setting around the island. I would love to go there. The seminar was actually a needlework seminar (not just quilting) so other needle arts were featured as well. I think I’ll put that one on my bucket list. Click here for one of her posts about the island. A while ago Bonnie filmed a segment with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims to be shown on their internet based The Quilt Show. Here’s a slide show of some of Bonnie’s bits. Click here. Registration for our seminar is going well. We have 2 […]

March 23, 2014

Bonnie Hunter update

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I think we have made a very good choice for this fall’s seminar teacher. I have probably received 25 or so inquiries from non-members who are interested in taking a class from Bonnie this fall. They are finding the contact information in Bonnie’s calendar at quiltville.com. A couple of them are planning road trips with friends from distances away (Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Canada). I hope you’ll be joining us too. Bonnie just finished up a teaching segment in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee at A Mountain Quiltfest. Here’s a link to a slide show she posted from her Boxy Stars class. (click here) The students look like they are having fun, and their blocks are great looking. Bonnie will be teaching the Boxy Stars class for us on Wednesday of seminar. Marija has just finished up rounding up our cadre of local teachers for the fall, and […]

March 11, 2014

Sneak preview and true confession

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. You all know that Bonnie Hunter is coming to our seminar this fall. (You do know that, don’t you?) She has a brand new book about to be released and is showing sneak previews of the quilts in it over at her blog. If you leave a comment over there, you have a chance to win a signed copy from Bonnie. click here Now for a true confession. A few posts back I put out a challenge to join in Bonnie’s challenge quilt for this year, called Lozenges. I had said I had a plan to use up my stash of 2 1/2″ strips. Well that was before I thought it all the way through to needing to cut a whole bunch of 1 1/2″ squares to use as the flippy corners. I fess up that the cutting of all those triangles is not a […]

March 4, 2014

Using your scraps

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Not all quilters enjoy scrap quilting. There is something way too random for the taste of many quilters when you start making a tossed salad of all sorts of fabrics. I’ve made a few scrappy quilts that push the envelope a bit too much even for me. (The dog loves them though; he’s lying on one of them in that photo.) Thus comes the concept of “planned scrappy”. By adding just a bit of structure to the scrappy theme, more quilters can become comfortable with some scrappiness in their quilts. After all, if you are a lover of Kim Diehl fabrics, for example, you probably have quite a few scraps from her lines. They all go together, don’t they? Or perhaps you have blue in every quilt you make. A 2 color quilt with a variety of blue scraps paired with a variety of creams […]

March 1, 2014

Are you up for a challenge?

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Bonnie Hunter, our upcoming fall seminar national teacher, has just begun a quilt challenge at her blog. Bonnie is a scrap quilter. She doesn’t just collect scraps; she actually makes things with them. (a novel concept to me!). I’m going to try joining in this challenge so I’ll use up some of my scraps too. I might have to tweak the math a bit because I have so many 2.5″ strips that I’d like to use up–hers is going to use 3.5″ strips. Wouldn’t it be great (hint, hint, hint!) if a few of us joined in so we could show her our progress when she comes to seminar in September? I’m going to set aside a sewing day soon to get a bunch of pieces ready so I can use them as “leaders and enders” while working on projects for my classes. Here’s a […]

February 13, 2014

Meet Bonnie

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Preparations for our fall seminar are underway. Bonnie Hunter will be our national teacher. If you haven’t heard of her, here’s a little clip to begin to introduce you. (click here.) Mark your calendar (September 17-20) and please plan to join us for a class or two. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. If you want to find out more about Bonnie, visit her website. (click here.)

October 3, 2013

hunting for Bonnie

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Did you get your latest copy of Quiltmaker magazine? I think it might be my favorite of all the quilt magazines I subscribe to. Our next seminar national teacher, Bonnie Hunter, is a regular contributor to Quiltmaker. I like the scrap ideas she submits-see page 62 “addicted to scraps”. This month that’s all she’s got, but some months she has additional articles in the magazine. Bonnie just finished up a 3 part mystery quilt through the last 3 issues. Start watching for her in your issue, and in other magazines to get a feel for her style. At seminar one of our members told me that her sister and a friend are making a special trip to seminar next year from out-of-state because they love Bonnie so much. And she says that Bonnie is like a stand up comedienne–so funny! Looking forward to the lecture […]

September 25, 2013

Back to Normal??

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Life is ever so slowly returning to some normalcy. I’m trying to plan visits to my mom as just one more thing to do each week and to not worry about them so much. We’ve been lucky to find a great crew of aides who are taking very good care of her. …But it’s my mom so you know how that goes. Our guild seminar went well. Pat Sloan was a hit among all who took her classes. Even several ladies who said they didn’t really quilt in Pat’s style came out at the end of the day having loved the class. Just shows how if you go into a class with an open mind, you are hardly ever disappointed. (Many of you missed a great opportunity by not giving her a try. Don’t make the same mistake with next year’s guest: Bonnie Hunter of […]

September 23, 2013

Happy Autumn!

Hi everyone, I am back literally (from my overseas visit to my family) and virtually (right here on the blog) and finally catching up with my life… My trip was great, if we forget not one, but TWO encounters with pesky stomach viruses…bleh. Got one as soon as we arrived to Belgrade and then another one when we came back! That one kept me home, missing all the fun of our Seminar – double bleh!! Second one was even a bit worse, but hey, I survived and it is time to get on with life! Hard to find a place to begin though, with all the emotions and inspirations from the trip and all the stuff waiting here, once I came back. So, lets start with some images to share with you from Serbia, country I was born in. Not sure if you know, but quilting really doesn’t exist there […]

September 14, 2013

long time gone

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted. I’ve been dealing with some health issues for my mom. She had a stroke this summer and has been in the hospital, rehab and a nursing home. We are now moving her back home (2 hours from here) with full time aides. That has consumed whatever “extra” time I have had this summer. Here’s hoping that with her at home, and good help from the aides, that things will get into a groove soon. Our guild seminar starts next week Wednesday. Still have room in most of the classes (check our guild website in the sidebar) so you still can join the fun. It’s going to be great-you shouldn’t miss it! You definitely can come hear our national guest, Pat Sloan, give her lecture/trunk show on Wednesday evening. (7:00 p.m. at the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village) The […]