quilt history – Amherst Quilters Guild

March 3, 2016

a grand old gal

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. This video came on my Facebook feed yesterday. It’s about an 88 year old quilter, still going strong. She lives in Indiana, not too far from where I once lived as a youngster. I hope I’ll be as spry as she is when I reach her age. Does she remind you of anyone in your life? Look at the quilts all over her house. I think I might be approaching her collection’s size, but not there yet! Click here to see the video.

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 […]

August 3, 2014

back again

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. The demo night at guild last month was a success as always. My only wish is that there would be a way for those who are demonstrating could visit the other tables and see what other fun things are being shared. As Roxie announced, I will be sharing more Christmas ideas here on the blog to continue with the Christmas in July theme. Can you believe that on some of the radio stations they are already doing a countdown of the shopping days left?!! No wonder the holiday has become so commercialized. This first link I’m sharing is one of my go-to’s for free Christmas patterns of all kinds. There are ideas for quilting, sewing, crocheting, knitting, cooking… If you like the idea, you can sign up to get e-mail notifications from them, but that is not a requirement at all. Try them out here. […]

May 2, 2014

Maybe one of these…

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. In my last post I wrote about a quilt I’d never make. In this one I’ll share some I might make. If you are a reader of the Fons and Porter magazine Love of Quilting you are familiar with the Pilgrim/Roy collection of quilts. There is an article each month about a quilt or two from that collection. If you’ll be in Boston this summer, you might want to make a stop at the exhibition described in the post at the link I’m including. It might even be worth a trip to Boston specifically to see these. click here If you know of places that quilters would enjoy visiting while vacationing this summer, please share! A road trip is always fun.

February 27, 2014

checking your work

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. That heading really sounds like a math teacher wrote it. (a retired one!) I’m working on a sample of a block for a demo I’ll be doing in a month or so. The book has great ideas but was not edited carefully at all. I wonder who it was who fell down on the job…the designer, the copy editor, the technical writer… This is very irritating to me every time it happens. And it happens much more often than it should. (In a perfect world it would never happen!) I’m sure many a quilter has come upon errors in a pattern and blamed them on herself. Actually I find that many times the errors belong to some one else. Why don’t they check their work more carefully? That said, our own inaccuracy in a 1/4″ seam cause us problems often. The block I am testing […]

February 3, 2014

The Olympic patchwork

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Many of the Olympic games have had associations with quilts and textiles of all sorts. The upcoming games in Sochi are no different. Here is a link to a site showing the patchwork designed for this year’s games. When you get to the page, click on “look of the games”. It will take you to pages with explanations of many of the Russian textile traditions featured in the patchwork. If you click on “collection”, or “catalogue” in the upper right hand corner, you’ll see some of the clothing using this patchwork design. So very interesting. (Click here.) Here’s another link to the Kansas City Star quilting website from a 2011 posting with lots of information about this patchwork branding for the Olympics. Within the article is a link to another with photos of many ways the patchwork will be used in publicizing the games. I […]

December 11, 2013

How far we’ve come…

Hello all, Mary Ellen again. At last month’s guild meeting I picked up one of the freebie magazines that are always donated. It’s a copy of an early Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine from Feb. of 1982. Two things of note: There were profuse congratulations and excitement over the first Jinny Beyer line of fabric to be produced by V.I.P. fabrics. In the photo accompanying the article Jinny is wearing one of those quilted vests that all quilters wore back in the day. Hers features Mariner’s Compass quarters on the front. Remember those vests, girls? Come on now, fess up. You know you had one, if you’ve been at this long enough. Secondly a four page article raved about a new technique taking quilting by storm. Let me quote the introduction to you and see if you can guess what technique they are lauding. Remember now, February of 1982. ” … is […]

November 1, 2013

What’s Up with You?

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. What’s going on in your sewing and crafting space these days? I just finished a bunch of mason jar transformations, all using fabric, for a demo at the shop where I work. They all were fun, but I think I enjoyed working with the wool the best. It has been a while since I’ve done that. Some of you may remember our guild garage sales that we have had a few times. At the last one we had, I scored a bunch of wool from Betty L. who was moving south. Some was already felted, and the rest I did myself. There was enough fill 2 Rubbermaid storage bins. I’ve made many a project using the wool and have barely made a dent. I’ll include a photo of the jar cuffs I made with the wool. This project got me thinking that I should do […]

May 30, 2013

Amy and some new friends

Hello all, Mary Ellen back. A few days ago I posted about Amy Butler’s Quilt Market video. Thought I might make a skirt for myself. Well it’s done. I dug around through my archives (doesn’t that sound better than overstuffed storage bins?) to find a skirt pattern. Found one that I had used to make skirts for my nieces and pulled it out. I remembered how easy it was and that was just the ticket! The pattern is from Favorite Things, and is called Cute Skirts. Three styles in a wide size range, sizes 4 – 24. Of course those numbers do not match up with size numbers found in the stores. That would just make too much sense. If you have made garments in the past, you know that this has been an issue for years. Just measure yourself and choose the size you need from the measurement chart. […]

May 24, 2013

a bit of quilt history

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I received an e-mail this morning from a member ( our former president, Mary D.) returning from a vacation to Utah and some National Parks. She included some photos and a link to the story of the Panguitch Quilt Walk. I had heard this story before but had forgotten it. I also enjoyed seeing her photos of the hanging in the visitor center, near Bryce Canyon National Park, with its stitchery and miniature quilts included. I did a little internet search and am also including a link to “Utah’s Patchwork Parkway”. Cool concept. Enjoy. You can click on any of the photos for a larger view (which will not have the right hand edge cut off!).