2012 – Page 8 – Amherst Quilters Guild

June 11, 2012

sweet land of Liberty

Hello again, Mary Ellen here. If you have been a fabric fondler for a long time, particularly if you enjoy all types of fabric–not just quilters’ cottons–then I’m fairly certain you know of Liberty cottons. Make in the UK for several hundred years, they have a certain “look” about them, and a texture or “hand” which is well-remembered once you get a chance to experience it. Many a fabricaholic has brought home several meters of Liberty cotton as a souvenir of a trip to England–and then not wanted to cut into it. Liberty cotton is a cotton lawn, finer and softer than what we use in our quilts. Imagine the ethereal nightgowns of a Victorian novel, or the best of christening gowns in old money wealthy families. The quality, and so the price, is far superior to other cottons made for similar purposes. Liberty is now going to be adding […]

June 8, 2012

modern or traditional

Hi again, Mary Ellen here. If forced to categorize your quilting sensibilities, would you call yourself modern or traditional? I’d have a hard time with that myself. I love the graphic geometries of traditional blocks, traditional quilt layouts. I also love the modern fabrics that are so abundant these days. Large colorful prints-nothing muddy or grayed out. My own quilting is becoming more and more of a hybrid I think, marrying those two loves. How about you? I have written quite a bit about the modern movement in quilting. Denyse Schmidt’s name often comes up in the discussion on modern quilting. Here is a blog post from etsy (another modern development for selling your crafts) that nicely introduces you to Denyse. Her latest book’s inspiration is discussed. It’s interesting to read the reviews at Amazon from those who have purchased the book. Not very many yet, but the dissenting reviews […]

June 7, 2012

Going to London?

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Have you ever been to an Olympic Games? Perhaps you had the chance when the Games were in Lake Placid here in NY. Or in Atlanta?… I’m sure you know the Games will be in London in the UK this time around. Do you recall the project that quilters were involved in for the Atlanta Games? The flag bearer and Olympic official of each country received a quilt made by quilters from all over the Atlanta/Georgia area. The London Games have inspired quilters in Britain-as soon as they realized that London had won the games the project began. Each country will be receiving a quilt and each athlete will receive a banner. They have expanded the scope of the project to include the ParaOlympics, and the Special Olympics. Here’s a link to 2 videos with interviews with the project organizers. You can’t see all the […]

June 5, 2012

twofer Tuesday

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. If you love making purses and bags, I’ll bet you would enjoy following this Purse-palooza 2012. Reviews of patterns, giveaways, etc. Try this link. Remember when Darlene Zimmerman visited us not too long ago? Gave a lecture at a meeting and class the next day. She has been designing quilting tools for 20 years for EZ quilting and a celebration is underway. I have her Dresden Plate ruler which I have used many times, not always for dresdens. It works great as a tumbler template too. Here’s a link to a challenge, with goal to use that ruler, that is running through the summer. Great prizes to be awarded. If you’re working on a dresden, or want ideas for one, here’s a great inspiration blog hop to follow. Perhaps you’ll want to enter the contest-perhaps just use it as eye candy. It has only been […]

June 4, 2012

Monday’s lunch break post (or MIA Marija catching up…)

Hi everyone and happy Monday! (oh, and never mind the “lunch-break” part…I apparently don’t know how to “schedule” a blog post, so this one didn’t come out when I thought it will, hence, I am doing it now (4 pm) manually…sheeesh) Yes…I am hanging my head in shame for being so MIA lately…Thank heavens for Mary Ellen and her great posts! :) I promise to get better organized and have a regular contributions here (as well as on my own blog). I DO.(hand on my heart) :) Although, I have to say, sometimes I just plain get…intimidated? (not sure if that is a correct word), thinking along the lines “why would anyone care what I have to say”…or something like that. Yes, I know, I know – our blog really isn’t about that, its about sharing all things quilting, tips, news, ideas etc. But nevertheless, I get that feeling sometimes. […]

June 4, 2012

revisiting John Flynn

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. A few years ago in my previous position as guild newsletter editor I shared a tip from John Flynn for calculating the size of a piece of fabric needed for your quilt back. Some of you who have not been at this quilting thing since a coon’s age like the rest of us may not know who John Flynn is. Great big guy from Montana who does wonderful hand quilting, and comes up with quilting gadgets. Here’s a link to his humorous story of how he got started as a quilter. Sometimes when our quilts are too wide for a standard width of 40-42 inches, but not really wide enough to justify buying the 108 inch wide backing or using two full widths of backing fabric, we try to make do with a pieced back. Of course, if you have enough fabric to piece together […]

June 2, 2012

Lucy photo op

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Finished my second Lucy Goosey block yesterday. Here it is. Going for the scrappy palette, hoping I’ll make a dent in the contents of the scrap bins without making a tacky looking quilt. So far (just two) the blocks look nice together. Keeping my fingers crossed. Remember to bring your completed blocks to our meeting show and shares, or send the photos directly to our webmeister, Don Dee. Just let him know that they’re for the Loosey Goosey album. TTFN.

June 1, 2012

Lucy Goosey block 2

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. It’s the first of June and time for me to post the next block in our Quilt-a-Long. Even if you chose not to make the first block, you are welcome to jump in and join us anywhere along the journey through our 6 star blocks. (If you want to go back and get the first pattern, look in the sidebar for the category menu and go to Loosey Goosey). I hope I am greeting some visitors who found out about us at Pine Grove yesterday. If so–welcome! to all of you. This is not a personal blog-it is the blog for the Amherst Museum Quilters’ Guild. I hope you’ll join us for Lucy (new spelling on purpose) Goosey and keep coming back to read my musings on anything and everything that might cross my mind. I try to keep it to quilty topics, but there […]

May 31, 2012

Is quilting cool?

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Recently was talking to a shop owner newly back from Quilt Market in Kansas City. She was pleased with the influx of so many young (35 ish) quilt and fabric designers. It bodes well for the future of the industry that young people are getting involved in the business. How do we interest, and then keep, young quilters coming to the hobby we love so much? How can we make quilting “cool”? How do we make young quilters aware of our guild? Get them to visit? Actually join? What kinds of activities would they like to be a part of? We who are members of the “older” quilting contingent should find ways to pass the needles and frames on to the next generation of quilters. If you, or someone in your life, is a fan of Anthropologie or Pottery Barn then you probably have seen […]

May 27, 2012

checking up on Beth

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. If you’re a guild member or a blog follower, you know that Beth Ferrier will be one of the national teachers at seminar this fall. I check in at her blog now and then to see what’s up with her. Look at this cool thing she is doing on some of her windows (April 20 post). Applique patterns as window designs! One of my bathrooms has a small window where this could be a very nice screen of the outdoors. Hmm…thinking about what design I might use. Start keeping an eye out for her new book which was to debut at Quilt Market this spring. She has only been giving hints-so it’ll be a surprise for all of us. Here’s a bit more of a hint from the publisher. I see it’s due out in October-if we’re lucky maybe she’ll have some for us at […]