eye candy – Page 3 – Amherst Quilters Guild

lovely photos that will inspire you

January 15, 2014

Wednesday’s Wanderings…wondered back! :)

Hi everyone, Happy New Year!! Yeah, I know, I am a bit late for that and a bit MIA lately and I so very much apologize! It seems that all together, holiday hustle, polar vortex, flooded basement and few other “fun” things combined lately to take me away from regular blogging. I also realized that I needed few days to joust RELAX, do whatever, do nothing, NOT have a schedule…just chill (as my kids would tell me). So I did that too. Loved it. However, now it is time to get on with this year. :) One thing I realized these days (you know, that old year-new year re-cap, re-evaluation, resolution and ….thing? yeah, that one.), is that blogging is a very important part of my life now and when I am not doing it, or when I lag in realizing all my ideas and inspirations – it makes me […]

December 22, 2013

Christmas cake frill

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. I hope you’re all set for the upcoming holiday–all projects completed and wrapped under the tree. Yah, right she says with tongue in cheek. If you have to bring a dessert to the next party and have little time to prepare, here’s a way to dress up a store-bought cake. (click here) The one in the photo looks like a fruitcake. I don’t suggest bringing a fruitcake though, unless you can take the teasing in good graces. I hope you all have a safe, happy and healthy holiday. I’ll be traveling this week so probably won’t be checking in with you. Safe travels to all of you who also will be on the road!

December 5, 2013

Busy, busy, busy

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Christmas is coming. It’s on the 25th. Every year, same date, right? Then why do I always find I’m playing catch up when December 1 rolls around? I should have my Christmas projects done by now! Does this happen to you too? Not too much time playing in the blogosphere these days for obvious reasons, but here is a great site I ran across for inspiration. I love the border on this “Christmas at the Hoffmans” quilt (click here). Going to put that into the idea file. TTFN friends.

October 28, 2013

Quilt Market time….and some quick inspirations

Hi everyone, hope you are having a great fall and pre-holiday season! Stitching feverishly all those hand-made gifts? SHHH…don’t tell, but I kinda decided in my head that this year I will give my family all things made by me…one way or the other! Lets see if I can do it, but will report here how it goes. How about you – handmade for gifts or not, this year? This past weekend, I was not too productive in that regard, partly due to home-improvement projects still going on and partly due to gawking into my iPad in every break – following all the exciting new things at International Quilt Market in Houston. Market is a trade show, open to quilting professionals only (not public) where all the new things coming are exhibited – new fabrics, patterns, notions, trends… It is then followed by the famous International Quilt Festival in Houston […]

September 27, 2013

What a Beauty!

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Yesterday I went on a “back stage” tour of the Heritage Village Archives. This is a perk of being a museum member-not a part of the guild membership. I had received the same mailing about it that all members receive and decided I’d love to see what’s up in the museum ” attic” so to speak. There were only two of us in the afternoon group so we got a great opportunity to be up close to the items (this tour focused on quilts and textiles) but since there were only 2 of us Jessica and Kayla showed us just about everything. How cool is that!?! Take advantage of these museum opportunities–there’s another tour tomorrow. Maybe there is still space-you do need to reserve a spot in these tours. Besides the quilts and garments of the same eras, I really enjoyed looking at the garments […]

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 […]

August 28, 2013

e-mail find

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Are you all set for the new year to begin? After all my years of being involved with education, I still think of September as the start of the new year. Shortly after I retired, I ran into a colleague who also was a former student of mine in Wegman’s. At some point in the conversation, he asked me “Does it seem odd not to be teaching?” Don’t get me wrong, I loved being a teacher but, truthfully, I do not miss it. But here is my answer to him: “This is the first September in about 60 years that I have not been going back to school. That does seem a bit odd.” I’ve been retired for a few years now, and it still seems a bit odd not to be returning to a classroom. It takes me about the amount of time my […]

May 23, 2013

OMG!

Hi again, it’s ME. Just found this video where Amy Butler goes through all of her new lines that premiered at Spring Market in Portland. I’ve been a fan of her fabrics since she came into the quilting scene. Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do with them though-those gorgeous big prints you don’t want to chop up. I’m thinking that I am going back to my roots in garment-sewing to make some simple skirts or toppers. Love, love, love the fabric in the dress Amy is wearing in this video with a pair of leggings. I think I am not built for leggings, but a longish A line skirt with a nice colorful T might be just the ticket. And those ribbons she shows–gotta get me some of them! I’ve been experimenting with some simple beading techniques so a few of those bookmarks or cuffs would be super […]

April 4, 2013

legos for quilters

Hello all, Mary Ellen’s back. I’ve been busy working on our seminar brochure so we can get it to our members at April’s guild meeting. It’s off to the printer’s now, so I have a bit of time until my next deadline! We (actually Kit and Marija) have lined up wonderful teachers for this year, please join us for 4 days of quilting camaraderie. (Sept 18-21, 2013…go here for more details as they become available) Quilters are often very creative in incorporating tools and gadgets, which are seemingly unrelated to sewing, into our craft. An easy example could be my method of organizing piecing for blocks and quilts with paper plates. Many of you use blue painters’ tape for a variety of quilty tasks. Here is a tutorial from a mom, who is apparently surrounded by her children’s Legos, on how to make a mini sewing machine from them. If […]

February 14, 2013

far and wide

Hello all, Mary Ellen again. This is really cool beans, I think. A few days ago I got an e-mail asking me (by name) to vote on a cover design for a children’s book. Sounds innocent enough. The book involves a quilt lost along the Oregon Trail. So far so good. The e-mail asked me to pass it along to my guild members as well. Whoa! Not so fast. But, something about it sounded legit to me, so I wrote back asking how the author had gotten my name and e-mail address. I received a very nice response which I am sharing below. It seems we AMQG members really get around. Someone attending the Sisters, Oregon show (I’m so jealous–I’ve wanted to go to that show for years, since the days of Jean Wells making multiple, frequent appearances on Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson) mentioned our guild and museum gift […]