eye candy – Page 5 – Amherst Quilters Guild

lovely photos that will inspire you

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 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 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.

May 23, 2012

This and That

Hello all, ME here. Spent some time exploring Pinterest this morning. Here are a few of my best quilty finds. I don’t know if I’m too old for these scrap necklaces or not. Hmm…they look cute against the plain white T shirt. Definitely could be an idea to do with kiddoes. Love this girly quilt. The dress mannequin and the parasols are the best! If I spy this pattern somewhere I’ll have to have it. What a great pieced border too. This quilt (Dec 6, 2011 post) is gorgeous. The fussy placement of the flowers in the clamshells is especially nice. I certainly admire the patience of some quilters–my patience is used for other things. I won’t ever be making a quilt like this but I sure do like it! Here’s a very cool dresden fan block. Love how you can make it look very circular or more octagonal. I […]

May 22, 2012

Missed Monday

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Where did Monday go? Flew by with only laundry accomplished. Shouldn’t one get more done than that in a day? So what’s up with you? How does your garden grow? I’m into transplanting now, and taking the absolutely humungous Christmas cactus plants outdoors for the summer. I have one that came from a start my Nana gave me when I started my first apartment. It now is so large that I have to turn it on its side to get it through the door. That was in the fall when I brought it in for the winter. I’m going to take it outdoors today-if it has grown much over the winter, I’ll be in trouble. It weighs a ton-I know that from attempting to vacuum up the fallen blossoms behind the plant stand. I may have to call for reinforcements from next door to help […]

May 7, 2012

Inspiration

Hello all, Mary Ellen again. Thanks to Loretta, for getting a paper piecing demo set up for our next meeting. Maybe more will then join our inaugural Quilt-a-Long, Loosey Goosey. You can back up a post or find the details in the category widget in the sidebar. The first block is a paper pieced star. Probably an advanced beginner paper piecing block, the sections are easy to paper piece, but several (8) must be joined to form the starburst. You can do it!! I’ll be glad to help at any meeting. If you want to skip that block and just jump into the fray with a later block you certainly may, but come on…give it a try. You might want to use the same background for all of your stars (not a requirement). If so, keep that in mind when gathering up your fabrics. We’ll be making 6 blocks, 12″ […]

May 4, 2012

Fabulous Friday

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Marija and I have a flexible agreement about posting-not a schedule exactly but Monday is her day and Friday is mine. Just an easy arrangement to make sure that at least twice a week, something will get posted here. So far we have had no problems keeping up the flow of “information” to you, but if we ever don’t have something to say (LOL), we each have a once per week assignment! Since Friday is my day, I’ve wondered if I should come up with a theme for the Friday posts, and perhaps a catchy title. I know, “Fabulous Friday” doesn’t really do it for me either. I’m hoping you’ll help me come up with something. I might have written about this website, Colourlovers, at our previous blog. I really enjoy exploring there when I have time to spend. It is designed for all lovers […]

April 25, 2012

Places, everyone!

Hello all, Mary Ellen here. It’s almost show time! I was out at the museum yesterday, dropping off a few things. I took a quick spin around our show; it is almost ready. You got a bit of a peek from Marija’s post earlier this week, but it’s much better in person. Love seeing everyone’s work up close. The new museum exhibit of Bobbie Fuhrmann’s life work (a former guild member) is quite impressive too. Beautiful lace and quilts in one woman’s work. She was amazingly talented. I never met Bobbie, except now through her legacy. Alice Bachraty’s exhibit (our guild’s founding mother) is worth the trip too. We can all appreciate Alice through our participation in the guild she loved so much. Today, I believe, is judging day. Personally the awards mean little to me-I pick out my own best of show and favorites. I have always loved and […]

April 24, 2012

Any gardeners out there?

Hello all, it’s ME. Just in case we ever get to dig in the dirt here’s something for the gardeners among you. Got my shoes muddy this morning looking around to see what survived the snow yesterday. The trillium which were gorgeous 2 days ago, are looking pretty sad this morning. And I think the jack-in-the-pulpits are a lost cause, I’m afraid. The later daffodils are iffy. What a strange weather year we’re having. I’ve heard it said that gardeners are eternal optimists, since we don’t usually see the fruits of our labors right away. I have a coffee mug that says “A garden is never finished.” Ain’t that the truth?! We’ve seen quilt gardens before-love the plantings arranged to look like quilt blocks. I think a feature telling exactly what plants were used to execute the garden is new though. I went to Nancy Zieman’s new website looking for […]