I Need A New Chair

I took some time off work this afternoon and worked on a few sewing projects. I got the binding sewed to the front of a baby quilt I am working on. It's a gift so I can't post any pictures until next week but I am very excited about it. I also got my retro Christmas quilt top pieced. Funny story about that by the way. I had decided to do 5 rows of 5 blocks and do a nice 60 inch square quilt, or right around there. So I needed 25 blocks. Somehow I miscounted and ended up 2 blocks short. So I got to improv 2 blocks from scraps! Which I actually love even more than the original design. I am calling it "Fruitcake". And it totally reminds me of Christmas circa the 1970s. Which makes me love it even more. And the fact that I found an Alexander Henry print at Joann Fabrics makes me jump for joy! So here it is, Fruitcake! (Look at that cute little improv block in the bottom right corner!)

Oh and the reason I need a new chair? Now, after all that sewing my back hurts.

Progress

I have been so busy I am posting from my iPhone again! It seems like that is the only way I can manage to do a post anymore.

I have been insanely busy not only with work and life but with sewing and quilting too. I've put my Farmers Wife blocks on hold for the moment while I catch up on other projects. I finished the top for a baby quilt for a friend at work. Since its a gift I don't want to show pictures just yet. I still have some hand embroidery to do on it and the quilting. I am trying to get it done before her baby shower in less than 2 weeks! I also finished the blocks for a Christmas throw quilt I am trying to have done by Thanksgiving. Right now my Halloween quilt is still living on the couch and I would hate to have it still there by December!

And of course I am working on my hexagon flowers. I have 9 finished so far and I think I will need 25 or so to make the quilt I want maybe 30 I haven't decided on the size just yet and I need to see them all laid out once I start adding the white around them. Which means I need more paper hexagons!

I will leave you with some pictures of hexagon flowers and the last several Farmers Wife blocks that are my favorites!

Hexagons For a Flower Garden

Just another quick post from the trusty iPhone. I went to a local quilt shop over the weekend and picked up some fat quarters of Thirties reproduction prints to start a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt and I'm hooked. I started stitching the adorable little hexagons tonight and had trouble putting them down. It's so easy! I just can't believe that it is that simple. So I sat on the couch after dinner and watched the election results with my boyfriend and stitched hexagon after hexagon. Here is a quick Instagram pic of what I've been looking at most of the evening.

Some Quick Farmer's Wife pics

I'm posting this from my iPhone so it's going to be short and sweet. I've spent the week cutting pieces for some Farmers Wife blocks and working on my snowman embroidery panel. I also picked up some new fabric yesterday that I will post about later in the week but for now here is a glimpse of my latest Farmers Wife blocks completed today. They still need pressed and trimmed but I had to snap a picture!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I've never done anything like this before, especially since I've really only been quilting for a short time but it's good to do things that are new, right?

So the quilt I chose was my American flag throw, Old Glory. I made this quilt entirely by hand, before I even owned a sewing machine. Most of the piecing and part of the quilting was actually done in hospital rooms. I made the quilt for my boyfriend, he described what he wanted and I designed it. I started it right before he was hurt in a 4 wheeler accident and broke his back on St Patricks day earlier this year. Every day for 3 weeks I sat in the hospital with him and sewed on this quilt. I finished the piecing about a week after his accident while he was in surgery. It is the 2nd quilt I ever made. I struggled with the design for a little while, since I had never done applique before, but wanted to add stars, and decided the pinwheel blocks would work just fine. But my boyfriend, always particular wanted 13 stars, since the original flag had 13 for the 13 colonies, so I added one applique star in the middle. (Be sure to click the link to check out all the other wonderful quilts!)

Blogger's Quilt Festival Stats

Quilt measures approximately 50x70

Special Techniques used: Applique

Quilted by: Michelle Witt

Categories: Hand Quilted

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

I've been MIA again. Unfortunately, a lot of my time has been spent in the hospital again. It's almost like we live there lately. My boyfriend is feeling better for the moment and we are hoping that it will last this time. Anyway, 2 weeks ago, before the last hospital stint, my wonderful boyfriend took me to a nearby quilt shop and waited patiently while I browsed. He even helped me pick out a beautiful snowman panel. The shop had several samples using the panel and my boyfriend really liked one particular quilt that used some pretty shades of blue. So I have been working on hand embroidering the panels in different shades of blue. Here are a few pictures of the progress so far. I know I won't get this finished in time this year, but I think that this will make a great wintry quilt that can stay on the couch past Christmas. Plus it gives me something to sit on the couch and sew by hand since I've decided to do my Farmer's Wife by machine. (I am still working on my Farmer's Wife blocks by the way, just not nearly as much as I should be.)

 

 

I also managed to finish my dad's Gone Fishing quilt. I don't have any good pictures of it yet. I will post them soon. Hopefully we will be staying out of the hospital long enough for me to start some more sewing projects, because these came in the mail this week!

 



Some Cinnamon Spice by Blackbird Designs, Chateau Rogue by French General, Farmer's Market and Fellowship by Brannock and Patek, and Double Chocolat by 3 Sisters. They will be made into some nice Christmas presents so I need to get cracking. Also some fabric for a baby quilt I am making for a friend from work who is having a baby girl in the next few months. There are lots of things to do in the next 2 months and I don't have nearly enough time but I am going to try.

I'm also starting a diet on Monday. Talk about stress!

Farmer's Wife

Short but sweet.

I'm working on my Farmer's Wife blocks in between other projects, and it is definitely going to take me awhile seeing as how my list of things to do never gets any shorter. (If anything it gets longer!) I ordered more fabric earlier this week, and I'm in the process of ordering some more right now! I am working on trying to get my dad's quilt basted, which is my least favorite part of the quilting process. I'm also undertaking a baby quilt for a woman at work, not to mention the Nativity Scene Panel I am sewing for my sister (just hoping that gets finished before Christmas at this point!). Several years ago (Long enough that I can't remember exactly when, but I know I was a little girl) my grandmother made my father and mother and my uncles and aunts Nativity Scenes from panels at JoAnn Fabrics. I still have ours, and so I was excited to find that JoAnn stores still carry them! It's something I always enjoy putting out at Christmas, so I am excited to be making one for my sister.

Anyway, to keep it short I managed to make a few more Farmer's Wife blocks this week (mostly while I was putting off basting) and to see how they were looking so far I laid them out on the bed to get an idea of how things are coming together and what colors I am short on.

So far I think it is looking really good together, and all laid out its much harder to notice all the little imperfections in each individual block, so that is definitely a plus and may stop me from remaking some of the blocks. I'm still trying to decide if I need to work in some different colors or fabric lines. I'm absolutely loving the currant color in Fig Tree's new line Tapestry, so that may work it's way in there too!