A FINISHED Quilt Top (And Farmer's Wife Blocks)

It takes me forever anymore to take pictures and actually do a blog post, there are just too many things going on right now. I hardly have the time to sew, not to mention post blogs about it. Oh well, I'm trying. And desperately trying to figure out a way to make sewing mt career, and actually be able to live off it. It's hard when you have a full time job as it is. Plus, its scary even contemplating going into business for myself or changing paths at this point in my life. I make good money everything considered, but I'm not happy with my job. Right now I'm just making the best of it.

Anyway, back to the actual sewing part of my blog. I have been wanting to make a quilt for my dad for a few months now. He has admired the quilts I've made for myself and for other people all year, and since my mother is no longer with us, I wanted to make one for him. I knew it would mean a lot to him even though he is too tough to admit it. But I was stuck on trying to make a quilt manly and simple and appropriate. It's harder than you might think! (Especially if you know my dad!) So I was super stoked to stumble across Lake Life by Thimbleberries fabric, and I found a nifty pattern in one of my Schnibbles books (McGuffey) I adapted it from charm and layer cakes to a yardage appropriate quilt. (One of the things I LOVE about quilting is the math involved in planning a quilt, how strange am I?) Anyway, my dad has very few hobbies, and the ones he does have are very hard to find translated to fabric, but my dad does like fishing and Lake Life was perfect without being "cutesy". And I finished the top today.

Please excuse the horrible pictures, I was missing my assistant (aka my boyfriend, and was too lazy to take it outside for decent pictures, but I promise I WILL get some)

 

It was my first attempt at a pieced border and I think it came out really nice, and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be at first. Now, hopefully I can manage to get the quilting done without too much trouble. Its going to be the biggest quilt I've done on my machine though, so I'm thinking just some plain straight line quilting is in order, don't want anything too fancy anyway since it's for my dad.

 

I haven't had the time to work on my Farmer's Wife blocks much this week but I do still have some to post from the bounty I made a week or so ago. They are FAR from perfect, in fact some of them are pretty horrible as far as quilt blocks go (i.e. points don't match up, or are lost, they are crooked, have puckers, etc) Some of them may get ripped apart and done again, or they may not. I've never done a sampler quilt before, I've never used templates before either. So the imperfections are bittersweet in a way, and I know that the more I do the better they will get, and it will show an evolution from start to finish.

 

Bouquet (Which I am happy with, it isn't perfect, but its passable)

Forgot the name of this block (Sorry! It too is acceptable)

Corn and Beans (I will never forget the name of this one, as much as I would like to, it gave me fits)

Bow tie, a fairly easy one, points aren't perfect but I like it

Forgot the name of this one, but it is my current favorite. I love it, and surprisingly it wasn't as hard as I first thought either.

Broken dishes, another easy one that turned out really good.

 

 

And now to enjoy what is left of my weekend, watch some football and relax before I go back to work tomorrow. I can't believe the weekend is already almost over!

 

 



Farmer's Wife (Saturday)

I might as well just start doing my Farmer's Wife posts on Saturdays anyway. Fridays are just too full of everything for me to have the time to do them then, and I am not good enough about posting to schedule it in advance. We'll see how next week goes. This week has ended on a slightly sour note. I have caught a monstrous cold. Thanks to some Mucinex I am trying desperately to kick it, but as busy as this week has been, with overtime at work, some babysitting, and various other things I have had no time at all to sew, luckily, I had finished several (more than several) Farmer's Wife blocks in the last couple weeks, so I am actually going to stagger this post into 2!

 

(Forgive me in advance, I've forgotten some of the names of the blocks!)

Economy (I like this one, some of the blocks, I'm not as happy with)

Broken Sugar Bowl (This one is growing on me)

Cups and Saucer (This one is probably being ripped apart and done again, the points don't match, and I am not at all happy with it, but this just goes to show that sometimes a block doesn't turn out perfect the first time)

Contrary Wife (This is another one that I like and was super easy to sew up!)

Cat and Mouse or Cats and Mice or something. Not as happy with this one either, but I think once its squared up it will look better

I can't remember the name of this one exactly, I want to say Star of Progress, or something like that, but I'm not positive. I thought it would be a lot harder than what it was, and it has turned out really well, it needs squared up and I lost the point of one of the pieces, but I'm happy with it

Buckwheat (One of my absolute favorites, and not to difficult)

Checkerboard (It came out slightly lopsided, but that can be corrected some when I square it up as long as I don't lose any of my points)

Wrench (I think, there are 2 blocks in the book that are the same, but the value and color placement is different)

I want to say this one is actually just called Block but I've left my Farmer's Wife book on my sewing desk and I am now with it at this time, as I have no Internet access at my house.

 

I have several other projects I'm working on, so hopefully during the week I will be able to get some updates of everything else I am working on lately. Of course, as most quilters will tell you, I am horribly behind on everything I want to get done. My wish list of projects just keeps getting longer and things don't get checked off my list as "done" as quickly as I would like them to.

Farmer's Wife Friday (on Saturday, and a week behind!)

Sorry for the absence. Once agian life has gotten the better of me and kept me so busy and away from the computer I haven't had the slightest chance of updating things. I don't even have good pictures of my newest Farmer's Wife blocks, but I didn't want to disappear completely, and next week I will have more (and better) pictures of my blocks.

These are just some of the blocks I've completed. (And the flower basket block is still missing the applique handle) but I have about 22 of the blocks done. The most tedious part of the process is cutting all the little half square triangles for some of the blocks.

I've also managed to finish up a few other projects and start even more during the last couple of weeks, so expect even more pictures in the coming week!

Farmer's Wife Friday- My turn!

So I caught the bug and decided to jump on the bandwagon. I've been admiring other people's Farmer's Wife blocks and toying with the idea of taking on the crazy endeavor of 111 very small 6 inch blocks. Then I decided just to go for it. This week I've been more than a little crazy about it. I'm sure that the rest of the quilt won't go together as quickly as the first few I've done, especially when I get to the really difficult looking ones, like Homemake and Jacknife, but I'm excited to try blocks I've never done before, and even though I am sure my seam ripper will be well used by the time this quilt is finished (not to mention that I plan on doing most of the blocks by hand, gasp!) I'm up to the challenge. So without further ado, here are the blocks I've managed to complete this week. (Along with a finished quilt top that I cannot show because it is a gift, once it is gifted, I will post pictures, promise)

Block 1- Attic Windows

Block 2- Autumn Tints

Block 3- Basket (it still needs the handle, so its technically not finished)

Block 4- Basket Weave

Block 5- Bat Wing

Block 7- Birds in the Air (I have skipped block 6 for now, I was excited to jump into this one with all the little triangles.)


 

 I was worried that Block 7 didn't have enough contrast, but now that I look at it, I actually love it! So far I have had a lot of fun piecing these little beauties and I'm even more ecstatic about the fabrics I picked. I'm excited to work on the next few blocks in the coming days and hopefully will make equal progress next week for my blocks. I am trying to balance making this quilt with about a half dozen other projects I am working on.

 

I started cutting fabric for my dad's quilt yesterday. I am using mostly Lake Life by Thimbleberries, with a few other prints mixed in, and I am using the McGuffey Schnibbles pattern, only I am making it bigger. He wanted a quilt big enough for his bed, and I had to put my foot down on that one. There is just no way I can quilt a queen size quilt on my little machine. Well, I could, its physically possible, but I'd be pulling my hair out. So I am doing a short double size quilt. Bigger than a throw, but not quite long enough to be considered a bed size quilt. It will still be the largest one I've quilted on my machine. I'm not sure what I will do with my Farmer's Wife quilt when it is ready to be quilted. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Farmer's Wife Fabric

My farmer's wife fabric has arrived! I decided to use Breakfast at Tiffany's by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda, and got a good deal on a fat quarter bundle. I may also incorporate some other Fig Tree lines, I was inspired to use Fig Tree Quilt fabrics after seeing these Farmer Wife's blocks. And I'm glad I did, because they are beautiful fabrics.

 

Sorry for the not so good picture, but you get the idea. I'm so excited to start this project, but I have several others I need to get finished or at least start on first. I'm finishing up a flower basket quilt for a family member and also got the fabric for a quilt for my dad, so I have tons of projects going on right now. Not to mention the list of things I want to complete for the holidays! At least once the weather cools off I will have more time inside to sew and get things done, at least that is the plan. It never seems to work out that way, though. For now though I am going to start planning out my Farmer's Wife blocks and spend the rest of this beautiful day with my boyfriend, he wants to do manly things like go to the gun range and teach me to shoot. I'm not sure how I feel about that just yet, but I'm going to give it a shot. (pun intended!)

Purple quilt

I had another finish a week ago and didn't get around to posting any pictures. My cousin wanted a quilt for her daughter, and her only request was that it be purple. So here is the Purple Quilt.

(My wonderful boyfriend took this photo by the way)

I also got my Farmer's Wife book yesterday, and ordered the fabric for it today. I found a good deal on a fat quarter bundle of Breakfast at Tiffany's by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda. I think it is going to be perfect for the Farmer's Wife blocks.

I'm so excited for the cooler weather that we've been having. Fall is probably one of my favorite times of the year. I love the holidays, form Halloween all the way through New Year's. My boyfriend and I had the conversation about it last week, he is less than thrilled, he is a heat lover. He loves summer, the hot hot days of summer. But he doesn't get horrible sunburns like I do. If he did he would prefer fall like me. Plus, fall means quilt weather! Well, it feels more like quilt weather to me anyway. Once I start feeling that little chill in the air I can't wait to cuddle up on the couch with some tea or hot coca and wrap up in a quilt and watch movies or read a book, or do some handpiecing! Plus, I don't feel bad sitting inside all day sewing. In the summer I feel guilty to sit at my machine and sew when its hot and beautiful outside.

I've been working on a quilt for another family member, a pretty pink and purple flower basket pattern. I'll post pictures of it when it is finished and gifted, don't want to spoil the surprise. Hopefully I'll have the top pieced before the end of the week. Its hard to find the time to work on all of these projects right now.

A Farmer's Wife? Why not!

I ordered 'A Farmer's Wife' this week. It should be here this weekend. Am I a little crazy? Yes. As if I don't have enough projects on my To Do List, I'm adding another HUGE project. Over 100, little 6-inch blocks is slightly insane, but I figure it will be a very long work in progress. Something to keep me busy. Heck, I may even do it by hand! How crazy is that!