Farmer's Wife Friday... er, on Saturday.

It's Saturday afternoon and I realized I forgot to post some blocks yesterday! It's been a busy week, CMQG meeting Wednesday, visited the Snakes at Snake Week, and ended up not making it to swim lessons because of a bloody nose (poor B).  Anyhow, here are two for this week:

Block 84: Spool

I used some Kona scraps and a small fun square of random print for the center. I'm loving green and brown together: I guess it's my mid-century love!

Block 107: Windblown Square

This block is the same as 102, Whirlwind, but with two colors.  I used up scraps from another project, a nautical Swoon gift. I'm amazed at how much waste I generated making those blocks and couldn't just throw them out... sooo, into the Farmer's Wife they go! Waste not, Want not. Oh, wait. That's block 97...

Farmer's Wife Friday

We have been running around getting the house ready for Bennett's Lego birthday party this week, but I wanted to post a couple new blocks... so, it's really a Farmer's Wife Saturday afternoon when we are birthdayed out post.

 

Block 12: Broken Sugar Bowl

I used up more scraps: some leftover yellow, a bit of brown Japanese matryoschka, and some pink heath.  Overall I'm happy with the sweetness, and the yellow brings in a bit more contrast. Apparently I don't use much green or yellow in my blocks.

Block 25: Cups and Saucers

Yep, another punny one. I just can't help myself! The coffee fabric is leftover from a '90s apartment kitchen curtain, the red from Aneela Hoey's Little Apples line. Don't look too close, you'll see all the unsewing I had to do!

Farmer's Wife Friday

Happy Friday! I can't believe it's June already. Where is the time going??

 

 block 26: Cut Glass Dish

I've been drawn to reds and navy lately, and I love these Moda scissors. I used the last bits of these scraps in this block and am happy as they "cut" their way between all those dang triangles!  I used a Kona navy and also some Denyse Schmidt print instead of white or cream to give some balance to the colors in the block.

block 100: Weathervane

Another fun one! I used some bits of a fun Japanese mushrooms print, Kona khaki, and a bit of Aneela Hooey's Little Apples print in aqua.  There are a deceptive 36 pieces in this little 6 inch block. That is A LOT of sewing. And quite a bit of the inevitable unsewing. Sigh!

Farmer's Wife Friday

So, I've been Farming again. Yay! It feels so good to get back to work on these little blocks.  And to use up scraps!!!  Here are a couple to show this week:

I used some of those great pezzy prints for the colors in the Rainbow Flower block and a fabulous tiny scrap of a Japanese print.  You can't tell in the scanned photo, but the mushrooms and rainbow are covered in GLITTER!

The Puss in the Corner block used some scrap grey dots, some wacky brown that I think goes well with the textured kitty cats. I picked a tan one, though the other cats are dark brown and grey polka dots.

On another note, today is Norah's first birthday!  We are just doing a small little something tomorrow here at the house. Happy birthday baby girl!

Baby Swoon

I love all these Swoon blocks and quilts popping up everywhere. I have two Swoon quilts in the works, though progress is veeeery slooow. It is near impossible to string an hour of time together to lay out fabric and stay organized enough to get them sewn before I'm distracted by our hectic household.

So, when Christina from our Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild offered up a lone block at one of the meetings last fall, I snapped it up. It is now ready to quilt up into a baby quilt, backed in some Denyse Schmidt. Quick and satisfying!

Farmer's Wife Friday

Hi! I'm back with some Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks... FINALLY!!! With the holidays fast approaching, the gal getting more active, and work, I've been neglecting this project.

block #31: Evening Star

A bit of Appleville in the center, some Denyse Schmidt dots for the points, and some unknown scraps of navy as the background. I love how it reads from a distance! The dots make it *glow* when you pin it up across the room.

block 69: Practical orchard

What's better than some Apple Dots? Not much for this block. Loving these two together!

block 39: Friendship

Well, then there's this block... How could I resist using these fun charm squares from Aneela Hooey's Little Apples line??? I love how the kids appear to be going around the center. The white is some scrap Kona cotton.

block 41: Friendship Star

And speaking of friendship, here's what I came up this one. Not quite convinced there's enough contrast, but we will leave it up on the board to ponder. It may be a redo. Fabrics are more Denyse Schmidt as the background and some fun scraps of some girls playing (Moda? Maybe Michael Miller?).

block #6: Big Dipper

I love using up favorite scraps as in this case. Loving the large scale brown pattern against the semi regular strips of the Japanese mushrooms print.

block 85: Square Dance

And then there's this one. My FAAAVORITE from this batch! So perfect! I used a bit of this awesome Japanese girl and bear apple picking print as the center and triangles, some scrap red vintage dots, then a bit of Aneela Hooey's Apples print for the corners. I love the repeating of the apples theme!

Hope you enjoy your weekend of Turkey sandwiches, turkey pot pie, turkey soup, turkey hash, turkey salad... you get the drift.

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along week 9

Happy Farmer's Wife Friday!

Back on track with two new blocks this week. No real theme, except maybe "lots of little pieces."block 7: Birds in the Air

Ok, so maybe using some scraps of this awesome clouds print makes it a bit too literal, but hey! It's a perfect compliment to the orange Kona scraps! Getting those dang half square triangles of the clouds print oriented properly was a pain, but I love the overall look.

block 72: Railroad

More scrappy goodness used up! The hedgehog print is just fabulous. They managed to pack in all kinds of goodness in this Japanese print: mushrooms, flowers, hedgehogs, wee houses, clovers, flowers, apples, acorns, squirrels... you get the idea. I'm going to be so happy when I see them all in the finished quilt. I paired it with some vintage scrap of red dots from my mom's stash. Another block I'm loving!

That's it for now, I promise another update soon, complete with photos of things other than quilty stuff. Have a great weekend!

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along week 8

Well, a day late and a block short from my weekly 2 block goal. There's been an upswing in orders on my Etsy site, a sure sign the weather is getting cooler in other parts of the country (and the world, for that matter), not just in our neck of the woods. So, my sewing time has been spent filling orders this past week.

block 95: Temperance Tree

What a block. I guess it could count as 2 blocks since it has a whopping 42 pieces. I'm not sure if I'm happy with the results, but I'll chalk it up as done and revisit the block later on down the line. I used some cute Japanese bits as the tree top and some more brown scraps from Norah's Brown Bear quilt. The background fabric is some vintage red scraps and a neutral crackle print from the bottom of my stash.

Hello, Dolly!

I signed up for September's Doll Quilt Swap at our August Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild meeting.
After my first doll quilt fail (hello, seam allowances I forgot to add. That will teach me about midnight sewing, right? Right? Right??) I had to come up with a plan B. this idea banging around of a funky star quilt on a deep gray. So, I dug through the scrap bin a bit and here's Jeanie's doll quilt!




I quilted around the perimeter of the stars in progressively wider spacing using a pale gray thread. I love the look!

The back is a remnant from I don't know where, but the color is tremendous, and it just feels so good to "shop" my stash.

The binding is some of Cosmo Cricket's Taylor Made. Again, perfect color and loads of personality.



I love stars.

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along week 7

Well, here we are at week 7 with two more blocks. Not too shabby with a busy week and sickness throwing a wrench in the works. Everybody's feeling much better, and I'm counting myself lucky that I magically managed to dodge that bullet!!! The leaves are starting to turn around here, and thoughts are turning to apple picking, canning the last of the peppers from the garden, and getting ready to celebrate Fall (happy equinox!). I chose a couple blocks along this theme:

block 56: Maple Leaf

I love this hippo print and was excited to use it up. I tried to fussy cut a bit, but there wasn't a whole lot left, so I just did the best I could. I'm pleased with it, and glad I went with the pale gray Kona as the background. I think it's Kona Ash?

block 88: Star of Hope

The second also used up some fun scraps! I love the gold against the brownish pumpkin color of the kitchen print. Mmmm, apple pie... This was a block that took some fussing. I screwed it up once (templates are wrong, I think!), then tried to paper piece it, and found the foundation paper piecing is also drafted incorrectly. Sigh. Sooo, I ended up designing my own foundation piecing block and voila! Here she is in all her cuteness. For those that haven't done this one, beware! It's fiddly, you'll have to adjust somewhere, regardless if you are doing the blocks by templates or paper piecing!

Happy Farmer's Friday!

Quilty mail!

Look what just arrived from New Zealand!! My godmother sent along two quilts, one for each kiddo!
Each one is perfect for the kid intended.


Norah's batik pinwheel quilt has awesome baby animals appliqued in minky fabric with embroidered faces. So cute!


The white background is quilted in a tight stipple that accentuates the soft plushy animals.

I love how the bunny matches her little green onesie!



Bennett's is embroidered with cute Disney characters, check out the close up of Donald and you'll get a sense of the insane number of stitches this quilt required. Totally awesome!

It's become his favorite, as you can tell. I am still in awe that a little package could contain such wonderful gifts! Thanks a million, Anne!

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along week 6 (late)

Well, back on track this week with four new ones I'm happy with, and one that I totally screwed up. Sigh.

Block 29: Economy

Well, "Economy" was not what was running through my mind as I cut into some of this ultra rare and super precious Heather Ross VW bus print. Except in an ironic sense, I guess. But look how cuuute! My favorite of the week, I think. It's paired with some brown Heath from Alexander Henry.

Block 77: Seasons

I love how this one turned out! The color combination is grand, I managed to get the giraffes placed pretty much where I wanted them, and my corners meet relatively well. Yay! Fabrics are some scrap brown from Norah's Brown Bear quilt and some of Laurie's Urban Circus Giraffes put out by Kaufman.

Block 80: Single Wedding Star

I like this one a lot, too. Using up the last of some Heather Ross wildflowers print in a gorgeous hot pink, pairing it with some of Cosmo Cricket's Tailor Made print. I can't decide which stands out more, the golden "ring" or the circle of boxed flowers.

Block 30: End of Day

Another block using up tiny bits and scraps of past favorites: some chairs from Laurie's Tufted Tweets line, a bit of Kona solid in a pale aqua shade, and wee triangles (the last of the LAST!) of Heather Ross wildflowers. TOTALLY satisfying to use up these precious little bits!



And then there's this one. Perfect. Except it should have been set on POINT. Aaargh! It was the last little bits of my favorite Japanese print of all time. And now it's going to go down in my memory as the One I Royally Screwed Up. I wish I hadn't started it at 11:30 one night, should have taken a second (third? Fourth?) look at the pattern, should have taken a breath before diving in, scissors in hand.
So now I have to decide if I want to just go ahead and use it in the Farmer's Wife quilt, or save it for a fun mug rug or other small project...

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along week 5

Only one new block this week, what with family fun stuff and getting my working-mama groove back, there hasn't been much time.

I used more happy Japanese scraps, this bit of trees printed in brown and white (you can juuuust barely make out the white trees) a scrap of black Kona, and some of a vintage burgundy print from my mom's old fabric stash. They go together perfectly! I also strip-pieced the corner blocks instead of making them as 4-patch blocks like the book suggests. It just seemed easier to me.

And since scanning the blocks is working out so well, here are a couple from the first week...
Love this one!
And this one, too!

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along week 4

I think I'm beginning to anticipate fall. Most of the fabrics I have pulled for new blocks are all about cooler weather and colorful trees! I can't wait to have the time to put them together. At least I got a couple done this week, I'll take the progress no matter how small. Baby steps, right?

block 5: Bat Wing

I saved a scrap of one of my favorite Echino prints, and when I saw the title of this block I knew it would be perfect! I paired it with some Michael Miller dots, and I just love the combo. Let's say luuurve, because that more accurately reflects my feelings. I ended up paper piecing this one, I only had a little bit of fabric and didn't want to stress the usual sewing/unsewing that I tend to do with triangle blocks.

block 111: Wrench

This block is a combo of new and vintage fabrics. The grey is some of Aneela Hoey's Sherbet Pips, the red is a bit of hearty-vintage goodness from my mom's fabric stash. I remember having some of this pattern in a vest from 4th grade! I pieced it "traditionally," just using measurements (yay math!). So far I haven't used the templates, just measured them out to make sure my math skills aren't that pathetic.

I am thinking I will end up using the templates on a couple blocks, and am thinking of hand piecing a couple of the more challenging ones with Y-seams. I think that technique will yield the best results.

T-Rex

A quilt for T-Rex: welcome little guy!