Farmer's Wife Quilt: Just Some Pretty Photos

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I've been hesitant to share this with you, dear readers, because the first photo I took of it on instagram three people kindly reminded me that technically I didn't finish the quilt because it's not *all* the blocks. Then someone sweetly informed me that it could have been balanced better. Oi. Everyone is a quilt critic! But guess what? It's done &....

I love this dang quilt. It's so special. I loved working on it with Angela and getting to know her. I love that literally every.single.one of my quilting friends shared fabric with me so I have little pieces of all of them in it. I placed the blocks around themes; when I made them, friends who gave me scraps, certain memories. There is a little cluster from my Toronto friends, a little Sewing Summit cluster, a whole block just made from Heather Ross Country Mouse/City Mouse, which is so appropriate for my life. The blocks aren't perfect, they are chaotic, silly, fussy cut, wonky and unique.

I don't cuddle or sleep with this quilt, which is strange for me because I *use* my quilts to death. But this one is different. It's sort of emotional. So it's hiding in my hope chest with plenty of memories keeping it company.

<3<3<3

Weekend Plans

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Hey!

TGIF! TGIF! TGIF!!!!

I'm looking forward to this weekend. I don't have anything giant planned but there is something about a Friday that makes me super excited. My only plan so far is to visit Kittle's & look at shot guns. I heard a rumor of an early birthday gift. Not something that I normally do on a weekends but it'll be fun. My dream right now is to own this. ;)

I got something fun in the mail, new sock yarn and new knitting needles. I saw this review of carbon needles, I wanted to give them a try in the future. I ordered the needles and the yarn from Jimmy Beans Wool on Wednesday with my JBWBucks and I was super excited that they came this morning. That's speedy! The yarn is called Colinette Jitterbug in Paintbox, doesn't it remind you of one of those sprinkle birthday cakes with all the bits of colored sugar inside? I sort of want to make one now! (ps: this cookbook has my favorite sprinkle cake recipe: Milk)

Isn't that donkey knitting bag incredible? I received the most amazing pink themed package from the sweetest blog reader (Beth) who sent me things so perfect that I almost died. It was like she was in my brain. I only got a cell phone photo of the treats but I think I need to do a blog post of all the presents I've received lately because I have incredibly kind and generous friends. I need to figure out some things I can sew as thank you gifts. Any ideas?!

I've been cross stitching non stop but I'm still not any neater or faster, haha! I've been listening to The Discovery of Witches for the zillionth time and working on Woodland Sampler! That's a pretty big sneak peek for April. I've also been working on Springtime Sampler for a few hours each morning. I'm thankful for the library's selection of audiobooks for sure!

Actually, has anyone read Iced? I've recently been re-reading the Faefever series from start to finish and I'd purchased Iced when it first came out but I forgot how annoying I found Dani and only got a chapter in. Now I'm not sure if I should give it a second chance?! What did you think of it?

I found a new little storage bin at Target for my cross stitch supplies. Every Wednesday Ashleigh & I take a small business class, then afterwards sit at a local coffee shop & cross stitch. I'd been using a little gingerbread man tin I got from JoAnns but it kept exploding open in my bag. This plastic one has a lid that clamps in place. Not too shabby for $2.99! I right now carry floss for Springtime Sampler and Woodland Sampler, plus needles, scissors, highlighter tape, yada yada yada. It's thinner than my gingerbread man tin too! If you cross stitch or craft on the go, check out Target for these. They came in gray, aqua and green. But they aren't on Target.com :( I'd love to finish stitching week 2 of Springtime Sampler this weekend and April's Woodland sampler this weekend!

I sadly lost my Smashbook this fall. I have no idea where it went. In February I got a new one, I went with hot pink this time. I'm hoping to add some things I've been collecting to it soon. Agnes sent me some Studio Calico wood veneer stars that are quite possibly the cutest things ever. Also: I love glue.

Do you notice anything pretty in these photos? A new quilt! Now I have my finished Farmer's Wife, a scrap quilt (who's name I can't decide. Shoofly? Churn Dash? IDK) and now this quilt to show you! It's not bound yet and I probably won't bind it for a little bit, I managed to make the fun of binding a scrap quilt last over a week so I'm hoping to do the same with this one. Lindsay quilted for it and omggg. I took it out of the box and seriously almost died. I posted a photo on instagram but it doesn't do her quilting job justice. She basically took a boring quilt and made it SING. It has this shiny pink thread that I can't stop looking at. The wool batting is making it look extra sweet. I know, I know, all my quilts are starting to look the same. Lots of pink and neutrals. I don't even care. As soon as I pulled it out of the box my second thought was...I WANT ANOTHER PINK QUILT FOR HER TO QUILT FOR ME. It's an obsession.

Soooo what are you doing this weekend? Hanging out at home? Wearing leggings as pants? Eating candy? Cross stitching a new Ireland pattern? Drinking green beer? Reading a book? Gardening?!

Farmer's Wife Quilt Planning

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The background fabric I ordered arrived this morning! Last week I laid my blocks out on the bed similar to the book & I'm not going to lie, I hated it. I felt like the blocks were squished & awkward & muddy looking. Then I laid them on point with a blank space in between them & it looked SO much better!

Trying to figure out what went in the blank space was tricky but I went with a Sweetwater print from their line, Reunion. I had a heck of a time finding a lot (I got 5 yds) but Tracey saved the day & voila! Background fabric. Karyn originally sent me a fq of it & I fell in love, it's graphic & fun but not too modern that it could overwhelm the traditional blocks.

I played around in EQ7 this morning, putting the blocks on point (I learned how! I never knew until today!) but then I realized when I fussy cut all my blocks...I did it thinking they weren't on point. Ugh. So I redid the quilt & came up with a layout I'm super in love with.

I need 11 more blocks, Angela & I had talked about trading a block & this afternoon I'm going to mark in the book the rest of the blocks I want to add to it.

I'd love to have it finished this fall, that would be really neat! Woo woo!

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How I spent my birthday morning & afternoon:

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Since my birthday fell on a Wednesday and Chop had to work, I really wanted to relax & spend the morning/afternoon doing fun things.

I sewed a farm block called hovering birds (new name: hey chickadee!) out of some favorite fabrics.

I listened to The King is Dead & worked on my autumn socks. Isn't this yarn dreamy? Plucky Feet in Sticky Toffee!

I wrote in my Smash Book about who I am at 30. This was kind of tricky! I realized this winter that my goals and dreams weren't really lining up with how I was living my life and the past 6 months I've been working my butt off trying to change that. So far so good! I made notes of my favorite books, foods, fabric & yarn, states and then general things like music I'm obsessed with and personality traits. Plus about a zillion inside jokes that I share with Chop.

My favorite part was spending the morning in the kitchen. I absolutely LOVE cream pies but I also LOVE salty & sweet together. I used King Arthur Flours chocolate cream pie filling recipe which was easy peasy. The only substitution I made was heavy cream and vanilla coconut milk instead of heavy cream and dairy milk.

Instead of a normal pie crust, I crushed some Newman O's and some pretzels together with a 1/4 cup of melted butter (no calories on birthdays ;)) and pressed it into a shell, then par baked it and then tossed it in the freezer until it was ready to fill. It was PERFECT. The whipped cream was soft and sweet, the filling with rich chocolate and smooth and then the pie crust was salty, sweet and crunchy! I could only eat a 1/4 of a piece, it's VERY rich.

I even wore a cat tshirt and had bed head all day! Perfect!

Thanks so much for all your birthday wishes! <3<3<3

The Farmer's Wife Quilt: Back in Session

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The Farmer's Wives took Christmas & January off to catch up on holiday crafting and spending time with their families. It was a well needed break for sure!

I'm so excited that we've started back up. We decided to get the farming excitement going by taking photos of all the blocks and it feels kind of crazy. There is a LOT of work here and I'm still a few blocks short! Eep!

It's kind of funny, if you asked me the colors I sew with most I couldn't have guessed so much brown/taupe. I want to add more pink, more gray and maybe a little more green to it. But I'm trying really hard not to "plan" this quilt. It's scrappy and the blocks are very "let's pull some fabric and sew for a few hours" without over thinking it.

Don't forget to share your farm, it's never too late to join in! And be sure to pop by Angela's blog today and say hi!

I'm running errands all day today, I just cast on for another pair of socks and need another pair of knitting needles. (That's a good excuse to visit the yarn shop right?) I'm planning on making this tonight for dinner, it just sounds amazing, I used to hate minestrone as a kid but lately I can't get it out of my head! Also- I discovered our tv has Sirius, I'm hooked on 90s on 9. Uhhh Dr. Dre, No Doubt, Silverchair? Count me IN. ;)

Have a good Wednesday pals!

Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-Long

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Woo woo!

Farmering! Farmering! Farmering!

This week taught me something new! Y Seams. And wow am I BAD at them. Faith has a nice tutorial I used and I'm pretty sure if I had just winged it myself I would have had a coronary. Do you guys know Faith? She's a popular quilter and pretty cute and has a sweet sister who went with her to Sewing Summit!

I know my block isn't perfect so I'm going to sew it again soon. I shouldn't have used that middle fabric, it's an older Japanese fabric (I think Trefle?) that is a waffle weave- think thermal shirt fabric but thin like double cotton gauze. It was a little tricky to work with! But I'm SUPER glad I gave it a try. I like this quilt because it's helping me learn new things for sure!

My blocks this week are:

Whirlwind, Homemaker (with the y seam) and Single Wedding Star. I'm up to 55 blocks! I love seeing them all stacked in a pile. It makes me feel EXCITED.

I'm thinking about switching out some of the blocks. I was exploring EQ7 this morning and saw some blocks I'd LOVE to have in my quilt but I didn't have enough to justify making the king sized quilt (that's 145 blocks!) If I swap out any blocks I'll post the foundation pdfs so if you wanted to switch out a block you could too!

Here are some Farm related things I find inspiring:

You really should check out the pool, there is SO much inspiration in there!!!
This is my kawaii laptop...haha! I found the icons here.

Have a good Wednesday!

{*~Farming!!!~*}

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It's been pretty busy around Casa De Porkchop lately!!!

I taught a holiday canning class in Redding at That Kitchen Place that was a total blast. I love love love teaching cooking classes, especially canning. We made honey brandied pears, cranberry orange walnut compote, spiced pumpkin butter, vanilla vodka and mexican hot chili cocoa. I made them a whiskey plum crumble to snack on while we cooked. I really want to blog more about food things but I'm not sure where to begin! I generally cook 90% of our meals from scratch, recently I've been cooking wild game (!!!!), I've been doing some canning for Christmas gifts,  I wrapped about 150 lbs of deer meat & discovered ducks in Chop's lunch box. That's a LOT! Haha! Tonight I'm making Swedish Meatballs with the cranberry compote I canned...nom!

I'm really content sewing in the kitchen. I get to look out the window and it feels more relaxed. I can see the woodstove, I can keep an eye on whatever I have cooking and my ipod dock is on the kitchen counter, so it's working out nicely. I do HATE daylight savings though! I need sunshine! And lots of it! The whole sun setting at 5:30 is cramping my style. So I'm trying to sit in front of the windows and sew. It went from being 80 degrees to 60 degrees in like, 2 days! But I'm so not complaining about the cooler temps at all. I can bake & can all day long without the kitchen being 150 degrees ;)

The Chop & I celebrated two years of marriage on the 30th of October! I debated blogging something mushy & awkward but he's already terrorized enough by me ;)

So! The Farm! Let's chat about it! I have 52 blocks done! Woo Woo! That's all of them above! wowzers! Not the greatest photo, I know. Two of the blocks I'm going to redo because I hate the colors. The 18 blocks in separate photos are all new. They just feel GOOD to work on. I listen to my favorite music, drink this new Target brand cinnamon decaf coffee I discovered with oodles of pumpkin spice egg nog and chop into my favorite fabrics.

When I say favorite fabrics, I mean fabrics that I've been holding onto 5x6 inch pieces of for years. I'm not going to lie, it's kind of emotional! I'm chopping up fabrics I've had since 2005 that I know I could never again be able to buy! I want to use them in a project I know I'm going to love and I've accepted that this quilt will be an heirloom. Some of the seams are so teeny tiny in order to use these scraps that I doubt I'll ever wash it and I'll most likely use it as a coverlet and turn it down each night instead of sleeping under it.

There's a lot of exciting stuff going on right now that I should note:

I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting something but that's ok ;)

{*~Confessions of The Shy Farmer~*}

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Hi guys!

Shy Farmer McPorkchop here!

It's true. I rarely pop into the flickr group. I forget to blog my blocks. I get shy.

I think because when I look at everyone's blocks, they are so uniquely THEM. Some are matchy matchy from one line of fabric. Some are all in their favorite colors. Some are just solids. But each person's blocks are so great and mine are just..unique. I sew my blocks with whatever I feel like sewing with that day. Whatever story I feel like telling. Whatever color combo comes into my brain that day. So my quilt is totally not cohesive and ALL scrappy crazy fussy cut wildness. Which is kind of scary. (ok. very scary)

I've always admired the girls who are SO cute and well put together and classy, but that's not me. At all. I'm a little more rough around the edges. And I'm 100% a-ok with that but for this quilt I'm feeling SHY about it. I see Camille & Angela's blocks and they are so sweet, totally perfect and beautifully pieced and I am like I WANT TO BE SWEET & PERFECT LIKE THAT!!!! But that's just not me. I'm a goober. I'm like "let's throw all these fabrics together into this one block and run with it".

And so I was shy! It IS intimidating being a founding member of this GIANT quilt-a-long. So see, I'm just keeping it real over here. I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't intimidating, there are SO many talented folks sewing along with us. I mean, it's pretty outstanding.

The thing that kind of jolted me back to reality was at Sewing Summit so many people would come up to us and be like "I'M A BAD FARMER!!! I'M BEHIND!!!! MY BLOCKS AREN'T PERFECT!!!!" It was like, true confessions of quilters.

And of course my automatic response was "WHO CARES! ITS YOUR QUILT! SEW WHEN YOU CAN! HAVE FUN WITH IT!" Because that's my nature.

But WHY WASN'T I TELLING MYSELF THIS?! Who knows. Either way, I love these blocks! My quilt is totally not perfect, two of my blocks are only 6.25 but that's ok. I'm rolling with it. And you should too. No more being shy!!! Plus, I'm very glad I got to spend time with Angela because guys, she is amazing. Seriously one of the sweetest people I've ever met. I want to hang out with her like, ALWAYS. And if I'm a less shy farmer, we can work on our blocks & encourage each other & I don't feel like I have to hide from her...haha.

Here are some of my current blocks:

They are: Northern Lights, Storm Signal, Friendship Star, OneWho'sNameICan'tRemember&I'mLettingMyNeighborBorrowMyBook, Homeward Bound, Snowball!

The moral of the story is, I'm going to keep farming, you should farm too & I finally was able to buy eggnog this week. That is so exciting!!!! OH and!!!! I'm on ravelry & actually using it. So let's be yarn pals. ;)

 

{*~Hi!~*}

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Things are very quiet around here at Casa de Porkchop.

I'm having some personal problems and my days are quiet per drs orders. Very quiet. Like didn't check my email for 7 days and have been sleeping more than I think I've ever slept in my life. It's been different but ok!

 

One afternoon on twitter I was talking to Kayanna and she mentioned she was knitting Pogona by West Knits and I thought...hey! I like that! AND! My LYS is carrying a ton of MadelineTosh so I cast on using a color called Rosewood and it's been like knitting with air! Total bliss.

I randomly scored 4 lbs of strawberries so I quartered them and grilled them at 400 degrees with a big splash of pomegranate vinegar. Once they reduced down like CRAZY I brought them inside and made jam with them. I reserved one cup of the chunky berries and blended the rest. I added some white & pink pepper and canned it. It might be my FAVORITE thing I've canned all summer. Very bright tasting with a burst of spice.

I joined a local sewing group, so that's AWESOME! It's been super fun to sit and sew with other people. Although it's crazy humbling, these ladies are so talented, but really welcoming which is the best!

Last week Pam came up! It was so so so fun. I freaking LOVE her. She's hilarious. We had Gobblers and went fabric shopping. I slept the entire next day. She is wayyy too much fun. You can read about our outing here! She says it way better than I could. You know how you just meet someone and you instantly adore them? Yup! That's PKM!

 

I snuck in an hour yesterday and an hour today to Farm. I am still totally a wife! I picked two easy blocks: Economy and End of Day. I needed blocks I could finish quick, have fun with and not feel like I've been abandoning you guys & Angela! I'm hoping once I'm back on my feet I'll do 3 a week until I'm caught up, until then I'll just post one block a week. When PKM & I hung out I got some new 1/4 yards for my blocks & I'm excited to cut into them. I really love End of Day (the bottom block) it looks fancy when it's really incredibly easy.

 

The Pumpkins teamed up with the ultra talented Melody Miller! You can now cross stitch her BEE!!! So awesome right? I'm dying to make it!

Sewing Summit is just around the corner! Literally! I booked my flight this weekend and I'm excited and NERVOUS. I think it's going to be a fantastic time and I've been working my butt off getting ready for my class. (I see that photo & I realize I've lost a LOT of weight! eeee!!!!) If you've wanted to meet your online friends, take classes from some super passionate people and have a sewing filled weekend you should totally come! I'm rooming with Karyn & Katherine.  I have a whole list of people I'm excited to hug and jump up & down with in real life. I'm thinking by Sunday I'll have no voice from all the shouting and talking! If your coming to Sewing Summit, leave me a comment; I'd love to check out some new blogs & put some names with faces!

I'm off to knit and watch the season finale of Torchwood! PKM got me interested in it...and of course we chatted about the greatest tv show on earth...HAVEN! She's one of the only people I know who watches!

:):)

{*~Farmer's Wife Quilt A Long Week 9~*}

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Hi friends!

Week 9! Exciting!!!!!! This week I truly felt like a farmers wife, spent my very early mornings in the kitchen canning and gardening! Yesterday I scored peaches and peppers for peach bbq sauce!

I had SO much fun with these blocks. You'll notice I have three instead of two. It's my goal to embroider one of the months blocks with the month and year and all my blocks this month had no room for embroidery! So I took next weeks block, Churn Dash and did it this morning. Next week I'll just show you one block, checkerboard.

Last week Pam suggested I name my Farmer's Wife Quilt "Dear Porkchop" and I'm feeling pretty dang good about that. Or maybe The Farmer Porkchop's Quilt. Lots of people ask if we call Porkchop, Porkchop in real life and the answer is YES. Although it's shortened to Chop. His real name is Eric. I don't change his name in the "blog world" to protect his privacy, it's literally what we call him! When he calls my phone his caller ID is "Mr. McPorkchop"..although I'm thinking about changing it to his newest nickname, GrumpChop. We tease him that he's constantly Grumpy (not really) so GrumpChop is his new name.

Anyways! Blocks!

Block # 17: Cats & Mice

Cats & Mice had to be made with cat and mouse fabric. So I fussy cut up some Munki Munki pj pieces that I bought from Kerri a while ago. My favorite is the little fat yellow cat, he looks exactly like my moms grumpy (actually grumpy) cat, Simon. This was one of those blocks where the flickr group came in SO handy, I am foundation piecing my blocks and for this one, its set up with a Y seam. I couldn't tell if it was right or not, posted it to the group and everyone helped! I ended up learning how to do Y seams! So that was exciting!

Fabrics:

  • Munki Munki
  • Lecien Minny Mui Mice

 

#18: Century of Progress

This block has been in my mind since starting the QAL. I kept wondering if it was a ferris wheel for the World's Fair and again, flickr to the rescue! Laurie answered me and I knew I had to make a night time ferris wheel. So in my mind, it's evening, there are fireworks and your sitting on a bright shiny ferris wheel watching everything and eating a corn dog k?

Fabrics used:

  • Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy
  • Jay McCarroll Habitat
  • Tula Pink Prince Charming

#20: Churn Dash

I cleaned up my scraps again this morning and came across all these little bits of favorite fabrics, I think this might be my favorite block so far because it's very much my favorite colors (autumn-y!). This is my embroidered block of the month with July 2011 on it! The only tricky thing about using the tiniest of scraps is sometimes I have to finagle things to make them work so sometimes my blocks aren't perfect! (OMG BAD QUILTER!!!! ;))

Fabrics Used:

Phew! Three blocks! It's starting to take over my design wall and I love it!

Here are some things you should check out:

  • Angela's Blocks OBVIOUSLY because she is the BEST and my partner in Farmer Wifedom!
  • The flickr group (758 members!) Remember, THERE IS NO SUCH THING IS LATE! It's go at YOUR own pace!
  • Chris's post on foundation piecing! Perfect for FW blocks if you are struggling with templates!
  • Pat asked me if I'd review QuilterAlbum software, so on Monday I'll be blogging about it.
  • If your into ecofriendly goods for ladies, modernacorn has some new stuff!
  • I can't decide if I want to cross stitch this cat or this witch-y mummy!
  • Lizzy has new embroidery patterns that are SLAYING me. I feel like this fall I'm going to huddle on the couch working on hand projects!

okok! I'll be back again with some tales from the kitchen and garden! See you then!

 

xo

 

{~*Farmer's Wife Quilt A Long Week 8*~}

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(sorry, the color is a little dodgy, the sun wasn't quite up this morning when I took this) I just typed week 8 and my heart skipped a beat! 8 weeks! This is AWESOME! I've done 16 blocks, they hang on my design wall and I have to admit, I am so freaking excited!!!!

After week 3, I started foundation piecing the blocks. I love foundation piecing. It's incredible. You can do amazing things with it. Ringo Pie anyone? Those girls are rocking the foundation piecing! It's a skill I think every quilter should have in their arsenal. There are a lot of different ways to foundation piece, I use Carol Doak foundation paper in my printer, print the EQ patterns (available in the Farmers Wife Yahoo Group. Provided by Laurie herself. Go by and say hi & thank you!) with NO scaling, chop the patterns apart, the seam allowance is included for joining the pieces, sew on the lines and VOILA! Cute blocks. For me it's a lot painless than the templates. Mostly because I'm incredibly OCD and like my blocks to look as nice as possible. And I am an incredibly un-accurate sew-er. So I suggest if your struggling, give foundation piecing a try. It's VERY easy but looks FANCY!

Ok. so blocks!

#16: Calico Puzzle

This was really easy and fun. I love blocks with squares because I can fussy cut stuff and that's my favorite thing ever. I made the previous blocks dark so I figured I'd toss in another light. I was sorting through folded green fat quarters and this Lizzy House duck fabric was static clung to another print. So I had to use it. Then I found the Heather Ross Rabbits & Race cars  in my scrap bin and the little bit of Sandi Hendersen in there too. So there you go! Calico Puzzle!

#15: Buzzard's Roost

Here in Northern California there is a road called Buzzard's Roost that is in the middle of no where and my friend Judy lives off of it in an amazing straw-bale house that she and her husband built. And Ryan, the incredibly nice guy that he is, sent me some Appleville as an early birthday gift. So I thought I'd combine the two and hey! Buzzard's Roost! Neat right?

Fabrics used:

  • Kei Dots (My favorite dot!)
  • Suzy Ultman Appleville (Does this line remind anyone else of Animal Crossing? BEST!)
  • Lecien Minny Miu Mice!

I'm dying for a little more scraps. I was tired of mine so I sold them but I love that my internet pals send me bits and pieces. I get excited knowing that my blocks are all so different and have friend fabric in them. Yup. Friend fabric. Not fabric made of friends because that would be creepy, but fabric from friends!

Ok make sure you stop by Angela and say hi, she just finished up a super cute little apple quilt and the sneak peeks are killing me! And check out our flickr group, we have new rules but are VERY friendly and love new people! Don't forget it's NEVER to late to join! You don't have to sew a zillion blocks to catch up, just start where ever you feel inspired and post your blocks! Easy Peasy!

I'm going to leave you with this photo from the California State Fair:

Completed Dear Jane! If that doesn't inspire you to work on your FW blocks and get excited about the next year...I don't know what will! Sampler Quilts = BEST!

{~*Farmers Wife Weeks 6 & 7*~}

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Wowzers! Life got so busy so fast! And it has been FUN busy! Not stressed busy.

I had two deadlines to finish up last week and  Tracey came over to sew! Two days of friend time! and then Ashleigh came over! It was like my social calendar exploded. Haha. I'm SUCH a homebody and having friends to sew/hang out/snack with has been so much fun.

Tracey taught me how to Swoon. I've made two blocks and keep planning ways to make more more more! I'm going to do all 9 and I'm dying of excitement. It's all I can think about. Don't you love when that happens?

Well then I realized I was neglecting my Farmer's Wife duties so I was up at 6am to work on them...and it was a PERFECT day. It was surprisingly chilly in the morning, I rode my bike to Starbucks in jeans and a sweatshirt! I had the windows open, my favorite music (Blake Shelton's new cd! best!) and a skinny caramel decaf latte...SO GOOD. Just quietly stitching along...Bee fits on the kitchen table and for some reason I like sewing in the kitchen better than in my sewing space.

 

Have you met Bee yet? Bee is my 1951 Featherweight. She's pretty sweet, I call her Bee because featherweights have a neat little buzzing sound when they sew. And I love bees. Towards the end of the sewing session she wasn't holding her bobbin tension very well, I think she needs a good cleaning this afternoon.

Ok, back to the blocks!

They are:

  1. #11 Broken Dishes- Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush & Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley. I like to think of this as a sophisticated Pumpkin themed block ;)
  2. #12 Broken Sugar Bowl- This is called the Lucinda block.  She sent me an awesome package of scraps this week, FFA3 scraps left over from a pair of pants she made her son, some halloween fabric, some riley blake! Totally inspiring. You should check out her meylah shop, SO CUTE! I think I might need to do more scrap swapping for these blocks! I'm also glad I got some horseshoe/rodeo fabric! totally fits!
  3. #14 Butterfly at the Crossroads- Cake Rock Beach & Heather Ross FFA. This block was REALLY fun to make.
  4. #13 Buckwheat. This block. Oh boy. Tricky! I couldn't seem to wrap my head around it and thought I made a mistake at least ten times. I can't remember the teal flowers, but I got them in Eureka, the V&A print I got from Karyn & the dots are Kaffe!

Be sure to say Hey to Angela! Her little red riding hood block? STOLE MY HEART! I'm trying to organize all my block posts into my sidebar, along with links to Angela's posts and the flickr group (683 members! GASP!) Give me a few days to figure it out.  ;)

{*~Farmers Wife Quilt-a-long Week 5~*}

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Hey everyone! Week 5! That's exciting right???

Things have been fun and BUSY around here lately. I spent the morning finishing up some custom sewing, finishing star-y log cabin (being proof read! woot!), organizing my scraps and this afternoon I had my first visit with a personal trainer. What an eye opening experience THAT was! ;) I'm heading back out to yoga in a bit so now I'll sit here with some yogurt and chat with you about my blocks for this week.

They were E A S Y. And that made me SO excited. Next weeks look tricky!

 

Block # 9 Eccentric Star

This is fun right? I made it yesterday when it was pouring outside and I was day dreaming of bright summer mornings!

Fabrics used:

Tula Pink- Prince Charming

Erin McMorris- Weekends. I got this fat quarter two weeks ago and I was DYING to use it.

 

Block #10 Bow tie!

I was SO excited to open the book and see this weeks block was a bow tie. I've been wanting to sew them for ages, since falling in love with these by Angela, Brioni, & Jess. And then there is this facebook group for a summers worth of bow ties.

Needless to say, I was straight up GIDDY. And now I want an entire bow tie quilt. I can sense a theme going on, I sew a block, fall in love, want an entire quilt worth. Oh boy. This quilt a long is going to be spurring like 900 more quilts ;)

One of my goals for this quilt is once a month, during the last week of the month, embroider the name of the month and year on it. I originally went to dafont.com, picked out a cute font and was going to use that. But it's my personal quilt, so I thought maybe I should use my own handwriting. Here's the thing, I have AWFUL penmanship. Ask anyone who's ever received a package from me, my mom, Chop...it's just known. It's my own messy handwriting and I'm going to rock it!

Fabrics Used:

Anna Maria Horner: Innocent Crush Voile

Denyse Schmidt: Hope Valley

Michael Miller text

Cosmo embroidery floss color #486

 

I had planned on using a website to create a farmer's wife themed playlist but realized I'm not that tech savvy so it might have to wait until next week. Be sure to say hey-yo to Angela, stop by flickr and post your blocks & encouragement to others! We have 566 members! That is AWESOME! Let's keep up the great sewing. You can join at ANY time, there is NO SUCH thing as being late to the group! If you buy the kindle/ipad edition of the book, check out flickr for where to find templates, links to the yahoo group & tons of other info!

Also, swing by Karyn today & admire her new hand quilted hoop travel bag...it's a looker!

ok! Time for yoga! Have a great night pals!

ox

{*~Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-Long Week 4~*}

in ,

Hey hey hey!

Week 4! Wow.

Can I just pause for a second and say that I am so glad it's Thursday! Because that means it's almost the weekend. This week was R O U G H. Between rescuing an abandoned koala bunny, a deadline mix up, lack of sleep and it being over a hundred degrees this girl is BEAT! I'm spending today and tomorrow wrapping up two new patterns and finishing Star-y Log Cabin. I'm chaining myself to the computer and just getting stuff done. It's driving me nuts that I'm not quite there yet, it's like I sit down and BAM! Something happens!

So here are this week blocks!

#7 Birds in the Air

So 40 pieces in a 6.5 inch block? Wowzers. That's a lot of small pieces! But not too bad! I want to sew with bright pink like, NONSTOP, mix it with grey and cream...HEAVEN!!!! I was on the phone with my mom for a few hours when I was working on this block and I was CONVINCED I screwed it up but I didn't thankfully.

Fabrics used:

Kate Spain- Terrain       Thanks John for the terrain!

Jessica Goncha Swift for Red Rooster,

Liberty of London..love those bikes!

#8- Bouquet

I seriously LOVED piecing this block. I think a quilt made from this block should be in my future, it's THAT good. Imagine a bunch of bright solid little bouquets?! So sweet! I'm feeling really obsessed with navy and green lately.

Fabrics used:

Tula Pink- Prince Charming & Plume

Michael Miller stripe...I'm not sure what it's called?!

Momo I think dots?! Possibly?

I'm off to the gym and then to finish computer work! I heard a rumor that we are going camping this weekend...;)

xo

a

{*~Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long Week 3~*}

in ,

Hi Gang!

I'm sorry I didn't post my blocks yesterday! I learned the hard way what happens when you have the AC going at full blast, plus your sewing machine, tv, iron and a few other goodies. I got to spend part of my day without any electricity because I blew a fuse. I did this last summer but for some reason I forgot about watching how many things I have going on at once...eek! I blame 90+ degrees after weeks of like, 60's! Hey Northern California Summer! Nice to see you!!!!

 

So here is block #5- Bat Wing!

I'm not going to lie, with a name like Bat Wing, I *really* wanted to make it in Halloween fabric. If you are unfamiliar with my blog, I am OBSESSED with Halloween. I know I'm going to want to add some Halloween blocks probably in September & October, so I held off. Barely. Instead I went with a darker block, something still fairy tale-ish & fun!

Fabrics used:

Lizzy House 1001 Peeps (love love love!)

A random polka dot that I bought last weekend with Tracey. It's Marcus Bros, but that's all my fq had of the selvedge.

 

 

Block #6: Big Dipper

Wowzers! This block sure looks busy & fancy. Can I tell you that lately I'm really obsessed with lilac & aqua? They are just so fresh together. I know red & aqua is the favorite among quite a few of my pals *ahem, Monica* but I'm all about trying new things. So, lilac & aqua!

Fabrics used:

Tula Pink: Parisville

Rosalie Quinlan: Sweet Broderie

Here are all the blocks so far!

Hey not to bad right?!

Confession: I am the most obsessive quilter ever. I sometimes make the same quilt like, 10 times in my head before I even cut fabric. I sketch, I EQ, I generally need to have 100% control over each & every single project I work on. But! Life *SO* doesn't work like that. And after Chop's health scare, I'm learning to...be a little less obsessive in all areas in my life. Not everything in life is within my control and this is my one, completely out of control project. And I'm not going to lie, it's SO.MUCH.FUN. I'm sewing blocks by the seat of my pants. I'm grabbing random fabrics and throwing them together. I'm making combos & being reckless. And guess what? It's not HEINOUS. I've seen a lot of quilters on flickr stressing out about fabric choices. And that's totally cool. But scrappy is a-ok! I'm rocking it! Embrace the crazy!

 

I have a tip! It might be helpful, it might not. But it worked for me!

When I started Big Dipper, I grabbed two colored pencils, one purple, one aqua and I scribbled on the foundation paper! This way I'd remember the order of the fabrics. Otherwise I'd get confused because the block isn't assembled the same way as the book.

Be sure to swing by Angela's blog and say hi! Her blocks this week are so freaking cute! A few members of the flickr group have made some great blog buttons, they are a few pages in. Make sure you add your blog post from this week to the thread! And tell us what type of Farmer's significant other you are!

I had a run in this morning with the wind, the car door and my toe, so I'm working on computer work all day, but tune in tomorrow!

xo

{*~Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-Long Week 2~*}

in ,

 

Hi Friends!!!

 

Week Two! The Blocks! Let's talk about them! Actually, let's talk about the quilt-a-long in general!

Twitter has been on FIRE! Lot's of GREAT, INSPIRING talk about the blocks, the quilt-a-long, fabrics, etc. Questions being asked and answered. If you tweet to me something about the quilt-a-long, I'll RT! That way EVERYONE feels included, supported and involved. I'm not the type of girl who leaves people out, but there have been a LOT of tweets, so it's kind of easy to lose them. So if I haven't RTed your stuff, just tweet again! I love love LOVE how positive everyone has been about this, I like seeing people chat with each other and making new quilt-y pals.

Flickr. Wow. The group is HUGE! (162 people as of today!) When Angela & I started this, I was hoping for just a handful of dedicated quilters...but it's BIG! Like, shockingly big. And I am EXCITED. I try to check the pool once a day & leave comments. There are threads dedicated to each week's post, I really encourage you to leave your blog link with your weekly blocks so everyone can come by and say hi! Plus check out Angela's email with the author! That's awesome right?

ONTO THE BLOCKS!

 

 

Block #3: Basket

Basket! I love basket blocks, I have dreams of a basket quilt. I needle turn applique-d the handle on and my template wasn't quite on the bias, hence the wrinkle. Just go with it k? Since I'm doing my blocks with scraps I'm trying to eek out enough fabric for each template. If I can find another scrap from my stash I'll most likely re-do it.

Fabrics:

Little Things by Sarah Fielke (love her, love those dots!)

Meadowsweet 2 by Sandi Hendersen

 

 

Block #4: Basket Weave

I like this block a lot, I used some tiny scraps of some precious fabrics. Plus it's COLORFUL! I don't know about you, but this quilt-a-long is making me OBSESSED with color. I want to be daring and BRIGHT. Because the blocks are small, only 6x6 finished. And there is sashing! So it's ok to be kind of crazy in these blocks. Plus, I bet if you take a step back, look at your stash, and squint...your fabrics make sense together, if you buy stuff you love, it'll all make sense in your quilt!

Fabrics:

Liberty of London- a piece from Megan (I like having my good blog friends in my quilt! ;))

Cosmo Cricket

Far Far Away 2

 

A few notes:

I'm NOT squaring my blocks up as I go anymore. I'm so not a perfect quilter and if some of my blocks are a smidge smaller, I want to be able to square them all up to the smallest size so when I assemble the top, it's easier. Please keep your inner quilt critic quiet, this is totally a learning experience for us all, if someone's blocks are wonky, let it be & support them for even trying, 111 blocks is no tiny endeavor! I know I appreciate all the kind comments you make and so do others, we have a lot of sewing ahead of us, so keep sewing & smiling! And tweeting! And flickring!

I'm SO excited for next weeks blocks! Is there a block your looking forward too? Dreading? Share with me your block thoughts in the comments!

 

Well, Ashleigh & I are having a crazy craft day...lots of dye-ing, silkscreening and building! I'll share photos with you later! If you've left a comment since last week, I'm hoping to reply to all of them by Friday!

Happy Sewing!

 

xo

amanda

{*~The Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-Long Week 1~*}

in ,

 

Hi friends!!!!

 

Phew! What a day! Welcome to The Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long Week One!

Angela & I have been working on our blocks, bouncing ideas off each other and tweeting a lot!

We each are doing things a little differently, I'm going talk a little bit about what I'm doing, I'll let her share her thoughts with you!

One of main reasons for doing this quilt is the challenge. I want to get better at piecing, playing with color and learning about traditional quilt blocks. But also, I want to become better friends with Angela, she's going to the Sewing Summit & I thought it would be a great way to chat with her and build a quilt together! And I'm dying to see how YOU interpret these blocks!!!! AND! I'm dying to be a farmer's wife. I want a little farm so bad it hurts. Ok. Back to business!

I'm doing the blocks in order, starting with number one. I'm using fabrics from my stash and scraps. Chris had a great idea the other night on twitter to use charms, I have TONS of charms floating around and used a few in these blocks. Since the blocks are small  (6x6 finished) you can really use the smallest bits & pieces from your stash. Best!

What I LOVE about this is two blocks a week I can handle. I'm doing my blocks in whatever colors I feel like sewing with that day. If this quilt is a colorful bit of crazy, I'm a-ok with that because it's sashed! I have no idea what solid I'll use but I have TONS of time to think about it.

Here is Block #1- Attic Windows

Fabrics used:

Prince Charming by Tula Pink, Plume by Tula Pink, 1001 Peeps by Lizzy House

This block was really fun to make. It was my first experience using a template (all the blocks in the book have templates!) that had notches. And I LOVE THEM. It makes lining things up so much easier. I'm really into navy blue lately so I used some navy's and aqua's!

 

Block #2 Autumn Tints

Fabrics used: It's a hoot by Momo, Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry, Hullabaloo by Urban Chiks & Prince Charming by Tula Pink

So this block was really awesome to make, think of all the possibilities!!! I love autumn, so I thought about doing it in autumn-y colors or maybe a Halloween block, but I went outside and everything was SO BRIGHT GREEN. And I decided I needed to sew something really bright & spring-y (even though it's down pouring outside ;)) See why I need this project? I get the urge to sew with zillions of colors at all different times! One thing I'm going to keep in mind is stripes. Even though the block is perfectly square, it looks a little off because of how I lined the prints up!

 

Here is a tool I can't live without:

Clover Fabric Adhesive! I put a dab of it on the back of my template so it doesn't slide around when rotary cutting.

Please consider joining us in making this quilt! You'll need the book "The Farmer's Wife" By Laurie Aaron Hird and we'd love it if you joined our flickr group, even if it's just to encourage us on, 111 blocks is a LOT!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

 

PS: The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery needs help naming our newest sewing pattern! Please, please, please stop by our facebook page and check out our sneak peek & help us name it! If we pick your name you will win a free pattern of your choice!