Crazy Farmer's Wife Quilt Binge

Sometimes I post a lot of things on the blog in quick succession.  I want to assure all of my crafting friends that I don't really sew this fast.  In fact, when I'm in the middle of a crazy craft binge is when I skip some sleep, some meals, and some showers and I'm not very social--including blogging.   I can't be bothered to take pictures and find words to describe what I'm doing until after the moment (or week) has passed.  So, this batch of blocks were made about a week ago.  I would like to add that this sewing spurt was sponsored heavily by my patient husband who would pour the cereal and milk or make a turkey sandwich for me to keep me going.  (Love that man.)

First up is Peaceful Hours with Heather Ross's bagged fish.  I love this print so much that it had to be in the quilt.  I used freezer paper templates for the center piece and all of the orange pieces.  Then I sewed the blue stripe pieces on the edges and trimmed off the extra fabric to make the squares.  This ended up being a pretty easy block when constructed that way.

Shooting star was made entirely with freezer paper templates.  I'm really enjoying green and pinky/purple together.

This block is not in the Farmer's Wife book.  I learned about this block from Amy's blog post here.  I don't have the book she referenced but I did the math myself to make it a 6" finished block.  Mrs. Fay must have been a special lady to get a block named after her.

This block came from Amy's same post again.  I changed some of the light and dark values from Amy's version. 

I thought that squash blossom would be harder than it actually was.  I used the templates from the book and a boatload of starch.

The Wild Duck block pattern came from Quilter's Cache.  The map fabric may be a busy background, but it made me think of the birds that fly over the city during migration.  I did the block math to make it a 6" finished block. 

And, lastly, here is a second attempt at the Cups & Saucers block.  In my last version I used the same Suzuko Koseki button print with a busy print from Modern Meadow but the flying geese didn't show up at all.  The pale pink in Bliss doesn't seem like it matches well, but it does allow all of the geese to shine.

Does anyone need to remind you to eat and sleep when you feel creative?

Pippi and a Bike

My poor friend, Muriël, has been waiting and waiting for her Pippi Longstocking themed block since February.  It is sometimes hard to be in such a group of talented ladies when they keep on churning out one gorgeous idea and design after another and my brain can't always keep up.  My idea finally came at the beginning of May (then I stalled for another 3 weeks on finishing the hand embroidery).



But now Pippi's shoe and stocking are done.  The washi tape fabric seemed like the perfect mix of stripes and patches and hodgepodge colors for Pippi.  Her shoes may have been black in the books, but I'm certain that she wouldn't pass up on navy plaid shoes with purple soles.  Unfortunately this shoe is falling apart.  Maybe she'll add some duct tape next week? 
 


The shoe was paper pieced, the calf was curve pieced, the shoe stitching is embroidery floss and the shoelaces are ribbon embroidery with some thread tacking.


In another tiny bit of news, I was in a key fob swap in May.  This is what I sent out in the mail yesterday (yes, the absolute last day to ship--at least it wasn't 4 months late).  I used the Heather Ross bike fabric and added some machine thread sketching on the bike frame and some hand embroidery on the bike seat.  I hope my partner likes it!



I still have a ton of Farmer's Wife blocks to post but they'll have to wait for another day. Today was my husband's birthday (babysitter + sushi date + mini golf + arcade games) and then we meet up with my brother and niece tomorrow for a visit for Henry's birthday (Monday).  You've gotta love a fun and busy summer.

Thank you

Thank you all for the supportive comments on my last post. They mean a lot to me.  Many of you gave me advice to keep on sewing for myself.  I've been taking that advice to heart with another batch for the Farmer's Wife quilt.

I don't usually like basket blocks, but this one had enough HST's to work for me.

I used a lot of starch and the templates for this one, but I'm really pleased with the yellow, red and gray combination.

This wild geese block was the most difficult one of the batch.  I sacrificed 2 points on the geese to keep one point for the star, but I think I'll get over it.  (I can't get the color on this photo to turn out at all, so you'll have to trust me that it is better in person.)

Here is yellow, gray and red again.  Plus cute birdies!

And here is another extra block for my quilt.  It is a friendship block on Quilter's Cache.  I changed the sizing to make it a 6.5" block.

Henry is off to bed for the night, and I'm headed to my sewing machine to work on some more.  I'm picking up my sashing fabric on Wednesday after Henry's therapy and I now have less than 20 blocks left to make.   I have to ride the wave of motivation while I can.

Plugging along

Hello friends.

I feel like I should explain why I'm not quick about responding to comments, why sometimes I take a long time in between posts, why I can't keep up with your blogs as much as I'd like to and why I don't often find a lot to say about what I am sewing.

And the answer is this joyous little guy here:

He LOVED the ferris wheel last weekend!

Henry was diagnosed with autism in March.  We started looking for answers back in January.  Since then, so much of my time has been spent researching treatment options, making appointments, fighting with insurance, getting him started in school, adapting to his desire to ride the school bus (he's not even 3!), reading and networking, getting him into therapies, driving and more driving to see the best providers and more that I can't put into words here.  Henry and his needs are in the front of my mind and on the tip of my tongue every single waking minute.

In fact, not sharing about it here has left me tongue-tied.  I stare at the blank blogger post screen or a blank email reply and I can't form a coherent thought.
But, I can still sew.
In fact, I need to sew.
But I can't find many words to talk about it.  I just do, and then I photograph and then I upload.

So please forgive me.  I'm late with bee blocks.  I'm slow with swaps.  I'm obsessed with projects that have no deadline.  And I'm just trying to plug along as we adapt to big changes in our family.

I'm grateful for the community that I have here.  I'm grateful for the chance to talk about something other than autism.  But leaving the words unsaid have been a roadblock.

........

All right.  That said, I need to share the tutorial sources for my blocks from my last post.

This is the Ribbon Star block.  You can find the tutorial at Fresh Lemons Quilts.  I did this block at half size and did the block math and piecing order myself, but Faith really inspired me.

This is the Buzzsaw block.  You can find the tutorial at Quilter's Cache.  That tutorial uses paper piecing, but I pieced the 45˚ strips, sewed them to the solid strips and then centered the angle on my ruler and trimmed the quadrants.  

And now on to my fresh batch of Farmer's Wife blocks.  I made the Cut Glass Dish block months ago, but I was not pleased with the result.

Thankfully another reader gave that block a home and now I've made this one. Much better (in my opinion).

 

This Wedding Ring block strays from my pattern of not including cream fabrics in this quilt.  But, that elementary math fabric is way too cute to not include it.

And, lastly, my Storm Signal block has very little contrast, but I designed it that way.  The Suzuko Koseki fabric on the outside was previously in a different block plan but it just didn't have a chance to shine against the brighter fabric.  Again, this one is much better.

Thank you for giving me a place to chat a little about my blocks. The Farmer's Wife Quilt-along group on flickr has been really quiet lately, but my friend Jennifer is churning out some lovely work on her blocks lately. I want to give a shout out to her and her blog because she is really keeping me motivated lately.  As are the sweet comments from all of you.

Happy sewing to you.

Speechless

 

 Let's chat more soon :)

Distracted

Oh, hi!

I'm still here. 

I'm in the middle of one of the coolest paper piecing block designs, but I'm stalling on the embroidery needed.  So, I decided to cut up an entirely new stack of fabric and start a full quilt top.  Then I was rearranging the furniture in my house and somehow started stripping and sanding some old furniture.  Oh, and I'm starting a new quilt for the quilting retreat this weekend.  Distracted, much?

Well, I'm finally posting some pictures of that new quilt top.




Pictures don't do this justice though.  Have you ever felt how light, soft and silky Anna Maria Horner's voile fabric is?  This is all from her Little Folks line.  I wish you could all reach through the monitor and feel this quilt top.

 


Kelly over at kelbysews started the My Precious QAL (quilt along).  The purpose is to finally gather the courage to cut into fabric that you've been hoarding in a pile and gazing at and petting, but never sewing with.




I meant to make a summer quilt out of this fabric last year.  Thank goodness Kelly knows what is good for me. 




I still have to choose the backing and quilting pattern, but I did make this in three days.  I love it when other quilters push me to go the extra step.