My version of The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt, block [22]

Last month is when I actually decided to get back into making these Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks.  This first attempt back did not go so well.  My block was [22] called Corn & Beans.  Now if your not a quilter, you may not know that some squares, especially the blocks with a lot of small pieces and even the ones with a lot of half square triangles, can be tricky.

With these blocks it is especially important to make sure your pieces are precise and your 1/4" seam is a 1/4".  If you are off even just a 1/16" it will make the difference between a successful block or a frustrating mess.  If you are off by only 1/16", compounded by the many pieces means that somewhere along the way the pieces will not fit.

I started making this block.  I had all my pieces cut out and laid out in order for piecing.  Well I started with the middle, which turned out good.  I started on the half square triangles.  That is where I ran into trouble.  I had the centre pieces together and tried to put them onto the middle piece, but it just wouldn't work.

Well I am back today to give it another try.  All of the half square triangles were off only 1/16" and that equated to being 1/2" off when I tried to put the large line onto the middle piece.  So, now I recut the pieces, or most of them anyways.  My eyes are starting to cross though, so I will have to finish this maybe tomorrow.

The pieces at the bottom of the above picture are the error pieces.  I will just use them in a scrappy quilt.  Until next time, enjoy yourself.

My version of The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt, block [51]

There are a bunch of books and clubs out there that provide multitude of blocks from the public domain to create a quilt.  The two I know off hand are the Dear Jane quilt and The Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt.  The theme is to challenge yourself by making all the blocks, of various skill levels.  Most are pieced, but some are appliqué.  The Dear Jane blocks are 4.5", which finish at 4".  At the time that I saw this club for the first time I thought, these people are insane!  Now it doesn't faze me. 

In the middle somewhere, I came across The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book.  These blocks are 6.5", which finish at 6".  I thought ok, this is more reasonable.  There are still some pretty small pieces in some of the blocks, but still more reasonable than the 4" blocks.  So, I bought the book and started making some of the blocks.  I didn't want to make all the blocks and I didn't want to duplicate the quilt on the cover.  I just wanted to get my hands working with all these small blocks and see what all the hype was about.

It is quite nice when you can finish a small block with all the small pieces.  Some of them are very challenging.  The book gives you the picture of what you have to make and the pieces you will find on the CD.  But you have to be able to translate the picture into a block, because they don't give you any further directions on how to construct the block.

There are 111 blocks in the book.  For the design that I have come up with, I needed 52 blocks.  I went through the book and decided which blocks I wanted to do.  I wrote them on a paper and put them in a jar.  Each time I wanted to make a block, one of my kids would pull a tag out and I would make it.  A while ago it ended up being put aside for other deadlines.

I little while ago I decided I wanted to finish this quilt, so I set a reminder on my tablet, for once a month on the second weekend of the month, to complete a Farmer's Wife block.  I started this quilt in Nov/2012, and for a while I was regularly making these blocks.  At this point I had made 39 blocks, leaving only 13 more to make.  That is 75% of the block made already. Yay!!!

Yesterday, I got the reminder and pulled out a tag. Block 51 is what came out.  This is one of the more simple blocks.  In the book it is called Hovering Birds.  Keep in mind that older blocks can go by numerous names depending on the area that I came from.

This is my version of The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt, block [51].  I made this one low contrast in colour.  All of my blocks are being made in old civil war type fabrics.  I haven't made a quilt in this look yet.  For my design, each of my blocks is going to be surrounded by a dark brown border.

I will show you the design in another post down the road.  This month I finished my block.  One done, now 12 more to go.  Maybe later I can show you some of the 39 blocks I already made.

Enjoy your evening everyone.

Second part of Tiny Town block three done

The second part of Tiny Town block three is done.  I just finished all the hand embroidery on the bird cage.  It doesn't look like much but it took me all morning to complete it.  Later, I will put the mail box block and this bird cage block together. 

Next, I will tackle the last part of block three.  This one has Sun Bonnet Sue and her dog.  This section goes below the mail boxes.  Once I am done this section I can basically put together the top 1/3 of the quilt, as I will have blocks one, two and three done.

So far, I am on schedule in meeting the deadline for our next class.  After this block, I have three sections for the seventh block to do.  As you can tell we are not doing them in order.  As per the instructor, there is no particular reason why. Just because she wants to do them this way.  I think it is so people cannot get too far ahead, to keep everyone working at the same stage.

Tiny Town progress on block three

Tiny Town progress on block three.  I have been working on my block whenever time would allow.  Who knew it would take this long to do three simple mail boxes.  I certainly didn't, but again I didn't know it was going to get this crazy busy at work either.  I'm not complaining mind you, because this business keeps me in my job.

I'm reminded that this business may continue on until the fall, so I'll let you know now that my posts may come in drips and drabs.  When I am not at working, taking care of the family or doing my hand work, I am still working on quilting my Log Cabin quilt.  That will take some time still, but it is looking very nice so far.  The Log Cabin quilt is going to be for hubby's and my bed.  I am not letting anyone talk me out of keeping this quilt.  I really like it and I think it will make a nice autumn quilt.

Until next post, enjoy the beautiful weather and spending time with your family.

Working on the 3D pinwheel quilt

Working on the 3D pinwheel quilt. Yesterday, I finished quilting it.  I started the day by piecing the background, sandwiched it, did the stitch in the ditch to stabilize the prairie points.  By this point it was time to make lunch.  After lunch I started quilting the middle, and move on to the borders.  It was great, it went so smoothly.

I am so happy this one is done.  The shower is coming up shortly.  After dinner I ironed the binding and sewed it on.  Now I have to tack it down by hand.  I am not going to show any pictures yet.  Not until I finish the binding.

So.....instead I thought I would share with you part of my front garden.  This first picture is a view from a few steps down from the front door.  To the right of the picture, not seen here, is a bench.  This is about what you would see from the bench or the front window.  It is all new and still needs to fill in some, but it is getting there.

This next picture is the one corner beside the driveway, left of the picture above.  This view is from the walkway looking toward the house.  As you can see the walkway turns to the right and leads to the stairs on the left turn.

The pictures were taken right after a rain fall.  I love how the colours stand out so much after it rains.  The lime greens are brighter and the green of the yew bush seems deeper.  So pretty.

Today I did some more quilting on my log cabin quilt, but again I won't be showing you the pictures yet.  Not until the quilt is done.  I am hoping that will be soon.  I have been wanting this one done for quite some time.  Anyways I am hoping everyone had a great weekend.  Enjoy the rest of the night.

Bottom floret number three is done

Bottom floret number three is done.  This floret is the only one that I have that will be this type of purple.  I like purple, but it looks too close to the purple of the border.

With the appliqué Tiny Town blocks that I am working on, this quilt has been put aside for a bit.  It only gets to come out when I am done my homework for class, so needless to say it is going to take a little longer to do.  That is ok though, as this quilt does not have a timeline and is something that I am enjoying the process of.  In between assembling these florets and the appliqué Tiny Town, I am still taking the diamond hexagons apart.  No rush there either.  Always lots to do.

As I said earlier, I like purple, so I thought I would share some of the purple blooms from my garden.  Here are some purple Japanese Iris.  The shade of purple can almost be described as blue.  What you don't see just yet is the bush behind the Iris. It is a Lilac bush and the colours of the blooms are a soft purple, almost lavender, but a bit deeper.  It it a young bush, as I just planted it last year.  It had only two blooms on it this year.  I am looking forward to next years blooms.

I also like my pinks.  Here I took a picture of the Bleeding Heart that I planted last year too.  Already this garden is looking very full.  Beneath the Bleeding Heart are some purplish pink ground cover.  If you look closely at the top of this picture you can just see a small bit of the purple Iris.

As you have probably noticed, I love my gardens.  They are a constantly changing canvas, with all the colours and all the different seasons.  Always a work in progress.

Enjoy the rest of the day everyone!

Starting Tiny Town block three for June

Starting Tiny Town block three.  This is the block for June.  We don't actually have a class for June, but I have to stay focused so I don't fall behind.  By the end of this weekend I should have one section of this block done.  I did start on the black post for the mail boxes.

This weekend should be better for getting some quilty stuff done.  The last couple of weekends were primarily working on the garden all weekend, all day.  I still have to do some weeding and clean up, but that is nothing compared to what I have been doing.

I am looking forward to a more relaxed weekend.  Hope everyone has a good one.  Cheers.