111 Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks finished!!

For the last year I have been working on the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt using the rotary cutting instructions posted on Craftsy by Karen Walker.  Each month there would be a new pattern set available to make about 10 more 6 1/2 inch blocks.  The above set of blocks are from Class 11.

The book includes 111 block patterns.  As Karen led us through the year, she would group block sets according to like techniques.  As she got to the end, the last few blocks would have to be made using templates or paper piecing.  Karen was offering a dozen look like blocks using her rotary cut methods.  I really struggled with which way to go, true to book or rotary cut like the rest.  Finally, I realized that the book had been the guide but the methods used very different so I opted to stay with Karen to the end.  The above are the blocks I selected from the 12 she offered.  It was a bit of a challenge as my fabric stack was getting thin.  There were generous amounts of the "fruit" fabrics from the Pickett Fence by Chloe for Moda fabric line I had been using, so I used it for many of these blocks but they will be scattered throughout the quilt.

This is what 111 blocks look like bundled in tens and laid in a row.  I have Kona Snow under the blocks which I will use it for sashing and the blue yardage will be used for the cornerstones and an accent border.

The busy block at the front stands alone as a group of one.

I am excited to see how this quilt top comes together.  Those blocks have been a year long labor of love.

What I've been working on

I have all four village borders finished for my "Penny Village" wall hanging.  Now I'm constructing the middle from these fun rectangles and square in a square blocks for the corner blocks in black and gold.  I've also been cutting out 48 pennies (circles) which will decorate the square in a square blocks and a matching black border between the village border and the busy middle.  Love, love working on a project will fall colors while it is also fall outside.  My goal is to have it finished by Nov. 1 which may be too ambitious.  All those pennies may take some time.

 

I also completed ten Lesson 9 blocks for my Farmer's Wife Revival quilt.  Just 20 more to go!

 

I took this picture at American Quilting.  My sister and I bought some fat quarters of this fabric some time ago.  She has been busy with new grandsons on opposite coasts so we haven't cut into it.  Maybe by next Halloween.  I just wanted to make sure I remembered how they highlighted the focus fabric.

What I've been sewing

I've completed Set 8 of the Modern Farmer's Wife Revival Craftsy class by Karen Walker.  There were eleven blocks in this set.  I now have 81 blocks completed.  I bought some additional fabric to go with the Chloe's Picket Fence line from Moda that I purchased years ago.  I felt like I needed some more neutral and smaller prints so bought some cream with dots, pink with small dots, and added the small green gingham print that I had in my stash.  I haven't got a clue as to what I will use for sashing.  There are 31 blocks to go.

I love working on a seasonal project during the season.  I am making an autumn project to hang in the fireplace opening.  This is a free pattern, Penny Village, from Corn Wagon Quilts which I received during a Quilt Shop Hop over a year ago.

I have been working on the four side borders.  I traced the above pattern on freezer paper, cut out the shapes, and lightly ironed freezer paper pattern to the wool pieces, then cut the pieces out.  The freezer pieces were good for several pressings so I cut all the wool pieces for each panel out and put the pieces in four zip loc bags.

One panel also has most of the embroidery work finished.  I have started the second panel. The fabric in the background will be a border as well as the binding.

Those are the fabrics I will use for a patchwork middle.  I love this project and was lucky enough to hit the wool scrap basket on a good day at the quilt shop.

I finished the applique poinsettia for Saturday Sampler 2014/2015.  This will be a lovely Christmas quilt.  So there you have it, three very diverse but fun projects.

Farmer's Wife catching up

Set 7 of the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt Revival blocks has been completed, but not before Set 8 was put up on Craftsy.  I'm going to forget that Set 8 is available for a couple of weeks.

If you have counted the blocks you will have noticed that there are 11 not 10 completed blocks.  The above three blocks have a story to tell about robbing Peter to pay Paul or something like it.  I cut out all the pieces for all the blocks before I sew.  I have a numbering system to keep myself organized.  Well, this time my method didn't work because I skipped a block in the directions and tried to make the pink and blue block from the pieces which were supposed to make the block which now has roses in the corners.  Of course I was frustrated and not understanding how my cutting could be off so much, but I was determined to made it work.

Finally, I decided something was wrong and went back and matched each completed block to the corresponding book block page.  Surprise, surprise I found that the pieces had been for a block which I had skipped.  Why does that skipped block now have roses?  Because I changed it up by using the pieces leftover from making the wrong block which included two pink squares (not enough pink to cut more squares), added the new blue, and fussy cut four roses on cream.  I like it.  The pink and blue block was supposed to be made from the red and checked fabric, so I sewed it up, too.  Now I'll have a back up if I come upon a block I really don't like or want to mess with.  So, now I have a stack of 71 blocks and I have always planned to make all 111. There is some synchronicity in those numbers.

End of July projects

In June I picked up my final Saturday Sampler kit and finishing kit for last year's Saturday Sampler sponsored by American Quilting in Orem, Utah.  I came home and put it away stating that I would work on it after all the company and trips.  Well, that time finally came and I have had so much fun sewing all the parts together .

But before I could start sewing all the blocks together I had to do the applique on the big house block.

Pretty cute!

Now all the corner blocks and borders are on.

I am in the process of appliqueing a vine with leaves and the flower centers in that middle white border around the whole quilt.  It will take some time.

This year's Saturday Sampler began on July 12th.  It will be a Christmas quilt and these are the simple beginnings.  I'm sure they went easy on us so we can finish last year's quilt.

I also finished Set 6 of my Modern Farmer's Wife Revival Quilt sew along with patterns provided by Karen Walker on Craftsy.  Set 7 has been downloaded and I've pulled the fabric.  Those blocks will be an August project.  Hubby's on a business trip so I'm cleaning including carpets the rest of the week.

Farmer's Wife Revival Craftsy Class

It is always my goal to finish the new set of ten Farmer's Wife Revival quilt blocks before the end of the month.  Here is Set Five.  Set Six pattern pack is now available for download on Craftsy.  Hard to believe but I now have 50 different 6 1/2 inch blocks sitting in my box.  I really do want to make all 111!

A few fun things

I wanted to share a few fun things that came my way this week.  Someone contacted me wanting to use my Angel Moroni on the Provo City Center Temple photo for a seminary graduation program.  I was honored.

I have been participating in a Farmer's Wife Revival Block Class on Craftsy, 10 blocks per class with a new class each month.  Karen Walker, the instructor, asked to use this picture of my first set as the image for this month's class advertising.  Again, I was honored plus I received my month 5 class instructions as a gift.

There is one more great place in Tempe, Arizona celebrating a 50 year anniversary in 2014.  Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium began construction in 1962 and was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  It was completed 25 months later in 1964.  One of the things I loved about my new school experience in Arizona was music appreciation.  We would study and learn to recognize classic pieces of music during the school year and then were bused to the Gammage to hear an orchestra play the pieces we had learned and studied about.  This unusual building sits on the southwest corner of the Arizona State University campus at the corner of Mill Avenue and Apache Boulevard.  When I went to ASU I would often park at the Gammage when there were no events scheduled.  I borrowed this photo from the ASU web site.  I picked this one because that is irrigation water providing the reflected image.  That is another great thing about Arizona, irrigation.  I loved it when the neighborhood would be flooded with their water quota every two weeks or so.

Farmer's Wife Blocks, group 4

I managed to finish the 4th set of 10 blocks during April as part of the Craftsy Farmer's Wife Revival classes.  A new pattern set is released each month and the directions are for simplified blocks without the templates.  I have one block that needed more contrast.  Still deciding if I want to have a redo.  These are 6 inch finished blocks.

Farmer's Wife Revival Class Part 2 blocks

I finished my ten blocks for the Farmer's Wife Revival Class Part 2.  In trying to use all the different fabrics in my Picket Fence by Chloe's Closet bundle, I was disappointed in the look of a couple of my blocks.  From now on I will try to do better by matching the fabric choices to the block.  I do think that this will make a very cheerful quilt.

Farmer's Wife Revisited

These are my first ten blocks from my Craftsy class, The Farmer's Wife Quilt Revival, using simplified cutting and piecing techniques.  I bought my Farmer's Wife book several years ago, made one block, and then put it away for a better day.  When I saw links to this class, I knew the better day had arrived.

I am using this assortment of Picket Fence by Chloe's Closet for Moda fabrics also purchased several years ago.

These are the blocks for my February class.  Directions for ten more blocks are released each month.  There are 111 Farmer's Wife blocks in all so this will last through 2014.  One pays monthly for the pattern for each set of 10 blocks.  I have completed block one with five more cut out and ready to sew.

I have also pulled the fabric for three more blocks.  I am trying to use as many fabrics as possible each month.  I am really excited that this is working so well for me.  You should have seen that poor block I made before I gave it up years ago.  I think this is going to be a very cheerful quilt.  If I loved the fabric way back when, then I usually still love it when I pull it out again.