BOM September block

This is the first block of the first month of the BOM started by Jackie at Canton Village Quilt Works.  This block was designed by Sherri at A Quilting Life.  The green background is Clover Dots by Brandon Mably for Kaffe Fassett Studio (Westminster Fibers).  The middle flower blocks are Delphinium in pastel by Phillip Jacobs.  The rest of the fabrics are Kaffe designed - Paperweight in paprika, Lotus Leaf in wine, and Serape in red.  BEAUTIFUL fabrics!  of course, it doesn't take long to figure out I'm one of those Kaffe fanatics... I want to live in this garden - so lush and colorful - what's not to love?!

Elisabeth Augusta in the flickr group for this quilt along had the idea to do 4 of these blocks, rather than just 1.  The blocks finish at 8 inches (or just shy if you're me) and 12 blocks makes for a smallish quilt, so I think I'll play around with that idea - maybe do 1 of some and more of others?  I think I'd like to end up with 24 blocks at the end.  I did the four this month because I like the star pattern that emerges in the middle when these four blocks are put together.  well, and I was so thrilled to get my fabric today and dive into it!  :-)  

and the farming continues...

(109) Windows

(77) Seasons

(97) Waste Not

I've taken to counting how many pieces go into each block - and then choosing the block for the night based on how much energy I have vs. how many pieces I'll have to cut and piece...  with ample consideration given to TRIANGLES, of course.  Am I going to be able to master the art of the triangle?  I think I'm getting better - I have to say - LOVE block 97, Waste Not.  not perfect, but better than what I would've produced just a few weeks ago.  and that my friends is part of the point of a sampler quilt - n'est-ce pas? 

Just got a fabricworm delivery, which included that beautiful deep pink floral from Children at Play by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller fabrics.  I hope they're going to produce it for awhile because I see this being a stash staple for me.

also got this adorable piece from Aneela Hoey's little apples for moda.  look at the turtles parading across the selvedge!!!  so cute.  there are turtles eating apples and making friends with happy little snails - this has to find it's way into the farmer's wife's quilt!

Farmhouse Foxes

Three more blocks completed for the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along...


(111) Wrench

started to make Churn Dash and ended up with Wrench. I just love the Citronella fabric and kept cutting... (Robert Kaufman fabrics - Citronella by Sandra Banava and Pimatex Basics)

(17) Cats & Mice

had a LOT of trouble with Cats & Mice and was going to blog about that struggle, but I think I'll just leave it be. :-) I knew I'd be using the Kokka cats again for this block (no brainer!) but spent some time looking for mice. I only had a tiny bit of this fabric in my stash (Timeless Treasures Momo by Alice Kennedy - Woodland Animals) and very few mice left.  forgot about cutting on point.  then got confused by flip-flopping the dark and light as compared to the diagram in the book...  let's just say, I probably took more time to complete this block than the rest of you.


(68) Postage Stamp

I love this block - LOVE the foxes!!! the fox fabric is Anika by Monaluna, also Windham fabrics - Storybook VIII green bopeeps (so perfect for the Farmer's Wife) and Feedsack VI ca. 1935 small daisy, another daisy fabric in yellow from the House and Home collection of Benartex, and the Robert Kaufman Pimatex Basics.

I'm up to 24 blocks now - week 17, so 10 more to make to be "caught up", although, I love that the 2/week guideline is casual and everyone does seem to be going at their own pace.  I haven't been kicked out of the group for being behind or anything.  :-)  You'd think 2 a week wouldn't be hard, but lots of deadlines at work, and a number of projects to finish at home...  and my mind keeps coming up with more projects for the future!  just look at what the postman brought me this week:

this is my third Kaffe book, and I love it!  Quilts in Sweden includes a quilt design by Brandon Mably titled "Seahorse" so how could I not like it?! of course I had to order some fabric after looking through these! 

Does anyone else feel like a little kid waiting for Santa when they order fabric?  I hope the fabric Santa comes your way soon, too, D.

FWQAL (13) Buzzard's Roost



FWQAL (13) Buzzard's Roost, a photo by seahorsequilts on Flickr.

it is my sincere hope that I will be able to handle triangles by the end of the farmer's wife quilt-along. these are better than the first, but still not as nice as I'd like them to be.

I think I've figured out how to put the quilt top together at the end without being too stymied by the squares ranging from 6 1/4" to 6 1/2". I probably won't sash, but will border each block in the unifying fabric (white?) and then put together that way. won't really correct triangle points disappearing, but I think it will answer the block size variance issue.

maybe a sampler quilt shouldn't be perfect. the reason I wanted to do a sampler was to learn new piecing skills, so it only makes sense that some of the blocks aren't going to be my best blocks ever. I'll just hide it when company comes over! ;-)

Via Flickr:
Pimatex Basics Robert Kaufman, Windham Feedsack VI ca. 1935

Scotty Quilt Done

This quilt started out as the back of the pickle dish, but I couldn't figure out how quilting for the one wouldn't interfere with the other.  And two quilts are better than one!  Most of the dogs are precuts from Keepsake Quilting, but I did trace the shape for a few on my own fabric.  I didn't do very many that way - lots of work - but was trying to keep the dogs in the pink, red, orange and yellow of the pickle dish quilt. 

I quilted around the dogs, and some straight lines around seams - but a lot less quilting than I normally go for.  I was driving around today (coming home from the fabric store!) thinking maybe I needed to add more quilting.  I really like dense quilting - but I think it'll be good to keep this as is.  It'll look nice with the pickle dish quilt.  If I ever actually finish that quilt.  :-) 

and yes, the Scotty Quilt has been dog tested by Kodo (boxer), Tink (westie/yorkie mix) and Scooby (she's the alpha of the pack!).

Thanks for visiting us!  Especially Laura from Swing Kitten, Kimberlee the Spunky Diva, Stacy from Fun Fabric Quilts, and Beth from Smazoochie.  It's just so nice to know there are other people in the world who love fabric and quilting as much as I do.  Now off to feed those furry ones and then maybe I can get crackin' on some more of those WIPs.  

Citronella

So in blogging about the finished Pink Alphabet Quilt (I know - such an original title...) a couple of days ago, I was having trouble identifying the fabric that shows in the foreground of this FWQAL picture.  When I first started quilting, I was a little shy about it - sort of did it on the QT, one might even say - and certainly didn't think I'd be blogging about it.  I would sneak off to the quilt shop or buy fabric online and didn't always think to write down the name of the fabric or where it came from not realizing I might need that information later.  I knew this particular fabric came from eQuilter but their description of it didn't seem like the right fabric name, and it went down in the blog incorrectly the first time.  SO here it is (that was a long explanation to get here!) front and center.  I liked it well enough to get more - and this bit had a clear title on the selvedge - "Citronella" by Sandra Banava for Robert Kaufman.  Ta da! 

You can see my latest "done" block in the Farmer's Wife QAL just behind it surrounded by some of the other "done"s and here below:

I finished this one last night.  This is block 14 - Butterfly at the Crossroads in the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book by Laurie Aaron Hird. I like it a lot - definitely one of the faves of the ones I've completed. Though I do think I might need to take one of those "solids only" challenges I see all over the quilt blog world. Lots of prints in my quilty corner... The green fabric comes from the Crazy for Dots & Stripes collection of rjr fabrics and the floral is that lovely Citronella.

I'm trying to get caught up to the FWQAL group - trying to do one block a day until I am caught up.  Couldn't do one tonight, though - had to go to a Parent's Club meeting at the high school.  Tonight's theme was about choosing and applying to colleges - would much rather bury my head in fabric and listen to the sewing machine and keep pretending that my baby is still a baby... 

  

Mother's Dream

Block #58 from the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt "Mother's Dream"

not sure I like this one... blue background is "Goldfish" in teal from Play Date by Patty Young for Michael Miller fabrics, Groove by Caleb Gray for Robert Kaufman fabrics, the much-loved black polka dot fabric from Lakehouse, and my new fabric crush - Bottle Caps from Going Coastal by Emily Herrick for Michael Miller.

as you can see, this mother dreams of sunshine, warm weather, sandy beaches....  and getting caught up to the rest of the group in the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along!  :-)

Hello Mrs. Farmer!

Not only did I have the pleasure of spending time with Madame Farmer last night - but I woke up this morning to a new FOLLOWER!!!!  Now I just have to figure out how to reply back to a comment (rather than posting another comment) to thank the lovely Claudia.  Or better known to me as the Armchair Quilter.  Where did I put my copy of Blogging for Dummies?

The crab in the middle comes from Bottle Caps in the Going Coastal collection of fabric by Emily Herrick for Michael Miller.  It was a candidate for the back of Lili's quilt.  She's added a beachy theme to the peach room.  Peachy beachy?  but her thoughts for the fabric on the back of the quilt keep changing, so probably just going to have to make an executive decision on that.  I'd really like to finish that quilt before winter comes.  Perhaps the thought of winter coming is what drew me to this summery print.  Both fabricworm and eQuilter have some.  Also Premier from Silent Cinema collection by Jenean Morrison for Free Spirits.  The colors are really nice - vivid and bright yet somehow not too loud.  I think I'll be using lots of this fabric and adding more of the collection to my stash.  The black is that Lakehouse dotty fabric I just can't seem to get enough of.

F is for Finished!

Very Happy to have finished this quilt - and to have finished it on time!!!  This will be a gift from a really wonderful friend of mine to the daughter (and granddaughter) of another good friend - so really hoping it will be loved.  Lots of work and happy thoughts went into this baby blanket.  And of course, I'm especially happy to work on a girl quilt.  maybe just slightly biased towards girl babies since mine has been such a joy.  although, I know a few boy babies that have charmed me too.  maybe I'll have to pull out some blues and greens for my next project...

had some fun at the laundromat while the quilt was drying

 Finished Quilt is 49" x 54"

the start fabric was from the Target baby registry, a crib sheet from the tiddliwinks sweet safari collection.  added Just Wing It by Momo for Moda Fabrics, Kaffe Fassett spots in fuschia and paperweight in green, Kumari Gardens by Dena Designs for Free Spirit, Urban Circus by Laurie Wisbrun for Robert Kaufman fabrics, floral birds in the Jenaveve Linen collection by Valori Wells for Free Spirit, Remix by Ann Kelle Designs for Robert Kaufman fabrics, Groove by Caleb Gray for RKaufman, Fun Flower Charmers by Holly Holderman for Lakehouse, Clowning Around Robert Kaufman (according to eQuilter, but seems a strange name for that fabric.  described as "pop art floral fancy", which seems a better name.) (ETA - got some more of that fabric, really is a nice fabric, with selvedge.  It's "Citronella" by Sandra Banava for Robert Kaufman.  See 9/14/11 also.) And...  Just Dandy by Josephine Kimberling for RKaufman, Sunny Daze by Alice Kennedy for Timeless Treasures fabrics.  There's an orangey/tangerine solid from my stash - most likely a Kona, but not sure of the color. 

and now a good excuse to meet up with my friend for dinner.  can't just hand over a quilt - would be rude.  must spend some time with food and drink.  and then perhaps I can make some time for that OTHER friend - the farmer's wife!

To My ONE Follower - I'm Sorry...

sorry it's taken me so long to post a new post. of course, you are a teenager who doesn't sew, so probably I'm not too deeply in the dog house. and you can always peek in the "dining room" to check out my quilty progress. that is if you're not online looking up some new Jonas gossip...

I did get a little distracted by James Marsters....

I think I might've been a little too optimistic when I said "yes" to the Alphabet quilt getting done by the 17th. so I've taken every free moment and been little miss busy bee at the machine, which, of course means the blog goes neglected. How do those other ladies do it? I stalk their websites daily and wonder if there's a two or three day lag "what's up?" and here I am weeks after the last post. ah well - it's not for lack of sewing progress.

just need to bury threads and do the binding...  binding material's not expected to arrive until Wednesday and there are A LOT of threads to bury.  looks like I'll be watching some movies tonight...  maybe I can get it done really fast and get back to the Scottie quilt.  or Lili's quilt.  ooh - or the Farmer's Wife.  I'd say she's feeling pretty neglected at this point, but I've seen some pics on the internet of her having fun with other ladies in the quilting neighborhood. 

so... hope to have more to post this weekend but we'll see.  meanwhile - feel free to become follower number 2.  or maybe even 3?  :-)