Aunt - 1930s Farmers Wife Sampler

The 1930s Farmers Wife Sampler quilt sew-alongs are well under way. I've decided to make blocks as and when I can, and not try to keep up with anything. There is so much else that must take priority. So, here is block 8 from the book - Aunt - all fussy cut except the rectangles.

I'm using old clothes that I've kept in a bag in my sewing room for several years now, meaning to use them for a hexagon quilt I started. Well, there are plenty of clothes in that bag, so I'm using them for this sampler quilt too. They're all worn out or torn beyond repair, and are oh-so-soft from all the use. This quilt will look and feel well used from the moment it's finished.

The old clothes do present a few challenges. One must find the parts that are still sturdy, try to deal with the warping that wear brings, and the softness is also a bit challenging. I could starch them, but have decided against it. I like that soft feeling, and my first block turned out well.

Not all the blocks in the book appeal to me, so I won't make all 99. I'm thinking enough for a lap quilt will be fine. We'll see how I go!

Are you joining in the sew-along too?

Bye for now x

Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt

Have you heard about the quilt-alongs happening soon for The Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt? There are two that I'm aware of, and I'm having trouble deciding which one to do - and wondering if I should really do either.

The first one I heard about is being run by Angie of Gnomeangel.

This one starts on 28 September and will be making two blocks per week. The blocks won't be made in numerical order, but in order of difficulty.

The other one is being run by Kerry of verykerryberry. 

This one will also be two blocks per week, but they will be made in the order they're presented in the book - which I think I prefer. It starts on 14 September. 

Being in one does not preclude me from being in the other, but how does one do that without making four blocks per week? 

What makes me wonder about how wise it is to participate at all is the fact that I've still got lots of blocks from the first Farmer's Wife Sampler book to get through. 

There was a time I didn't mind sewing whatever took my fancy, but I'm trying very hard to get my WIPs and UFOs down to a more reasonable (to me) number. I feel like they're wasted just sitting in the cupboard, and want to get them finished and in use! Then there are all the quilts I want to make and write patterns for... Is there time for everything? 

Will you be participating in one of the quilt-alongs? Which one? 

Millennium Star - Bloggers Quilt Festival

Greetings! I'm so pleased to be participating in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival for the first time this year, run by Amy at Amy's Creative Side. I'm entering this quilt into the Home Machine Quilted Category. If you click on over, you will find lots of great quilts to look at. You can also head HERE to nominate your favourites, and then check back on 22 May to vote.

I made this quilt for a swap run on Instagram. (Click on any of the photos for a larger view.) The centre of the quilt is a paper foundation piecing pattern by Peggy Martin called Millennium Star. I changed the orientation to have the point at the top so that I'd have lots of room in the corners for the spiders, and the webs I had planned for the quilting.

The skull and spider are pieced into the quilt, both taken from a piece of fabric from the Nevermore collection by Gillian Fullard. The little spiders running up from the bottom right are also pieced in from the same fabric.

My first step for the quilting was to stitch in the ditch of the star seams, and roughly a quarter inch away from the seams in the purple section. Then, I marked the spines of the feathers with chalk and proceeded to quilt them, followed by the outlining of the centre piece, and then the spider webs. Last of all came the pebbling. All that black-on-black was very hard on the eyes, but so worth it for the texture.

I ended up adding the straight lines in the purple section right at the end, as it was a little loose and puffy there for my liking, and I wanted it to be flatter to allow the star to pop out even more.

Finishing the quilt with a flanged binding was a must as far as I was concerned, and I'm really pleased with how it frames the quilt.

The quilt finishes at a touch under 25" square. The quilting is mostly done with Aurifil 50wt thread and all done on my Brother NX-200 sewing machine. The black quilting took a LOT of thread - I went through over four bobbins! I also went through rather a lot of purple thread for the feathers.

I used white cotton batting behind the star, and black batting of a cotton-polyester blend for the quilt as a whole. I pre-washed all the batting.

I admit to being rather proud of this quilt, and completely smitten. Parting with it was hard, but the fact that it has gone to a fellow patchwork quilter is, I think, wonderful, and I'm happy to report that she loved the quilt.

Thanks for stopping by to see my quilt. Don't forget to head over and nominate your favourites and then check back again to vote on 22 May. You can also enter to win some prizes by commenting on the main Festival Post.

Bye for now,

Hope x

Christmas Reflections - Runner and Mini Quilt

Hello! Just a quick post to show you a festive table runner I've made. If you want to see some pretty close-ups of the quilting, head on over to my post here where I go into a bit more detail.

Of course I've made a pattern for the runner, which also includes a pattern for a mini quilt at no extra charge. :) It's available in my Etsy store, here. 

Swallow

Hello! I sewed another Farmer's Wife Sampler block on Monday night. This is block 93, Swallow:

It was a nice quick one to put together. I used the templates to cut all the triangles, and for the rest I just used my ruler and rotary cutter.

I always have such fun making these, and really want to step up the production a bit... maybe try for a couple a month. So many projects, so little time... I bet a lot of people can relate to that!

Bye for now

Hope x

Wander Through the Woods

Just thought I'd mention I have a brand new pattern available, called Wander Through the Woods. It's available now here.

It's so easy to make, and really quite quick. The pattern is full of extras, a total of 8 different quilts to make if you wanted to, including a mini quilt just 12.5 inches square. :)

If you'd like to know more, head on over to my other blog, here.

Bye for now x

New Mini Block Pattern and a New Blog

Greetings! I am just popping in to let you know that I have a new blog, hopesquiltdesigns.blogspot.com. It will focus on patchwork and quilting, and maybe a bit of other sewing. This blog will now include more of the other things I like to do - sewing, papercraft, drawing... whatever takes my fancy, just like it says up there in the header. ;)

I've posted about a new FREE mini block pattern over on my other blog (Autumn Tints, shown above), and that's where I'll tell you about all the new mini block patterns as I get them ready, as well as other patterns I design. If you'd like to visit me there, I'd love to have you, so please do stop by and say hello.

Bye for now, Hope