A Group Shot and a New Project

I felt it was time for a group shot of my Farmers Wife Sampler blocks. I have left the two Frog Prince block out for now, thinking of making them into cushion covers or something instead.

Meanwhile, I've been cutting pieces of fabric for a quilt for a nephew due in July. I'm using a pattern from Simplify by Camille Roskelley. Fabric is Meadow Friends by Deb Strain for Moda. I got the 'boy' jelly roll. It is so adorable with all the little critters, and isn't babyish so should be fine for a quilt to be used on a proper bed in years to come.

Not all the cutting is done, just the main bit from the jelly roll. Getting there though.

Country Farm

Two more blocks in the Farmers Wife Sampler have been completed! Corn & Beans, was done over three days, in little bits here and there. Country Farm was done in two days, in the same way.

Here is Country Farm:

And here is Corn and Beans:

I am finding, when I look at the photos of these blocks, not just mine, but other people's too, that the size is just not conveyed. They are so sweet and cute in real life. Maybe something to give a sense of scale is in order for the next photos.

Churn Dash and Checkerboard

I had a great morning sewing today and got two more Farmers Wife Sampler blocks done. Block 19, Checkerboard:

And block 20, Churn Dash:

I've skipped block 18 for now, as I'm not sure what combination of fabrics to do, or if I'll stick to the fabric placement in the book.

I wonder if I'll get more done this afternoon? It is wonderful to be doing these little blocks and neglecting the binding on my single bed quilt. I don't feel the least bit guilty, just happy. :)

Cats and Mice

I just finished another Farmers Wife Sampler block, and managed to photograph it before the thick grey cloud took over the sky. Here is block 17, Cats and Mice:

I am hoping the colour shows correctly in the photo. For some reason when I photograph pink, it often comes up red on the monitor. I adjusted it in Photoshop Elements to be pink, so it should be right now.

Fortunately, this went together pretty well, with a just a little bit of unpicking. I didn't get all the points perfect, but I'm so tired it honestly isn't bothering me at the moment.

I'm thinking I will go back to doing them in order for a while. The next two are very straight forward, so that is kind of motivating my decision. ;)

Bloggers BOM - Block 6

Sewing this weekend gone consisted of one solitary block, block six of the Bloggers BOM Quilt-Along.

The instructions are available here.

This is the sixth block in the quilt-along, but only the fifth I've sewn. I'm not entirely sure I am going to do block five. It doesn't seem to go with the other blocks to me. I'll see what the rest are like before deciding though.

Paris in the Springtime

I can't say I recall that many flowers in Paris in the Springtime, but then I think it was more the buildings I was paying attention to. One of these blocks certainly had me thinking of Paris and Spring though, with the Eiffel Tower print and the beautiful aqua floral. 

I have had a good weekend for sewing, taking a leaf from the book of Suzitee and choosing some quicker blocks to complete. Two blocks were also made faster because of a little short-cut - I sewed strips together then cut, saving so much time. As a bonus there is actually a bit of sporadic sunshine today, so it's been a good weekend altogether.

Here we have, from yesterday, Streak of Lightning:

and Snowball:

And today's effort, Railroad:

I may have to do another group shot soon, they're building up again.

Buckwheat

I did another Farmers Wife block yesterday, between bits and pieces of housework. Again, the photo is not the best because of this horrible grey weather. At least the rain has stopped, for now. Meanwhile though I'm in skivvy and woolly jumper when any other year I'd more likely be in shorts and t-shirt. Coq au Vin is planned for tea tonight, it seems an appropriate meal for the weather.

Anyhow, here is the block, Buckwheat:

I love these colours together. I find them somehow relaxing and very Spring-like. I might need to do a few more in this combination.

Butterfly at the Crossroads

It was suggested to me yesterday by my better half, that the ideal thing to cheer me up (hormones had me down) would be to make another Farmers Wife block. Who am I to argue with such wisdom? So, here we have Block 14 from the Farmers Wife Sampler Quilt, Butterfly at the Crossroads.

It all went together so beautifully, it did cheer me up somewhat. I had kind of forgotten how the blocks end up smaller than I expect from the size of the pieces. I mean, I know they will be 6 inches, but they still surprise me. :) A bit of iffy flash photography today, because of all the rain that just won't go away.

I have made good progress on quilting Max and Whiskers. I need to buy more thread though to continue. There was just one 100 metre spool of the thread left at my local fabric shop, but it was perfect for the quilt so I thought I'd chance it. Now I will need to order more online. :(

Here's the bobbin being wound:

Pretty? I think so.