New fabric and more Farmer's Wife blocks

I got a very nice package in the mail today.  I ordered these beauties from the Fat Quarter Shop.  I had my daughter-in-law select colors she wanted in a quilt, and I am very excited with what she chose.  I am going to use the same pattern I used for the H2H quilt.  I can't wait to get started.

I have been doing two of the Farmer's Wife blocks at a time.  Here are #1 - #6.  They are not in numerical order here.  I have to make more with the light fabric.  I was inspired for the colors by the leaf fabric in reds, blue, and golds.  This was a thrift store shirt, and I am going to be frugal with it so it lasts for the whole quilt.  I used the same fabric for the first border around Hokule'a

I added the dark blue to the border to give the center breathing room.  I am happy with the way it is coming along.  I think the next thing is stars.  I think this section will be in the lower right part of the quilt with the next borders only on two sides.  Then, I will put one other border around the entire thing.  As with everything I make, I reserve the right to change my mind along the way.

Tomorrow is another quilty day.

Joyful quilting, everyone.



Farmer's Wife blocks and more quilting

I have been seeing several bloggers quilting along on the Farmer's Wife quilt blocks.  Here is a Flickr group where you can see a couple thousand of these blocks. I was sure I wasn't going to jump on this quiltalong. When I was at the library the other day, I saw the book was in  so I grabbed it to see what all the fuss was about.  The book is The Farmer's Sampler Quilt by Laurie Aaron Hird.  There are 55 wonderful stories written by farm wives in the 1920's as part of a contest.  There are also 111 six inch quilt blocks.  When I started reading the stories, I thought it might be fun to do the blocks.  The one above is #1 and it is called Attic Window.  The one below is #2, Autumn Tints.  I am going to redo #1 to get back my points.  There are templates on an attached CD, but I don't really like using templates, so I goofed on the measurements.  I know where I went wrong, so I will fix it tomorrow.

I also worked on my Lotta Jansdotter Echo fabric, but I don't want to show it until it is finished.  It has been quite the topic of discussion around here with Tom, Lisa (my daughter), and Bella all weighing in on what I might do to improve the overall design.  After weighing all their input, I added some design elements and I think it is much improved.  I will try and get it done tomorrow to share here and over at Modern 8 Create.

I started the day by practicing my free motion quilting.  I started yesterday with the sample on the left, and today I did the one on the right.  My hand was definitely steadier today, but I really do have a long way to go.  I am just glad I have started working on it. 

Enjoy your weekend, everyone.  Joyful quilting.