Design Wall Monday 07/18/16

My sister came over to sew on Saturday, and she made the wall hanging shown above.  She had a pattern out of an old magazine, and so we raided my fabric stash and then she got right to work.  We even had time to run out to the fabric store to get the ric rac.  Very cute.  I haven't finished anything worth showing this week.  I spent my time on Saturday cutting pieces for the chain blocks in the Crossroads quilt along quilt.  There are 18 chain blocks so it will take a little time.  If I were using yardage or the kit, it would go much faster because you can strip piece the block parts, but I am using scraps, which take a lot longer to cut out.  It's not difficult, though, so once I get all of the pieces cut, I can go to town on the blocks.  I'm looking forward to having all of the blocks done.

I also got some embroidery floss so I can add the final touches to my Farm Girl Vintage quilt blocks.  I am noticing that embroidery is starting to get very popular again.  There are a lot of new patterns and sew alongs that involve embroidery.  Now that I finally have proper glasses, I can do some hand work much easier.

Hopefully next week I'll have at least one Crossroads chain block finished!

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today. Also linking up with Quilt Story and Let's Bee Social later this week.

Design Wall Monday 05/02/16

Where is the time going??  I can't believe it's already May.  I got a little sewing done over the weekend.  I've been playing around with blocks that use flying geese units.  The technique that I am teaching in the current quilt class session is the No Waste Flying Geese method.  The link is to a really good resource on how to do this method.  I decided to go with the Golden State Warriors colors (blue and yellow/gold) for these blocks.  The bottom block on the left is for the Crossroads quilt along.  I think it came out pretty good!  And it has flying geese units as well!

Above is a picture of my whole design wall as it is right now.  All Farm Girl Vintage blocks are present and accounted for!  I love looking at them on the wall.  It will look so empty when I finally put them together and I take them off the wall.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone has on their design walls today.  Also linking up with Quilt Story and Let's Bee Social later this week.

Design Wall Monday 04/25/16

I've done it!  I finally finished all of the blocks for the Farm Girl Vintage sampler quilt.  I kept putting off making the last block.  I think because I was trying to figure out what  color to make the sheep.  I just made the cat block in grey fabric, and I didn't want to have too much grey in the quilt.  I tried to decide which color would round out the quilt, and I finally decided on pink (even though I just made a pink pig block).  I'm happy with how it turned out and I don't know why I was so worried about it.  I just need to embroider the eyes and legs.  I'll probably do all of the embroidery next (before I sew the blocks together).  I'll get it all out of the way at one time.  Then I'll cut up my scraps for the sashing cornerstones.  I have plenty of those and will still have scraps leftover.  After that, I have a LOT of flying geese units to make for the inner border.

I meant to get a picture of the design wall this morning with all blocks, but I ran out of the house without getting the picture.  Big meeting first thing this morning, so my mind was elsewhere.

Next up, back to the Crossroads blocks so I don't get too far behind on those.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today. Also linking up with Quilt Story and Let's Bee Social later this week.

Design Wall Monday 03/28/16

I got two more Farm Girl Vintage blocks finished this week.  Just one more to go!!  Above is the Honey Bee block, which is a block pattern that I purchased separately from the book.  I just love it - I think it is one of my favorite blocks in the whole quilt.  The pattern had blue fabric instead of black for the bee's stripes.  I decided to go with black, although I was a little concerned because I don't have black anywhere else in the quilt.  I still love it and I think it will look fine.  There are little antennae that I'll embroider later.

I also finally finished the strawberry block!  Boy, when a block isn't going well, it ends up being difficult all the way to the end!  First I had trouble finding enough reds for the block.  Then I lost some pieces.  Then when I was sewing it together, the rows were coming out crooked and the wrong size.  It was a bear, but I think it looks great now.  I took the time to un-sew a few times to get it right - otherwise it would bother me forever.  It's funny because it is very similar to the pumpkin block, and that one went together like a dream.  Go figure.

This week I was able to grab a picture of my entire design wall.  Once I get the Farm Girl blocks sewn together with sashing and cornerstones, I still need to piece an inner border which consists of lots and lots of flying geese units.  I'll worry about those when I get to them!  Also on my wall are the four house blocks for the Crossroads quilt along.  I'm using scraps/stash for this project and all the blocks will be made with blue fabric and the alternate/chain blocks will be in reds.  The backgrounds will be scrappy as well, so I'm hoping I can get the entire quilt made from stash.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today. Also linking up with Quilt Story and Let's Bee Social later this week.

Design Wall Monday 03/21/16

I finished another block for my Farm Girl Vintage quilt.  This is Barn Cat, which is a pattern that Lori Holt is selling separately from the book, but will work in the quilt.  This version finishes at 6" square.  I still need to embroider the face, but I'll do all of the embroidery on this quilt at the end.  Boy, there were some TINY pieces in this one.  There were several 3/4" squares that I needed to cut to make corner triangles (like at the bottom of the head and on the tail).  I usually throw pieces that small away!  They were too small to pin in place, and they kept shifting when I put them in the machine to sew, so I found that if I put the tiniest dab of fabric glue in the corner that gets trimmed away, it held perfectly while I sewed it.  This is the type I use.  What a revelation!  I only have three blocks to go, and I wish I had figured this out at the beginning of this project!!

My phone was dead this morning (I forgot to plug it in last night), so I couldn't get a photo of my entire design wall.  I have the Crossroads house blocks up as well. I'm working on the second set now.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today. Also linking up with Quilt Story and Let's Bee Social later this week.

Design Wall Monday 03/14/16

I've been having trouble getting motivated to sew lately.  I decided to put my Farm Girl Vintage blocks back up on the wall.  Only four blocks to go!  I still need to make that darn strawberry block.  I found the pieces that I had already cut out for it, so I'll be working on that soon.  I also cut out all the pieces for the Barn Cat block, which is what I'll be working on in class tonight.  The next Crossroads block will be out tomorrow and then I'll be working on that one. Slowly but surely I'll start sewing again.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today. Also linking up with Let's Bee Social and Quilt Story later this week.

Design Wall Monday 02/01/16

I can't believe it is February already!  Where did January go??  At least I have started sewing again.  I had some things I had to get out of the way, and now I can do some fun sewing again.  Above is the latest block for the Farm Girl Vintage quilt.  This was an additional pattern that Lori Holt put out that works with the patterns in the book.  It's sure a cute little 6" block!  I still need to embroider the tail.  I'm going to do all the embroidery at the same time.  I only have a few blocks left before I can start sewing the quilt together.

The other thing I worked on this week was a Pixelated Heart quilt.  I've been wanting to make one of these for several years now.  I was originally going to make it all in pinks and reds, but I liked the multi-colored ones that I've seen online.  I had a jelly roll of rainbow solids sitting on my shelf for a long time, and when my husband pointed to it as a possible color scheme, I knew I had to do it.  I did use more pink/red squares than the other colors, and I pulled out the really bright colors that were distracting.  I also decided to put in just a few prints to make it interesting.  A couple of them read as solid, so you probably can't see them from this picture.  What is most noticeable is a hand dyed homespun plaid that I've had in my stash forever.  I put about six squares of that fabric in there and it adds a lot of interest.  I also opted not to piece the background out of all squares.  I really like how that looks when the background is scrappy, but for this one I knew i was going to use all solid white for the background.  It went a lot faster this way.  Once it is layered with a white batting, the seams will hardly be noticeable.  I may trim the white back a bit, but I'll decide for sure later.  It was getting dark when I took this picture - it is lighter and more vibrant in daylight.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today. Also linking up with Let's Bee Social on Wednesday and Quilt Story on Tuesday.

Design Wall Monday 01/04/16

Well I've been sewing away but I guess I only grabbed a picture of one small project.  Oh well.  This is a block from the Farm Girl Vintage book that I made a few months ago in the 6" size (finishes at 8" square with borders).  My husband has a few minis hanging in his cubicle at work, and apparently they seem to follow the seasons.  Over the summer (!) he asked for a summer mini quilt to hang up.  I was working on the FGV quilt very regularly then, and so I handed him the book and asked him to pick a block.  He chose this one and said he really wanted it to look like a sunflower (the one I made for the quilt has very different coloring).  I put it off and then eventually made the block, which sat for a couple of months. Over this past holiday weekend I decided to take it off the UFO pile and get it finished.  I had even cut a backing fabric already!  I layered it, did some light quilting in the ditch, and put the binding on in no time.  He gave me a little grief about the fact that it is not summer anymore, but I could tell he was happy to have it.  Sometimes I have such a problem finishing things that don't have a deadline - especially when they are really close to being done.  I guess in my mind I've already moved on to the next thing.  I'm going to try to dig out a few UFOs and finish them soon. I've also been putting off getting my sewing machine serviced.  My class preview is a week from today and I need to get going on those projects.  One is almost finished - just need to sew the rows together.  And another needs to move from my head into fabric.  I've got a lot of work cut out for me!!

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today. Also linking up with Let's Bee Social on Wednesday and Quilt Story on Tuesday.

Design Wall Monday 12/14/15

Ever so slowly I'm finishing my Farm Girl Vintage quilt.  One more block completed this week (above).  I switched gears and started working on some Christmas projects.  My husband asked me if I could make something small, like an ornament, for his supervisor at work.  Well I had just seen some patterns for really neat felt ornaments by Betz White on Etsy.  A couple of clicks later I had purchased and downloaded a pattern (gotta love PDF patterns!).  A quick stop at Beverly's and I had everything I needed.  It went together beautifully!!  It finishes at approximately 4 inches across.  I still need to add a bow and a hanging cord.  I love it!  She's got some great patterns - I want one of each!

I was actually pretty busy sewing this weekend but I can't show most of it yet. :)

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what is on everyone's design walls today.  Also linking up with Quilt Story on Tuesday and Sew Fresh Quilts on Wednesday.

Design Wall Monday 12/07/15

Another block down!  I did this one late yesterday -- I had the pieces already cut out.  I'm not crazy about how the points lined up - or rather didn't line up - but you can't see it's off from afar.  I'm leaving it as is.

I thought I'd show another shot of my Farm Girl Vintage quilt as it is right now on my design wall. Just a few more blocks to go.  I really should focus on the strawberry block so there isn't a hole in the middle of the quilt!  I have these up on the wall in the order in which they appear in the book.  I'll move them around for the final placement.  At this rate I'm not sure if I'll get them all done by the end of the year, but that is still my goal.  There is a lot of piecing in the border, so I'm sure that part won't be finished.  I'll be happy if the blocks are done, sashing sewn and the quilt top without borders is complete.  We'll see.  I have some other things that take priority, but I'll give it a shot.  I'm considering purchasing some of Lori's additional patterns to fill out the set instead of putting the same star in each corner.  She's got some cute ones that are hard to resist!

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what is on everyone's design walls today!  Also linking up with Quilt Story on Tuesday and Sew Fresh Quilts on Wednesday.

Design Wall Monday 11/23/15

I'm determined to get my Farm Girl Vintage quilt top finished by the end of the year!  It is really nice having the blocks cut out - I was able to sit down and sew these three blocks in no time at all on Saturday.  I had even marked the backs of the triangle squares already.  I still haven't made the Strawberry block, but I have most of it cut out.  I decided to make it in reds rather than pinks.

I did make a change the the block below on the fly.  I had cut out the yellow out of a gold print, but it was too much the same value as the pink in the center. So I opted for a lighter yellow.

Sunday was all about finishing a quilt before Thanksgiving.  I  just did some ditch quilting and then put a binding on fully by machine.  I am not great at these two things and I'm a little disappointed with how it turned out.  But I know I am being too hard on myself - I don't think anyone will notice the flaws that I see.  It's just frustrating to spend so many hours on something and not be happy with the result.  This is a quilt I was making for my husband's grandmother, but she passed away while I was still making it.  I decided to finish the quilt and donate it to the home where she was staying.  I felt that the machine binding would hold up better to washing, but it is not as pretty.  I'm sure it will be loved just the same.

If I am not able to post again before Thanksgiving, I hope everyone has a happy and safe day!

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today.

Also linking up later this week with Let's Be Social and Quilt Story!

Design Wall Monday 11/16/15

Just one more Farm Girl Friday block finished this week.  Life's been busy, but I'm trying to get at least one block done a week.  I do have another one all cut out and ready to sew.  I think I only have 8 blocks left to make and then I can start assembling the top.  I have other projects in line waiting for this one to be finished, but I think I'll be sad when it's done.  It's been really fun making this one.  Never a dull moment because all of the blocks are different, and I've really tried to push the envelope with the colors.  Not that they are necessarily unusual, but they are out of the norm for me.  And I love it!!

I spent Saturday having a sewing day with my Mom and sister.  We do this every year to celebrate our birthdays.  It's always a good time.  We all worked on the same project in different colors, and they are all going to be so different! Can't wait to see how they all turn out.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what is on everyone's design walls today.

Also check out Let's Be Social over on Sew Fresh Quilts blog.  She has a link up on Wednesdays.  I found this blog recently and I'm hooked.  

Linking up with Quilt Story as well!

Design Wall Monday 11/02/15

I got a lot of work done on my Farm Girl Vintage blocks this weekend.  I've been cutting out blocks during the week, and then they are all ready to sew on the weekend.  This has been working out well for me right now.

I had this postage stamp block cut out for a few weeks, and it was nice to have time to sew it together.  The squares finish at 1", and for me the key is to sew them together very slowly.  It gives me a lot of control as they go through the sewing machine, and there is no shifting.  It works like a dream and I didn't have to take anything out.

 Below is the view of my design wall with all the blocks I have made so far.  I'm bummed out that I couldn't keep up with the sew along, but I don't have too far to go.  My goal is to finish the top by the end of the year.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today!

Design Wall Monday 10/19/15

I went to the annual Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) on Saturday. Another amazing show.  I've been to this show every year except once years ago when they were changing venues and they held it in Palm Springs.  I usually go on Sunday when it is not as crowded. However, this is the first year that the 49ers have played at their new stadium, which is right next door!  They had a home game on Sunday and I wouldn't have been able to get anywhere near the show.  As it was, on Saturday the show was so packed that the parking garage for the convention center where it is held was completely full, and I was turned around to the main parking garage for the stadium.  It was a little bit of a hike to get back to the show, but it was worth it in the end.  I snapped a picture of the fabric at one of the vendor booths (above).  It reminds me of buckets of flowers at a farmer's market.  If there was a fabric you needed, you were going to find it at this show.  This was just one booth.  I spent a little more than I intended, but not excessively so.  I was already going to restock on the Superior thread that I like for piecing, so I save some shipping costs and bought it at the show.  A few fat quarters, a few patterns...

On Sunday I did a little sewing.  I finished another Farm Girl Vintage block (above).  I'm getting there slowly but surely.  I also got the postage stamp block all cut and arranged.  That one has 36 squares to make the 6" block.  I am so undecided when it comes to colors that it took longer than it should have to get that one cut out.  Now all I need to do is piece it together.  I also made some prizes for the ladies in my class who completed a summer challenge. They weren't difficult to make, but time consuming.  A lot of ladies finished the challenge this year!  I'll try to grab a picture of those and post next time.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what is on everyone's design walls today!

Design Wall Monday 10/12/15

I'm back in the sewing saddle!  I was able to clear off my design wall and put the Farm Girl Vintage blocks back up there.  Looking good!  I guess my little sewing break was longer than I thought - the sew along is over now and I'm still 12 blocks short.  There are 45 in the sampler, and it looks like I have 33 finished.  This weekend I decided to go out of order to ease back into sewing. I made the Simple Star block below.  Now I have some design decisions to make.  For example, I need to decide if I am going to make the Strawberry block pink like it is in the book, or red.  Pink would balance out the colors in the quilt more, but I am not sure if I have enough different pinks to make a whole strawberry block.  I have lots of red fabrics, but there is a lot of red in the quilt already. We'll see how it turns out...

I did also make a sunflower block for my husband.  He has a variety of little quilts I've made him in his cubicle at work, but wanted something to represent summer.  He chose this block from the book a while ago and I've finally put it together. Now to trim the edges, do some light quilting and then bind.  This is a 6" block.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone else has on their design walls today!

Design Wall Monday 08/31/15

I managed to make three more blocks for the Farm Girl Vintage sew along.  I've been working on some other projects that I can't show, and fell behind in the sew along.  The block above is called Peas and Carrots.  Lori's original version has the green and orange swapped (hence the name).  However, my quilt was getting a little orange-heavy.  I decided to swap the colors so that the orange was downplayed in my block.  I think it came out pretty good!

Below is the Pinwheels block.  Pretty straightforward.  I am pleased that my points are pretty much right on.

Below is Pie Cherries block that didn't turn out so great.  I was really looking forward to this one ever since I got the book.  I even set aside the red prints early on so that I wouldn't use them somewhere else.  This is the block that I mentioned in the last post, that I had been working on late at night.  I turned around the center stem section and then took it out only to find that I had it right the first time.  I put it back together the right way, but the top of the stem still doesn't seem to fit.  I may re-make this later, or I might just leave it in.  It is one of those things that probably only I will ever see.

I'll be on a long awaited vacation next week.  I'll end up falling farther behind, but that's okay.  We're almost at the end of the sew along now, and I'll have more free time to catch up in a couple of weeks.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone else is working on today!

Design Wall Monday 08/24/15

I've started to falter on my Farm Girl Vintage sew along blocks. I've been frantically sewing up class projects before my upcoming vacation, so I dropped off the FGV project a little. I tried to sew together the Pie Cherries block last night, but it just as i was finishing, I realized that I turned a section around the wrong way.  What makes it worse is that I already took that section out and turned it around.  Apparently I took apart something that was already correct and made it incorrect. *sigh*  I decided I had had a long day and it was too late to be sewing together a block.  I'll fix it up after work today.  On a brighter note, I'm getting closer to having my class projects finished.  Just one more to go.  

So nothing has really changed on my wall.  I may have to pull the blocks down so I can finish my other project.  You can see I've been working on my current project at the very bottom of the wall (beneath the FGV blocks), which is kind of silly.  Hopefully there will be more progress to show next week!

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today!

Design Wall Monday 08/17/15

I'm back with my weekly Farm Girl Vintage sew along update.  I feel like this is all that I post about these days.  Of course this is just about all that I've been working on lately.  I've gotten a very slow start on my class projects, and I need to get going on them right away.  I usually don't post about them until class has started, so it will be a little while until you see them.

The block above is called Out To Pasture and went together pretty quickly.  I'm trying to get back to using my focus fabrics, so the four outer fabrics are all from the Fancy charm packs.

Above is the Patchwork Pumpkin block.  I actually had this one all cut out and ready to sew for a couple of weeks.  Since I had the oranges out already, I went ahead and cut extra squares for my sister, and I wanted to get them done when I saw her a little while back. I also swapped a few oranges with my mom, who also recently had oranges out.  Score!

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone else is working on today!

Design Wall Monday 08/10/15

I finished two more blocks this week.  I sewed late last night to get the second one done.  I really don't want to fall behind on these.  I struggled with choosing the fabrics for the flag block.  I had no problem with the reds - I have a lot of those, but the alternate strips, where traditionally they would be white, caused me some problems.  In the Farm Girl Vintage book, Lori used a red and white gingham.  I searched high and low in my stash - yardage, scraps, even in other projects - I just don't have any red and white gingham!  I tried to pull a white and red print, but I don't seem to have those either - they were too red.  I looked at off-white, and I looked at pale yellow.  Nothing worked.  Then I looked at the Instragram photos of other people's version of this block.  A lot of people used the gingham! But what I noticed is that in the thumbnail photos, the gingham looked pink.  I decided to run with it because this is typical of a roadblock that will bring a project to a halt for me.  I think it worked out fine. And I was even able to fussy cut a heart into the center of the star, which makes me smile.

Next was the Old Red Barn block.  Here's another one where I started to get tripped up by choosing the fabrics.  It reads darker than the rest of the blocks, but I think it will be fine.  I'm not crazy about my piecing on the barn door, but I think that's because I was working on it late at night.  I won't even notice it once the quilt is all together!

And here's my progress so far!  I love keeping these up on my design wall so I can look at them every day and get inspired to sew!  The blocks that are cut off on the right are standard 12" blocks, so you can kind of see the scale of these blocks.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today!

Design Wall Monday 08/03/15

Two more blocks finished in the Farm Girl Vintage sew along.  I love my blue chicken!  I was trying to even out the colors in the quilt top, and decided I didn't want to make it yellow or orange.  So I chose blue.  A couple of years ago my husband and I took a trip to England, and there was a sculpture of a blue rooster in Trafalgar Square.  Now I know my hen doesn't look much like the sculpture, but I kept thinking of it when I was making the block.  I'll embroider the eye when I finish the blocks.

Next up was Milking Day.  I got to use up some more of the scraps from the other blocks.

I did some other sewing this weekend as well.  My quilting class is starting up in September and I need to get those class projects going.  I finished up a pillow and wrote out some cutting directions for a couple of projects.  I'm trying to stay ahead of it this year so I'm not sewing at the last minute!

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what is on everyone else's design walls this week!