The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sew Along

I've started a new quilt-along and it's the Farmer's Wife 1930's Sew Along hosted by Gnome Angel & The Fat Quarter Shop.  It's so exciting!  I've always wanted to do the Farmer's Wife quilt blocks but the last quilt-along was so far ahead when I found out about it.  Mum and I recently purchased the new Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt book by Laurie Aaron Hird from the quilt two weeks ago. I've always wanted the book but never seriously thought about buying it online.  I'm glad I didn't have to.  We didn't know the quilt-along was happening.  We only knew because the store we bought it off mentioned it.  Mum was suppose to give me the book for Christmas, but we were so excited about the quilt-along, we decided to be part of it.

When we got home all our quilt show goodies, we immediately started pulling out fabrics.  Mum chose her collection of Victoria and Albert prints from Art Gallery fabrics and I chose my Rhapsodia collection, also from Art Gallery Fabrics.  However, mum and I have decided to also do a scrappy each.  Yes, we will end up with four Farmer's Wife Quilts in the house.  I wanted to start scrappy because some of the pieces need to be foundation pieced, which I've never done before, and also because everything is in inches and I have definitely never made anything using inches.  So, I've currently only made my scrappy pieces, and will start with my Rhapsodia fabric later in the week once I've finished some uni work. I'm excited for this quilt along.  It will run for a year, two blocks per week, 99 blocks, plus putting everything together.  We're definitely in for the long haul.  I thought I would show you my blocks so far.

 I loved the first block, Aunt.  It was simple and I really liked the fabrics I chose for it.

 Such a pretty name for a block and she turned out to be quite difficult.  This was the last block we did and it was my first time foundation piecing.  It was all going OK until the end. You can see where one of my corner squares doesn't quite meet up with the diamond.  Oh well, you live & learn.

 This is the second block we made, Betty. I enjoyed making this one.  Just lots of hst which I love.  I've just never made them that small before.

 Bonnie. Very simple and I enjoyed making it.  I purposely chose Aboriginal colours and prints for this.

 Caroline was fun but I had to fiddle with it a bit.  So many points!

 

Carol was fun.  I'm not sure if I like my fabric choice yet.

 

And finally, Becky.   Really enjoyed making this block.  I like the browns.  When I'm down in the sewing room the block looks very dark but when I took it outside to photograph I fell in love with the colours again.

Above is a picture of the book and my Rhapsodia fabric.  I can't wait to begin making blocks out of them!

If you would like to know more about the quilt-along, you can visit the website below.

http://gnomeangel.com/farmers-wife-1930s-sampler-quilt-sew-along/

Another New Quilt

I shouldn't be starting a new quilt.  But, I am.  I am making a quilt for a very dear friend of mine, Kelly.  She is from Canada and we became good friends while I lived in Alice Springs.  Now that I live in Brisbane it is so hard being away from her.  I miss her so much! I'm considering this quilt to be my holiday quilt.  A project just for these holidays.  Here are some photos to give a sneak peak of what I am doing.

 

This quilt will only be a lap quilt measuring 144cm x 144cm.  The fabric is a combination of batiks, neutral cottons and some Hoffmans.  Of course there are half-square triangles, but most of the quilt will be squares.  I'm so excited about this quilt.  I really can't wait for her reaction when she receives it!  The backing has been ordered so this quilt will be finished before I start next semester at the end of the month.

Tomorrow I am going to post about two quilts I did finish over the summer.  At the moment, I don't have anywhere to hang them.  If I only I had more walls in my room!

Well... that was some break!

So, I have been away from this blog for quite some time.  Life got away with me.  As it does.  Since I've been gone I have successfully completed two years of uni and will be begin my third and final year in just under a month.  I bet you're wondering if I had done any quilting during this time.  The simple answer is no.  I have bought fabric, done a little bit of old projects, even completed two projects.  Nothing new though.  However for the last semester of uni I did make a roll-up pen case with matching pencil case.  So, I thought I would share some photos.

 

You may be wondering also, why I decided to start blogging again. Well at the moment I feel a little unbalanced. I am quite sure, in a past post, I mentioned I was in a car accident.  Well, these memories have haunted me recently, and I found quilting really helped bring me back to earth before.  I suppose now, I have to make time to add quilting to my daily routine.  In saying this, I will leave you with a quote that perfectly sums up how I feel about quilting...

"Why did she make things? 

Well, she enjoyed it of course; but it also somehow helped to remember who she was 

and where she came from."

- Anonymous