OK! Let’s talk about getting started on this Farmer’s Wife Quilt. I’m super impressed that so many of you are off and running with making your blocks. Some of you have a dozen or more done already! Some of you, I hope, might be like me and getting off to a slower start. Either way, there’s no rush and no rules! Most important is having fun making these blocks and sharing the process with each other.

The Templates

The templates that come on the CD in the book don’t have the best layout. They use up lots of paper. Liz A has created a document with all the templates laid out on just 15 pages. You can download it here. She also recommended having your template pages laminated at Staples and then cutting them out as you go along, rather than using template plastic. I am trying this out and I like it so far. There is a great discussion on the Flickr group here about different ways that people are using the templates. If you would like to foundation paper piece, there are templates that have been created for that as well. Take a look at this post by Jessica, to learn more about how you can download that template file. Another intriguing idea is printing the templates onto freezer paper, ironing the freezer paper onto your fabric and cutting with a rotary cutter. I’m going to try this out. If you’re doing this, it might be helpful to use these templates from the publisher that have them organized by block.

Starch

These pieces are really tiny. I’m using starch to help control my fabric. I find it really helpful to starch and iron my fabric before I trace and cut it out. Things don’t shift as much. I’m currently using Mary Ellen’s Best Press.

Hand Piecing

I have gone through my fabrics and selected prints for eight blocks. I’m not necessarily going in the order of the book, but trying to start with easier blocks while I get the hang of it. At the beginning of each week, I’ll cut out all the pieces for my week’s blocks so that they are ready to sew. I’m also attempting to hand piece these blocks, but I think I will also try foundation paper piece some of the trickier ones with tiny pieces. We’ll see. I wanted to hand piece because I feel that I can be more accurate with my stitching this way. I also don’t often get to machine sew during the week, so it is easier for me to sit in bed and hand piece before I go to sleep at night. It’s pretty relaxing and super satisfying. Thank goodness for Carolanne and her Intro to Handwork. The skills from this class have done me well over and over.

Flickr Group

The Farmer’s Wife Quilt-a-long Group is an AMAZING resource. The group was started by Angela & Amanda. There is a wealth of information and discussion. If you have problems I’m sure that it’s been addressed here already, since they are about six months into making the quilt. I did create a Flickr group called The Farmer’s Wife Quilt-a-long Toronto, as a way for us to share our photos with each other, as well. It is so encouraging and exciting to see each other’s blocks as we create them. Please join the group and post your photos! Even if you’re not in Toronto, but just starting out or already halfway done, we’d love to see how you’re doing. Many of us are on Instagram, so there are lots of ways to share our progress with each other. Take a minute to join the group and then introduce yourself here!

Last night I finished my first two blocks! #29 Economy & #30 End of Day

Have you started? How is it going? Let’s talk about this!

Quilting by Eileen Quilts
Quilting Pattern : Signature

Finishing a quilt is a true labour of love. Most people think that you sew together a bunch of fabric into patches and there you go, a quilt. Oh NO. A quilt is about twenty times more work than that. There is the back of the quilt (for me, often improv pieced), basting the quilt, quilting all the layers together (this is where most people get stuck) and then sewing on binding. Don’t forget a quilt label too! To anyone who has ever finished a quilt, I applaud you. It is a long road to finishing even the most simple of quilts, but it is so worth it in the end. To be honest, I would make quilts all the time, every day if I could. I finally feel like I have worked up to understanding how to finish the quilts that I start. This has meant getting over my fear of machine quilting and starting to explore free motion quilting. But it has also meant sending off my first quilt to a long arm quilter.

It’s a scary proposition, sending off your quilt top and back to someone else to have them quilt all over it. Amanda uses Lindsay to do her long arm quilting. Lindsay quilted her Halloween Swoon quilt with the coolest spiderweb pattern. A recommendation for a long arm quilter is a MUST. I also got to meet Lindsay at the Sewing Summit in Salt Lake City. She is a sweetheart and even though she lives in Virginia, I felt really good about sending away my Cog & Wheel to her.

I wanted a swirly pattern, so Lindsay sent over some options of designs she suggested. I chose one that is called ‘Signature’. I liked that it appeared to be more random. I think it looks really good with the Cog & Wheel design.

I know some people who always send their quilts out to be quilted. This way they can enjoy the patchwork process and finish more quilts. I will probably try to do the quilting on my smaller quilts and have Lindsay work on my larger bed-sized quilts for me. It is really exciting to receive a box in the mail, open it up and have your professionally quilted work all bundled up inside.

I cut the binding last night and I’m looking forward to spending some time sitting under the quilt while I hand stitch the final step.

p.s. Happy New Year! I’m picking out my first blocks to start my Farmer’s Wife Sampler this week. I’ll post about it soon.

Happy Holidays, friends! Now that the pressure of Christmas is lifted, I can get back to my goal of completing as many quilts as possible before the end of the year. (or close to it) I am in the binding stage for THREE quilts right now! I’m pretty excited. All the other quilts are gifts. This one I’m keeping.

I know that machine sewing on your binding is much faster, but I really enjoy spending some final time with my quilts as I sit underneath them and hand stitch on the last part of the binding. It seems like a worth while ritual to me. I recently started using binding clips which is way safer than using pins to hold down the binding as you stitch it on. This makes all the difference.

This Quilt Sampler 2 was started last January in class and I only recently finally got around to doing all the quilting. I have a tendency to baste quilts and then abandon them for a new quilt project. I am hoping that I’ve conquered this  I love that Sampler Quilts are learning quilts. Since each block is different, they are the perfect way to improve your technique and learn some new ones. They are usually a bit of a challenge and this one was no exception. Some of these blocks were difficult and hopefully this will help me get through some of the tricky Farmer’s Wife blocks I’ll be tackling very soon. I learned so many things from making this quilt. I’m especially happy that I’ll now have two Sampler Quilts as a record of my progress in patchwork.

Here’s my first Quilt Sampler. I still love it.

I’ve been thinking really hard about what I wanted to do for a colour palette for my Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt. With so many blocks to make and such a big time commitment, I wanted to settle on a range of colour to create a framework for all the blocks.

I had quite a few ideas. The front runner was a rainbow palette with each block being tonal in just one colour. For instance, three shades of pink, red, purple or yellow. Then I could arrange the blocks in a rainbow gradation in the end. My other idea was solids only. This was completely inspired by how amazing these blocks look. I also considered doing the City Rain palette that was inspired by this photo. My last idea was to do white + one colour. This was inspired by this red and white vintage quilt and this quilt exhibit that I really wish I could have seen in NYC.  See some great photos of the exhibit here.

Here’s how I finally decided. I got out all my boxes of fabric and started to pick out fabric for each of those palettes. I knew right away the City Rain palette would be impossible for me for 100+ blocks. It felt too limiting and difficult. The rainbow palette seemed fun and would give me so many options, but I realized that I had more than two boxes full of blue fabric. I really like blue. I also really like the idea of creating a quilt that will have a bit of a traditional feel with the colour but will hopefully also look modern with my fabric choices. I’ll be doing all shades of blue + white.

I feel so good now that I’ve got my colour choice sorted out. Have you decided what colours you’re going to use? Please feel free to post a comment here to tell us what fabrics you’ve chosen, or even a link to a photo or blog post you’ve written about the topic. I can’t wait to see!

I like things pretty simple. Plain, even. I have a hard time ‘layering’ clothing, choosing bright colours over grey tones and the phrase ‘ with wild abandon’ doesn’t usually apply to me. But, I do like to mix it up and I definitely like to challenge myself when I can. You’ll notice that the holiday windows at the workroom this year are all about that.

This year’s holiday window was put together by the fabulous Tiffany Pratt of Glitter Pie Studios. Tiffany is all those things that I am not, in the very best way, so I knew she would create a window very different from what you would normally expect at the workroom. I had one little request for ‘glitter stars’ and I left the rest up to her.

Tiffany arrived at the shop armed with the hugest jars of glitter and mod podge that I’ve ever seen. She gathered cardboard from our recycling pile, scraps of fabric and put us to work. (or rather put us to ‘play’) Painting and covering things in glitter is FUN. This is really what Tiffany does best. Her Art Studio in a Box (we have these at the workroom!) is designed to get the recipient to be creative using all the fun bits and bobs found inside. I love checking out her YouTube videos. You will also find her doing fun DIY segments on the Steven & Chris show.

Debbie, Rosalyn & I had lots of laughs putting the window together with Ms. Glitterpie and those glittery stars in the window cheer me up every single day.

p.s. Check out Tiffany’s super cute button down vest that she made in our class!

We’re in the middle of our Holiday fabric sale! Perfect time to get supplies for your gift making and stash building. Practically all the fabric in the shop is included, with just a few exceptions (Outfoxed, Curio & Putting on the Ritz). Even these new adorable arrivals are on sale!

This was a fast quilt top to make. Really fast. I kinda love it.

I cut out all the pieces for it in less than an hour and a half. The main reason for this was that I actually had the exact size rulers that you need, a 6.5″ square and a 12.5″ square. If you can, make sure you have these rulers! They are handy to have in general but seriously made the cutting for this a breeze.

I sewed up all the blocks in one night. It was actually pretty fun and incredibly satisfying.

PLUS! I used a trick that Katrina taught me to save the triangle off cuts and create easy half square triangles (HSTs). You simply draw yourself an extra sewing line that is 1/2″ over from your first sewing line. Sew both lines and then cut in the middle. You get your main block and a ‘free’ HST. By doing this I made 72 HSTs that are about 5.5″ and there was ZERO waste. This will all make sense if you get the pattern. I’ll be using these extra blocks to create something for the back of the quilt.

All in all, the quilt top took me less than 2 days. Whoo!

My goal right now is to finish as many quilting projects as possible before the end of the year. I’ve been making good progress and I’m close to finishing three quilts!! Somehow, I started pondering a new pattern and before I knew it, I had picked fabric and started working on it. When inspiration hits in sewing, I like to run with it and see what happens.

This is another Christmas gift and I’m really hopeful that it will actually be done in time. The pattern is Tula Pink’s Field Study quilt. I’ve chosen to do the Medium size (72″ x 72″). What I like about this pattern is that I think it is perfect for a guy and it’s very simple to make.

The fabrics are Tula Pink ‘Prince Charming’ Aqua Snail, Lizzy House ‘Outfoxed’ Brown Vine, Basic Grey ‘Curio’ Aqua Grunge, Lizzy House ‘Outfoxed’ Hunter Green Jewel, Michael D’Amore ‘Wordplay’ Espresso Text and Lizzy House ‘Outfoxed’ Yellow Hedgehogs.

I am actually almost done the quilt top. It took me one day to get the blocks cut and sewn! I’ll take some photos and show you what I’ve got so far this week.

I am often guilty of starting up my holiday gift making quite late in the game. Usually on Christmas eve I’m up late rushing some final stitches on projects.

Last week I made my first holiday gift of the year. Not bad, it’s the middle of November. The shopping tote is my own design and I’ve made it so many times now. It’s such a useful bag to have around. (and it’s reversible!) I used a lovely yellow floral Japanese linen/cotton fabric for the outside and a pink ’1001 Peeps’ fabric for the lining. When I picked out the fabrics, I knew exactly who the bag would be for. I’ll be sending it off to NYC really soon so that it arrives before Christmas.

Now to get organized with the rest of my holiday making!

I’ve admired everything Wiksten for so long and finally I ordered her two sewing patterns a couple months ago. So far, I’ve just made the tank top (twice!), but I’ll be making the Tova as soon as possible. I’ve had a crush on that shirt for ages.

The tank pattern is awesome. Jenny’s patterns are hand drawn and incredibly well designed. You don’t even need a serger for this project, since it is sewn with french seams and bias finished hems. Genius.

I am MOST proud of the pocket on the tank. I PERFECTLY matched the pattern on the fabric so that you can barely even see that the pocket is there. Small details like that make me so happy.

With winter approaching, I’ll be wearing it layered with cozy cardigans.

It doesn’t at all seem unreasonable to me that I might need a rainbow of colours in this tank. It’s clearly a wardrobe essential.

You can order Jenny’s sewing patterns and clothing from her online shop here.