A hike through the redwoods

I live very near a couple of Redwood Parks which never fail to awe and inspire me. Yesterday morning I went hiking with a friend early into a redwood park and was dazzled by the enormity and grandeur of these trees! Aren't they incredibly majestic?

If it's February 1st, it must be SOW-A-LONG day!

Well, the day has arrived! We are starting our Farmer's Wife Sow-A-Long! YEAH! I hope you are all ready, excited and prepared to start.  
First a couple of guidelines: 
I will be posting the instructions/blocks on the FIRST and THIRD Wednesday of the month.  Sharing of your blocks' progress can be done once I figure out HOW the heck to do that!
Next: I am going to be posting cutting instructions. It's not going to be the only way to do it. You may have your own favored methods. Go for it. No one particular way is right.  Do what works for you!!! That's my motto!!


Remember the blocks finish at 6" (6.5" unf).  I will indicate finished/unfinished sizes of the sections.  So, check your 1/4" seams regularly!!!I always sew my blocks larger than needed, so I can cut them down to size. To me, that's easier than trying to make them bigger! :-) I also am pretty religious about sizing up my sections and blocks as I go along. That's another thing that's entirely up to you.
We are doing 6 blocks a month. I will be indicating the numbers of the blocks which correspond to the book's numbers, not our numerical order. On page 127, there is a diagram of the quilt laid out with all the blocks. You can copy that and cross off the ones we've done, if you want. Of course you can lay them out as you wish! Note that I am doing 2 different colorways for each block, just to give you an idea of how they can look with different fabrics. 
I also am suggesting you CHANGE your NEEDLE to start.  I just read an email suggesting the TOPSTITCH needle is the best, and I fortunately had one...let me tell you, those babies have the BIGGEST EYES ever!! Wind a new bobbin, so it's ready (not that these blocks use a lot of thread...VBG). Clean out the lint and give your machine a little oil! 
This is going to be FUN! Don't stress; don't get nervous or worried! Go at your own pace. Do what you can.


BLOCK 4 (page 131) Basket Weave

Cut light, medium and dark strips 1-1/2" x 16; Sew together in sets of 3; subcut each set 3-1/2 x 3-1/2" (unf.) Sew together as indicated.




BLOCK 21 (page 148) CONTRARY WIFE

Cut (5) 2-1/2" background squares .  Make 4 half square triangles (med/dark) which are 2-1/2" unf, using whatever method you prefer. I use the easy angle ruler, cutting my strips at 2-1/2. You can also cut 2 squares 3", mark the diagonal, sew on both sides and trim to 2-1/2". Sew sections together as indicated.




BLOCK 6 (page 133) BIG DIPPER.

Light fabric: cut (2) 4-1/2 squares, cut diagonally twice
Med fabric: cut (2) 4-1/2 squares, cut diagonally twice.
Sew together consistently on the same side so you have mirror images. Each quarter square triangle will measure 3-1/2" unf.


THAT'S IT!!! It was easy, right?? Won't take any time...You'll love it.
I would love to see your progress on your blocks. I'm trying to figure out the best way to share that. That's a work in progress.


Next installment: Wednesday Feb. 15

A few cuties (and not tangerines!)

My friends in Wisconsin have these adorable pincushions made from these antique glass figurines that are just adorable. Have you seen these before? DarLynn made me one a couple of years ago but I'd loved to have had the time to shop at an antique store to pick up a couple of others. I mean, there's always room for more pincushions, right??

I'm going to show you one more quilt from that weekend. It's a simple 9-patch but I love how Rose set them. Apparently it was another swap they did together (I'm tell ya-- these Wisconsin quilters know how to swap!!). I love it. So simple yet so dramatic. And so SCRAPPY!!!

So, TOMORROW is Feb. 1st, and you know what that means!!! Start your machines! Put a new blade into your rotary cutter!  Clean off your cutting mat! Pull your fabrics!! Tomorrow is Part 1 of the Farmer's Wife Sow-A-Long! WOOHOO!!!  Get a good night's sleep tonight!!!

Another very quick weekend

I showed you the start of a project I was working on at my retreat last weekend. I finished it and am pleased with the finished product.  My friend Claire found the pattern in the book Piecing The Past, called Peppermint Dreams. I got my pattern from Pat's shop. You'll notice that some of the blocks are "different". That was deliberate. I like to mix things up a bit... heehee

We were watching a movie last night and going to see my darling grandson in SF today so I decided I wanted to do the redwork on the Sentimental Stitches blocks. I had to scour around for patterns but I think the cherries are cute. I'm not a great embroiderer (is that a word??) but from a distance, you can't tell! VBG

Mark and I took Ryan to the park today while his parents had a little breather. It was another amazing day in San Francisco with temps in the 60s. Golden Gate Park is half a block away and is just a fabulous park.  Here he is playing with his train in their house before we left for the park. He's really getting big!!

Just want to remind everyone that Feb. 1st is right around the corner! Are you putting your fabrics together for our Sow-A-Long?? I'm ready!!! Can't wait to start!


Hope you have a great Monday!

The Eyes have It

I wanted to start working on my sow-a-long and made one block, using my favorite pink/browns. Once I finished the block,  I realized the brown has 2 big eyes staring at me! VBG. I made another one with different fabric in case I got tired of getting The Eye from my own block. That's surely a Contrary Wife, I'll say (block #21).

I'm sewing this afternoon with my friend Claire, so I'm excited about that. I'm still unpacking from the retreat, trying to find everything. I'm missing all my little leader-ender bow-ties I made. UGH.

hope everyone has a great day today!

Binding of a different nature

So, in anticipation of the upcoming sow-a-long, I went to my local Fed Ex store and had them chop off the binding of the book and install a spiral binding on it. Now it can lie completely flat!! It cost about $5 and was well worth the investment, especially knowing how much use I'm going to be getting out of it. Are you all getting ready to start?? Are you picking fabrics? I think anything will be fabulous! I'm hoping  to set it up so we can link everyone's blogs together. And maybe even have a little icon you can click on to get to my blog. I'm going to have to consult with an expert on that one!

I still have another quilt to show you from the retreat last weekend in Wisconsin. This was a swap organized by Pat at Life's A Stitch. I call it an album block; they're small but just fabulous! I'd love to make this quilt, but will have to put it on the list!

Of course, no one said you have to make all the blocks to make a top that large. So don't feel overwhelmed by the Farmer's Wife blocks. You can make it whatever size you want. Laptop would be great; you can put them on point and alternate them with a solid. Anything goes in this group!


Hope everyone is having a great Thursday.

Another Farmers Wife to tempt you

Rose made a gorgeous quilt following the Farmers Wife book. Here is another example of how your quilt can look--- getting ready to start sowing??? Vbg