Finishing up the Farmer's Wife

Just a quick post to say that I'm still here ... and still farming.  This weekend, I added the final borders on my FWQ.  It's now officially a completed top (squeal!!!) and too big to photograph in the house.

FWQ @ Armchair Quilter

Here it is sans final borders, which are 6" strips out of the blue yarn dye - same as sashing fabric.  The quilt measures 106.5 x 96 or so.  I will have to find my notes to be sure.  I was a bit surprised it turned out so large, considerably larger than the measurements for the queen-sized quilt in the book.  I wonder if anyone else encountered this issue?

Even though I was super careful with starching and handling, I had some issues with the bias pieces on the edges of the quilt.  The sides measured 1 inch wider at the ends of the long sides vs. the measurement through the center of the quilt and an half an inch variance on the crosswise edges.  I cut my borders for the average length, calculating the difference between the center and end measurements and easing with pins.  Hope that makes sense?  Anyway, I'm hoping the quilt lies flatter and I won't have any issues quilting this behemoth. 

FWQ @ Armchair Quilter

FWQ @ Armchair Quilter

I'll be back later this week with some outside "vanity" shots.

*******
Claudia
Armchair Quilter

Sashing Away

I've had to limit both my sewing and online computer time due to some back/shoulder/arm issues.  It's challenging, but slowly the FW quilt grows ...

It's about halfway sashed and I'm hoping to finish it up this weekend!!


Even though we don't experience much in the way of the changing leaves of Fall in the City, I love this time of year! The light is softer and the fog stays away (well, at least half the time).



Bento Box quilt




City Hall, San Francisco

-- Claudia



A "mini" mixer

Making a mini quilt feels satisfying considering my limited attention span these days (not to mention lack of sewing time).  We'll just forget all of those WIPs languishing in my sewing area.

Mini Mixer
11.5" x 11.5"

I needed to whip up something super quick for my friend's birthday.  Initially, I thought I'd make her some potholders; and I found this really neat paper pieced pattern but soon realized it would come out too large for a potholder.  I was severely pressed for time, otherwise, I would've resized it smaller.  As it was, I modified the pattern a bit and if I had more time, there are a few more things I'd change ... oh well, next time!

Here's the pattern and initial pieced block:

Pattern from href

="http://www.littlemushroomcap.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">www.littlemushroomcap.blogspot.com

Inspired by this href

="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whynotquilt/6086272140/">www.flickr.com/photos/whynotquilt/6086272140/

This has been a difficult last couple of weeks.  I've been dealing with back issues so I'm trying to limit both my sewing and computer time.  But I've been chipping away at some small things.  

Some progress on a hand applique (carry along) project:

Our hens are growing!  This is our "red".

I hope to share some progress on my Farmer's Wife quilt soon!  Here's a snapshot from our little "urban farm"!

111 Farmer's Blocks ... DONE!

Well, Hello there!

I'm back from a little break.  We took off the last week of the kids' summer vacation to embark on an almost 1,000 mile road trip through Northern California.  We visited a couple of colleges my son is interested in attending next year and saw a play at the Ashland Shakespeare festival in So. Oregon.  All in all, it was a good trip.

I prepped a little hand applique project to take along with me on the trip (pictured above), but I didn't make much progress.  However, I just finished block #111 on my Farmer's Sampler his weekend!  I'm SO excited and in a little disbelief that I made all of those blocks.  I have a couple of minor piecing "mistakes" to fix, but I don't intend on remaking any of the blocks.  This project has been a journey, and I want to look at my quilt in the years to come and enjoy the full span of blocks from beginning to end, even with some of the "funky" fabric choices and less than perfect piecing.

Pretty cool, huh?  I bought the sashing fabric at Beverley's this morning.  I have a fat quarter of a yellow print I'd love to use for the cornerstones but I only have the 1 FQ and I haven't been able to identify the print.  I wasn't able to find something similar at Beverly's so I'm not sure what I'm going to do.  I will try to find something this week.  We'll see.

Here's a few pictures of my goofy kiddos from our trip: