Sunday, August 22, 2010

90 blocks done for the Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt

Plugging away here and there, here are some of the latest attempts.
64 Peace and Plenty - made up of lots of 1 1/2" HST (and so is the next block). For a change of pace, I didn't use Marti Michell templates. Instead I cut squares 2 1/2" of each fabric, put right sides together, stitched 1/4" from the center diagonal line (both sides), cut down the center (between the stitching lines), pressed open and trimmed the sort of square to a perfect 2" square (to finish at 1 1/2"). They were then laid out and pieced together using a scant 1/4" seam. Mostly I pressed to the dark side when pressing the HSTs open, except for the corner squares in Peace and Plenty. The pressing worked much better if those squares were pressed to the light side (so the seams nested together when piecing the two squares together).

62 Old Windmill

60 Noon and Light - Marti Michell templates - Background pieces are (finished sizes) 1 1/2" squares (A-5), 1 1/2" QST (A-7) and 1 1/2" HSTs (A-6) in the center. Red triangles are also 1 1/2" QST (A-7). For the diagonal strips I used a 3" HST and then cropped the corner with A-7.

58 Mother's Dream - I used a border print for the background green bit and wanted the lines in it to go around the block, so I pieced the corner HSTs using two QSTs. Marti Michell templates where I could and templates from EQ when I couldn't (the rectangles). The center square is a 3" diagonal square (A-3), large setting triangle is a 3" QST (A-4) and the corners would be a 1 1/2" HST (A-6), but I pieced together two 1 1/2" QSTs (A-7) instead.

47 Homemaker - I used templates I printed from EQ, put double sided tape on the back of the template, placed it on the fabric and used a small rotary ruler placed with the 1/4" line on the seam line to cut. I did mark the seam lines so I could do the Y-seams. (I showed this block before, but it was a terrible picture!)

46 Hill and Valley - more Marti Michell templates, the large triangles are 3" HST (A2), the green HSTs are 2" HST (B-13), the smallest green triangles & brown triangles are 2" Quarter square triangles (B-14), and the square on the diagonal measures 2" on the diagonal (D-28).

45 Grape Basket is a Five patch block, so I paper pieced it.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Sewing room status

I was hoping the new sewing room would be farther along than it is by now, but I do have a sub-floor.
There has been progress, from DH old shop, where the remnants have been staying for a while, and this was taken after a concerted effort to get the junk out!

to a mostly cleared out garage


To a room with windows instead of garage doors

To insulation under the flooring (which isn't there yet!) This picture was taken from the corner where an outside door will be, so friends can come over without tromping through the house. The opening into the house isn't there yet, but will be next to the utility room (in the sewing room).

This is the current state of the room. You can see a new wall, one of two, that will be built to enclose the heater and water heater (aka the utility room). The hanging silver ventilation ducts will be providing heat and air conditioning to the new room.


As you can see, there is still a ways to go! Walls, a hole punched through to the house and made into a door, one of four new doors in this space, a ceiling, flooring, and more electrical work, among other things.
Then comes the furnishing. It will get the furniture from the old sewing room, but also needs storage cabinets. I am still trying to decide what to put where. The long wall without windows will be the primary storage wall, with sliding design walls in front of shelving. My Koala sewing table will be against the new wall (small window to my right as I am sitting at the sewing machine). I want to put wall cabinets above it (like I had in the old sewing room), with under cabinet lighting. That worked well before. I know basically what I want, but not where to get it! Still deciding on that.