FWS - Bird blocks and BOW #15

Today I managed to get four more blocks done, mostly blocks with bird names (Flock, Hovering Birds, Hovering Hawks) and BOW #15 - Snowball. I am trying to just go in order, more or less, but once I started cutting out Flock (34) I wanted to use those Marti Michell templates again, and the next blocks I could use them for were for Hovering Birds (51) and Hovering Hawks (52). So, bird blocks. These were done with the A set, A2 (large triangle), A5 (square), A6 (small triangle) and one from the C set, C20, the odd shape in Hovering Hawks.



The BOW for this week is Snowball (81), a nice easy block made using our old standbys B12 and B13. They sure get used a lot in this quilt!

Farmer's Wife Sampler - 47 done, 66 to go

Knitting

Lately it seems knitting rather than quilting/piecing has consumed my life. I got some fabulous yarn the other day, Arucania (70% merino wool, 20% alpaca, and 10% silk), handpainted in shades of brown. This got turned into a scarf and pull-on hat in record time. Part of that, I am sure, has to do with the fact that a friend lent me the Battlestar Galactica series on DVD and I have been glued to the TV, rather than my sewing machine. Watching a whole series at once has some advantages. Like not having to wait a week or months for the next episode! I used a pattern for the scarf, then having a bunch of yarn left decided to make a pull-on hat, kind of made that one up as I went along, after looking at several hat patterns. I have a bit more yarn left, maybe some fingerless mitts?

Then I have also been continuing with socks. I have another pair on the needles right now (a very dark blue with flecks of lighter blue and teal, alpaca and wool) that is giving me fits because I cannot see the stitches very well, too dark and too small. So I managed to make a mistake about four rows back and will be undoing that shortly (in my chair with the bright light and magnifying glass!) Shown is the pair I recently finished, Opal yarn, Harry Potter - Ron coloring. Fun to wear . And I got the self-striping yarn to match up pretty good too!

Fabric Choices

I have quite an extensive fabric stash (quite an understatement, really, since I have been collecting it for over 20 years, the quilting fabric that is, and some is older). Anyway, sometimes I go on a tangent and get types of fabric. 1800s, 1930s, Christmas, patriotic, blues (always!), Asian, and then one day when I was at a quilt show I saw taupes. I saw taupe quilts and taupe kits and taupe fabrics. I got some fat quarters. At another show I got another bundle. I started putting them in their own plastic container. I got more, along with some that are not strictly speaking taupe. When I decided to make the Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt, that plastic container was my pallete. I have added a few fat quarters, and won't use some, but that is what is guiding the fabric choices for this quilt.

When I made Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, I took the book into a store, found Dorothea's collection and decided that would be the basis of my choices for that quilt. Quite a few of the fabrics are from that line, but I went further afield in the store and collected others, and then I added from stash, including what became the background fabrics. The border fabric was my inspiration, and it actually made it as the border (doesn't always happen). At the time I thought I would be picking my own blocks, Jennifer hadn't started putting blocks on the web yet. It made it a lot easier when she did that, and published the SBS book!

Every quilt I make, the fabric choice is unique, from what is picked to how I pick it.

Farmer's Wife Sampler - forging ahead

18 Century of Progress - drawn in EQ6 to remove some seams, hand pieced

23 Country Farm - Marti Michell templates B12, B13 and B14

24 Country Path - Marti Michell templates plus 1.5" diagonal square template

25 Cups and Saucers - MM templatesB12, B13, B14 and D29

27 Darting Birds - N79, B13 and D29 (aka N80)

28 Duck and Ducklings - paper pieced

29 Economy - MM templates A1, A2 and A4 (would also be very easy to paper piece)

30 End of Day - MM templates - C19 trimmed with A6, and A6

32 Farmer's Daughter - Paper pieced

88 Star of Hope - paper pieced

43 done of 113 blocks

Recapping 2009

2009 started with me enthralled with knitting along with quilting. I had been collecting knitting needles and yarn, so the first finished things in 2009 were knitting needle cases. I took a sock knitting class, and began my quest to have enough hand knit socks so I could wear them all the time (haven't gotten there yet). So far I have finished 7 pairs and have another pair on the needles. I also discovered dish cloths were nice small projects to get better at following knitting directions, so I made two of them, and would like to make more. A helmet liner and scarf for my Marine son were also completed. And two scarves for me.

Another thing I worked on this year were bags, shopping bags (17 or so, many gifts) and a BB travelor bag (holds my IPOD). I also made pillowcases (at least 8). And two pencil case type things, small zippered bags, that hold knitting paraphenalia.

Then there is quilting. I finished
1. Dear Jane My way, started many years ago, and finally quilted by me on my Bernina 630
2. Cube Lattice - twin size quilt, started and finished in 2009 (quilted by Jennie Michael of Finally Finished)
3. Apple Blossom Fairies - a baby quilt, started and finished in 2009
4. Crane Wife (aka Katie's Quilt) - queen size, started in 2008 and finished in 2009 (quilted by my sister)
5. Half Square Triangle table runner - started and finished in 2009
6. Nine Patch flannel baby quilt - started and finished in 2009
7. Prairie Paisley baby quilt - started in 2008 and finished in 2009
8. Gingerbread Christmas - a wall hanging started and finished in 2009
9. Let's Go Fly a Kite - large lap quilt - started and finished in 2009
10. Elm Creek Sampler - my Sylvia's Bridal sampler, enlarged a bit, (quilted by Sue Baddley of Summit Creek Quilts) started in 2008 and finished in 2009

11. Deco Rose Double Irish chain was pieced and given to my sister to quilt

2010 Goals!:
Then there are the quilts started but not yet finished:
1. Farmer's Wife Sampler - another queen size quilt of 6" blocks (40 of 113 done)
2. Civil War Diary - another queen size quilt of 6" blocks, being done with my small quilt group and we are getting a slow start ( 3 done of 121)
3. 1930's applique sampler - class quilt, wall hanging from Piece O'Cake designs - about half of the blocks are appliqued
4. Wacky Bird - another class - small wall hanging, currently quilting it, and over half quilted
I am trying to get the Farmer's Wife Sampler, Wacky Bird and the 1930's applique sampler done this year, and will continue to work on Civil War Diary.

Then older UFOs to work on (after the first three of these are done):
5. Out to sea - a medallion quilt (started in class with Judy Mathieson)
6. Spiral Lone Star (started with pattern in Jan Krentz's book)
7. Women of the Bible quilt - online block of the week, center blocks done and pieced together, Celtic knot applique border in progress
8. Dutch treat - trying to do a block a month
9. Put the Patchwork Party Prairie Paisley blocks into a quilt, and get it quilted

We will see at the end of the year how I have done.

Sylvia's Bridal Sampler done!

I finished up the binding for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler on 30 Dec 2009, so I met my goal of getting this finished in 2009, just barely :)


The working title has been Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. It's temporary name is Elm Creek Sampler, because all of the blocks are from the Elm Creek books, and it is not a Bridal Sampler for me, not after being married for 27 years. (picture is without binding, but close to what it looks like now, binding is finished narrow, only 1/4")
Quilting and photo by Sue Baddley of Summit Creek Quilts.