week 9 - FWQAL

Apparently green is hard for me.  Who knew?? I  had no idea that it was a difficult color for me to work with.  I love green, but I discovered that I don't have a lot of fabric in that shade.  Pulling and coordinating fabrics took forever.  Really.

# 56 - Maple Leaf, #31 - Evening Star, # 55 - Linoleum

I ended up doing three this week instead of two.  It took me so long to come up with these three fabric combos, so I just made them all.  I had a couple of fabric scraps that were tiny, the gnomes and the people, that I really wanted to use.  They weren't big enough to use on point (which is how they will be sewn in the quilt), but I decided to use them anyway.  I really like both of them, and that is all I have.

Note to self: buy more green fabric!!  Head over to Amanda's and see her blocks for the week.  They are gorgeous as always, and she used a bunch of my favorite fabrics.  I wish I could steal her blocks and add them to mine. :)

xo, A

This post is part of the Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long, please feel free to jump in at any time!  More information and previous posts can be found HERE.

2 more.

During a fun weekend full of the beach, Mr. Popper's Penguins at the movie theater, church, plus time with family and  friends, I somehow managed to squeeze in a bit of sewing time.  Two more Swoon blocks done, only two more to go (I think).  I snapped a couple shots when I got home from the gym this morning.

These are my favorite so far, though I'm pretty sure I say that after I finish every block.  I am both excited and sad to finish these up, I have enjoyed making them so much.  I love Camille's pattern, and I love sewing with Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks.

I hope your week is starting out well!

xo A

FWQAL - week 8

Week 8 of the Farmer's Wife QAL - crazy!  This was a odd week for me.  It has been very busy, so I didn't even get to start working on my blocks until this morning.  I decided two things:  I needed to do a couple easy-ish blocks, and I needed to make them green, which is the color I am lacking right now.  How did I do with those two goals?  Terrible!!  They were both harder blocks, and neither of them have green.  Oh well, green next week for sure.

I did two of my favorite blocks in the entire book.  The blue one is #83 - Spider Web.  I used blue seeds from Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy and Habitat dots for this one.  I love how it turned out, though my center points aren't perfect.  They aren't cut off, but one is a little lopsided.  I'm okay with that (I think).

I also made Block #80 - Single Wedding Star.  This is another favorite.  I felt like sewing with some Heather Ross fabric today, so I fussy cut some of her fish fabric and paired that with some orange Kei dots.  I am pretty happy with this one, no lost points or corners.

There are some blocks in the book that I don't love, so I plan on making these again at some point.  It will be fun to see them in different fabrics, I bet they won't even look like the same block. 

Make sure you check out Amanda's beautiful blocks this week!  She always picks the cutest fabric.

xo, A

This post is part of the Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long, please feel free to jump in at any time!  More information and previous posts can be found HERE.

sewing this week.

Remember this pretty stack of fabrics from the other day?  Now it is a quilt!  I've been busy.

I had a marathon quilting day on Thursday.  Well, by marathon, I mean quilting during Finley's two naptimes and in the morning before the kiddos woke up.  I didn't mean to do spend Thursday's free time that way.  The plan was to clean the house for company that was coming (and is now here) this weekend.  But I couldn't help myself.  I had basted the quilt the day before, and it was just sitting there waiting for me.  AND it was to be be free motion quilted in a meandering pattern, which is my favorite way to quilt.  It is so much fun for me.

Now I am watching my favorite movie and handsewing while the little ones are napping.  I really enjoy tacking down the binding.  I ordered some straw needles last week, I wish they were here already.  I've never used them before, but I know many people swear by them and love using then for handsewing.

Aren't these little illustrations from Little Apples so charming?  I love them.  This quilt is for an upcoming tutorial, so hopefully I'll be able to share the whole thing with you in a month or two.  Hope your Saturday is going well!  This summer is going way too fast.

xo, A

fwqal - week 7

I'm back to one easy and one hard block for week 7 of the Farmer's Wife QAL.  The first block I did was # 26 - Cut Glass Dish.  That is the brown, red, and white one.  I used a Little Red Riding Hood fabric that I've had for quite some time, and it is great for fussy cutting.  Lush woodgrain and red Free Spirit dots were a perfect match for it.

My easy block for the week #16 - Calico Puzzle.  I used a flower print from Momo Wonderland for the color inspirations, and then added Lizzy House 1001 Peeps in pink and Hope Valley in blue.  See, I told you I gravitate to pinks and blues.  I can't help it!

xo, Ang

 This post is part of the Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long, please feel free to jump in at any time! 

More information and previous posts can be found HERE.

celebrating Finley

We spent this weekend celebrating our little girl's first birthday.  Finley's birthday was Saturday, and we spent the day at a local lake.  It was her first time at the beach, and she loved it.  We had a small family party for her Sunday night, and she had a great time with her chocolate cake.

Finley has the sweetest tempermant, but if she doesn't get her way, she can get fiesty! (I have no idea where she gets that from.)  She is like her Mommy already and loves fabric.  If it is in her reach, she is all over it.

Happy birthday, precious girl.  I can't even believe it has been a year since you joined our family.  You are such a blessing, and I am so thankful to have you.

xoxo.

FWQAL - week 6

For week 6 of the Farmer's Wife quilt-a-long, I needed to do some easy blocks.  I have been tackling some tough ones lately, and after the long holiday weekend, simple blocks were a necessity. 

I had so much fun making these two!  They were quick and easy to cut out, and they came together so nicely.  After looking at my blocks all together, I realized they were lacking orange, green, and yellow.  Apparently I gravitate towards grays and blues and pinks, since my blocks seem to be full of those colors. 

The text block that is on top is #2 - Autumn Tints.  It has some lime Full Moon dots, American Jane yellow mono pez /orange flowers, and Authentic text (I think).  The other block is #1 - Attic Windows, and it is made up of American Jane orange mono pez, Little Apples green leaves, Cosmo Cricket yellow crosshatches, and a cute little Japanese hedgehog print on white.

Amanda will be sharing her blocks for the week soon, so don't forget to pop on over.  Also, thank you thank you thank you for all of your kind words about my Moda Bakeshop quilt.  I truly appreciate the comments left here and on the tutorial at Moda's blog. Really, you are the best. :)

xo, Ang

This post is part of the Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long, please feel free to jump in at any time!  More information and previous posts can be found HERE.

Starry Eyed

Today I am sharing a quilt tutorial with you over at the Moda Bakeshop!  It is my first quilt for Moda, and I am so happy to be contributing to their lovely blog.  Please head on over, and let me know what you think!  I really hope that you like it.

xo, Angela

4th of July

After a busy week and weekend, tonight and tomorrow will be spent quietly and close to home.  I am hoping to squeeze in a little sewing at some point, I have a lovely new stack to cut into.

Hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July! 

xoxo, Ang

Hope Valley string quilt

I finally finished my Hope Valley string quilt! 

Oh, it feels like I have been working on this one forever.  I started it more than a year ago with plans to make a quilt for Finley's room.  I was planning on designing her room around this, but then Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow came out, and I made her baby quilt out of that.  I pushed the string blocks to the side for the time being, knowing that I'd be back to them soon enough. 

This one was a tough quilt for me to make at times.  The string blocks are tedious and super repetitive, but I am glad I persevered.  I really love the finish quilt.  It will be another one for Finley's big girl bed someday.  Remember, I even made a matching pillow!

quilt stats

pattern: paper pieced string block (8" finished)

fabrics: Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt and Kona coal (quilt top), Kona raisin (binding), a gray Target flat sheet for backing

dimensions:  need to measure still, but it is an oversized twin

quilting: free motion quilting in a meandering pattern by me

Happy holiday weekend!

with love, Angela

previous posts on the making of this quilt:

being patient

life this week 

Hope Valley quilt top

binding