Fall...

Fall is definitely here.  It is so cold out this morning it is shocking when you step out the door for the first time. I love fall, but the weather has been so odd this year I guess I'm not quite ready for it yet.  And where have I been?  Well, school has started, soccer has started, and I guess I wasn't quite ready yet for all the homework and running that goes with all of it.  We spent quite a happy summer at home this year and it takes a bit to get back into the routine of it all.

Here are my WiP for this Wednesday...

Here my Farmer's Wife blocks and fabrics sit.  I'm waiting for the sale on the rest of the templates from Marti Michell.  Once I receive those, I will be off and running again.  I have 8 of 111 blocks completed.

Ah yes, the Honeycomb quilt.  I haven't given up on this one yet.  I have all my 1/2 hexagons with an adjoining triangle on them, and I just need to sit and fight sew them into strips.  I think it all has to do with how you press them.  I'm hoping they go together much easier once I figure out the best way to press.

I have been working on my Vignette Mystery quilt.  I have most of the hanky linen cut, I just needed to find the right fabrics for the other embroidery blocks.  I think I have found them and hopefully will be stitching soon on them as the 4th issue of Vignette magazine should be here any day!

Still been working on the Vignette hexie quilt too.  I have 66 of 140 flowers done.  Over the weekend I cut more hexies out and am planning to baste Friday during my son's soccer game. :)

Yep, another pile of fabric.  This one should go together quickly (I hope).  It is an easy piece and should go together with lightening speed...HA!  I decided I needed a project that I could start and finish in a short period of time...as it seems I like quilts with hundreds of blocks (see above). 

This Friday is the September FNSI...join us...I have plenty to work on, it is cool cold outside, and its the perfect time to work on something warm and cozy.  I'm also linking with WiP Wednesday.  Happy Stitching!  --Kristen

More Farmer's Wife Blocks

I found my design wall this weekend while cleaning out my sewing room.  Once winter is here again and I cannot take photos outside I will be using it, until then I'm going to enjoy the outdoors.  The days are getting shorter and the evenings are cool.  Fall is my favorite season, although each season does have its benefits.

Here are blocks 70 Prairie Queen, 9 Box, 72 Railroad, and 41 Friendship Star.  I'm still enjoying them, although I think I'm going to put them on hold for awhile as I'm starting to need the other template sets, and I'm going to wait until I can get them on sale.  I may run through the Marti Michell emails and see if there are a few yet that I can do with the sets I have.

Here are the blocks I have finished so far.  I have 8 of 111 finished, only 103 to go!  I have to wonder why I am continually picking these extremely large projects. :)  I think I'm going to try and get my Vignette Mystery blocks put together and drawn out so I can work on them while I'm waiting at soccer practice and games.  It is fall again and time to get the handwork out.

I'm linking today with Judy and BOMs Away.  Happy Stitching and thanks for stopping by.  --Kristen

I'm back :)

This week has been a busy one, but I did get a few more Farmer's wife blocks finished and a few more cut.  Hopefully I will get some sewing time soon. 

This is block number 84 the spool block.  I am using reproduction fabrics.

This is block number 80 snowball.  After finishing these two and looking at the next ones I'm noticing I've been doing some of the easier ones first.  I am still loving the Marti Michell templates, and I do have the information for the weekly emails.  You need to go here and sign up for the newsletter on the right hand side.  If you would rather just sign up by email, you can send an email here and say "sign me up for the Farmer's wife emails."  The weekly emails are so helpful and give you instructions to cut the blocks with fewer pieces.  If you can wait, there will be a sale on the templates in one of the emails (I was given this information when I called to order my templates).  You need to sign up by August 31 so don't wait.  Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Stitching!  --Kristen

Farmer's Wife Blocks...finally

I've had the Farmer's wife book for well over a year now, I've printed the templates off and had them sitting with my book for months, and I've had the fabric for weeks, but I just couldn't find it in myself to start them, until today.  Why today?  Because the Marti Michell templates arrived and they seemed too good to be true.  I started at 9:15 p.m. cutting and I had two blocks finished by 9:45.  I'm not kidding.

This is block 16 Calico Puzzle.

Here is block number 21 Contrary Wife.

What took the most time?  Choosing which fabrics to use.  I would definitely recommend signing up for Marti's biweekly emails starting September 2.  The templates definitely make cutting out the pieces much easier.  I wasn't so sure about them, so I only purchased the B set of templates.  She is going to have a sale on them, but you have to get the emails to know what the dates will be.

I'm linking with Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday and BOMs Away.  I will be back tomorrow with the link for the Marti Mitchell emails and hopefully some more finished blocks as I am only about 10 weeks behind. :)  Happy stitching!  --Kristen

WiP Wednesday

Where have I been?  Well, with the holiday (4th of July) and just enjoying summer, I guess I spent a little too much time outside enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.  I have still been working on a few things. 

First of all I won a fat quarter, and Lee sent me this perfect fabric for a quilt I have wanted to make for quite a while...Thank you Lee, I love it!

With the holiday, I figured I should use this free pattern you can find here.  It was an easy stitch, although I did change my mind on some colors and had to redo a few parts.

It seems that people are picking up their knitting again, which got me thinking about this jelly bean doll.  I have collected Jean Greenhowe's patterns for quite some time and thought this would be a great place to start.

After knitting Jeff (as my son named him), I thought I should stop in at my local yarn shop as I had a gift certificate that was burning a hole in my pocket...but to my dismay, I realized they are closing forever this week.  They didn't have much yarn left, but I did find a few skeins of Blue Sky worsted cotton and thought it would be perfect for this pattern.

This yarn makes it look so different than the pattern.  I can't wait to finish and use it when I go to the farmer's market.  :)

Last but not least, my son and I took a trip to one of our favorite quilt shops today and found these pretty pinks and browns for my Farmer's Wife quilt.  I have gone back and forth on what fabrics to use for it, and when we found these, we knew they were the ones.  I also had to try out a new Bernina Quilter's Edition with the BSR...which wouldn't we all love one of those?  I "had" to try it out in order to register to win a new sewing machine.  Boy, it sure made me realize how nice it would be to have one of those.  Now I have something to dream about...

I am linking with Lee for WiP Wednesday.  I wonder how many more projects I'll find there today that I will decide I need to make!  Happy Stitching, and thanks so much for stopping by, it means the world to me!  --Kristen

My Design Wall Monday

My design wall is so full you wouldn't believe it.  Too many great patterns, great fabric, and great weather.  I don't know, but I'm inspired this week.  I sure hope it continues!

I started the day out at my son's basketball camp.  I had packed my bag and was sure I had everything...everything that is except for a SCISSORS!  I know, I know, I usually have a scissors in my purse, bag, and car at all times.  But today there were no scissors anywhere..and I didn't even have my dental floss along that could snip threads in an emergency.  Thank goodness I had my trusty glue pen, cut fabric, and paper hexies.  I basted instead (the hexies), and I also spent time chatting with another mom.  It was an enjoyable morning to say the least.

When we returned home I started cutting (finally) my Vignette Mystery Quilt (the bright strips above).  I've added a few more fabrics in the last couple of weeks because I just felt like it was missing something.  Hopefully soon I will finish cutting and get some sewing started.  I can't wait to see how these Shoo Fly blocks turn out.

My This and That BOM has been a bit troublesome this month.  I ended up having a wrong fabric cut in my kit, so we had to go and pick that up today too.  We are very close to finishing this, and I refuse to give up now!

I'm still trying to add a few more fabrics to my Warm Cool Quilt Along at http://incolororder.blogspot.com/.  I also somehow found myself joining in The Farmer's Wife quilt along at http://msmcporkchopquilts.com/.  There are only 111 blocks in that quilt, UH HUM...but I only need to finish two blocks a week.  I'm still chosing fabrics from my stash for the Kaliedoscope quilt at http://dontcallmebetsy.blogspot.com/ (that doesn't start for another week). 

I'm linking with Design Wall Monday at http://www.patchworktimes.com/.  If you get a chance, go see what everyone has been working on.  Happy Stitching!  --Kristen