EW- Day 4

It's time to check in and link up with the Library Project Quilt Along. I went a little crazy this week with the Farmer's Wife blocks (aka Engineer's Wife). I got myself in trouble with Sharon because we had decided to make two blocks a week. She made her two and I made 24. Once I started, I couldn't stop!

I only made 3 blocks on Thursday. I started by remaking Corn & Beans with paper piecing. Sooo much better! I thought I was getting pretty good at cutting triangles with the Easy Angle ruler and accurately piecing, but this block just got all screwy.

Urrgh. Mistakes are so hard to pick out when paper piecing with tiny stitches. Paper piecing is my comfort zone, but mistakes still happen.

Blocks 23 and 24.

I'm packing it all up so I can work on something else this weekend. But before I put all the fabric away, I cut out the next 12 blocks. When I come back to it, I can just pull out a bag of pieces and start sewing.

In other news, the second amaryllis finally bloomed.

Engineer's Wife- Day 2

I managed to piece the next 9 Farmer's Wife blocks on Tuesday, but it wasn't easy. I made the last one at 10pm. I was determined to get that 9th block done just because a 3x3 grid makes a nice picture.

Why are the simplest blocks the easiest to screw up?

#16 Calico Puzzle

I played a little bit with fussy cutting which was really fun. This was also my first block with no solid white. This one is a little busy, but I like it anyway.

#15 Buzzard's Roost

I changed the color placement for Century of Progress but I'm not happy with it. I probably won't remake it or use it in my final quilt. There is a huge blob of seam allowances behind the center of this block. It's really unavoidable with so many seams coming together.

#18 Century of Progress

Blocks 1-18

I need to get some other work done today, so this will not be a 9 block day!

Engineer's Wife- Day 1

 I finally started piecing Farmer's Wife sampler blocks. I'll be linking this project back to the Library Project Quilt Along as well as the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along. (My library list is here.) I don't think I would have started this project at all until my friend Sharon mentioned that she started piecing, and then I saw the book in Karen's studio.

Blocks 1-9, pieced 2/17/14

I'm working from my modern scrap bins, boxes and bags with Kona white as the background. Using scraps creates such a mess!

Bat Wing #5 is the only block I paper-pieced so far. The colors were not right, so I took it apart (not fun picking out those tiny stitches!). The colors are still not right, but I'm leaving it. I'm just not that much of a perfectionist.

I have decided on a layout, so I will only need to make 61 of the 111 blocks in the book. Or maybe I'll make them all and make two quilts. We'll see. For now, I'm piecing the blocks in order. I'll probably get tired of that and start jumping around. I get bored easily!

 

Since my husband is not a farmer, my quilt will be titled The Engineer's Wife. As anyone married to an engineer will tell you, it requires a totally unique skill set!

Library Project

I recently stumbled upon Adrienne's Library Project at her Chezzetcook Modern Quilts blog. She has challenged us to dig into our modern quilt library and select projects to complete this year. What a fantastic idea! There are so many books that I love but haven't worked from yet. Here are the books I pulled for 2014...

1.  Scrap Basket Sensations by Kim Brackett. The cover quilt has always appealed to me, but I've selected Over and Under for this challenge. I can't wait to dig into my modern scrap bin and chop everything into 2.5" strips.

2. The Practical Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman. How cool is Kitchen Window to feature favorite prints?

3. Zakka Style compiled by Rashida Coleman-Hale. I love everything about those nesting boxes on the cover. The prints, the linen, the applique leaf. Yes!

4. The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt by Laurie Aaron Hird. I bought the book when all the modern girls were quilting along. I'm not good with long-term projects, so I'll try to pick a few favorites for a table runner or other small project.

5. Quilts Made Modern by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr. I have lots of small pieces of solids piling up. The cover quilt would be a great way to use them up.

I'll be keeping you posted monthly. I missed the deadline to link up the to-do list, but I'm playing anyway!