Engineer's Wife Sampler

After 19 months and hundreds of hours of work, the Engineer's Wife Sampler quilt is complete. I started calling it that way back at the beginning because my husband is not a farmer! You can see I went my own way from the start with this quilt, but I loved working from Laurie Hird's book.

This post is a little long, so feel free to just look at the pictures!

 January 26, 2014: I blogged that I might make a few blocks from this book for a table runner. Then my friend Sharon mentioned that she had started piecing this quilt. Knowing that there was someone nearby to commiserate with was somehow comforting. And challenging!

February 17, 2014: Day 1. As I pieced these blocks from my modern scrap bin, I made quite a mess! I pieced the blocks in numerical order, and wrote the date I completed each block in the book.

February 21, 2014: In four days, I had pieced 24 blocks and cut out the next 24.

March 8, 2014: Made 12 blocks on retreat.

Summer 2014: lots of blocks pieced when I needed a break from the wedding ring.

January 28, 2015: 20 more blocks. And I learned the term Maverick blocks.

February 2, 2015: 111 blocks complete! (Yes, I kept the stack in numerical order.)

March 2015: My original layout plan was to use alternate gray and white hourglass blocks. I made 8 of them and decided I really didn't want to make 100 more.

(crummy iphone photo)

 June 26, 2015: Layout plan B. The gradation in the background was inspired by a class with Vanessa Christenson. I had seen other samplers set like this (half on point, half straight) without the gradation. It's interesting to see how the colors pop differently on the various shades of gray.

July 18, 2015: Top complete.

September 4, 2015: Hand basting using Sharon Schamber's technique.

September 5-23, 2015: Hand and machine quilting. I started at the top, center. I would hand quilt a few blocks, then machine quilt them. After a few rows, I discovered that the best method for me was to machine quilt in the ditch around each block, then fill in the block with machine quilting (all in white thread, different design for each block). Then I hand quilted 1/4" around the blocks. Then I went back to the machine to quilt the background.

Hand quilting was done in a hoop on the dining room table with variegated #5 perle cotton and a no. 3 embroidery needle. I really enjoyed this process, but soon discovered that 100% cotton batting is not ideal for needling through, especially with thick thread and a big needle. (Apparently, wool batting is quite nice for hand quilting.)

 I used a different color thread to hand quilt each background color. One stitch at a time.

 Machine quilting was done on my trusty Bernina 153 on the kitchen table. The background was quilted with thread that matched the fabric color. Fortunately, I found a chart online that matched Aurifil colors with Kona colors. This photo commemorates the completion of quilting.

September 24, 2015: The binding matches the background colors - white on top, black on the bottom, sides pieced to match. (will add photo when I get the quilt back)

Since I only used 100 blocks on the front, the remaining 11 went on the back. Ten are pieced into a strip through the middle. (That area was fun to hand quilt through. Not!)

September 25, 2015: The last block became the label. Since it is so large, I "quilted" some lines and a heart so it wouldn't flap around. The stitches only go through to the batting and don't show on the front.

I am really proud of this quilt. You can see it (with Sharon's and Donna's) at the Ninigret Quilters show this weekend in Westerly, RI. It has also been accepted for exhibition at A Quilters Gathering in Manchester, NH, in early November.

Engineer's Wife

85" X 85"

Pieced & Quilted by Tina Craig

Started February 17, 2014

Completed September 25, 2015

Block Patterns: Farmer's Wife Sampler by Laurie Aaron Hird

Layout: original

Kona solids: white, silver, medium gray, coal, black

Aurifil 50 wt thread: 2024, 2600, 2605, 5004, 2692

DMC #5 pearl cotton: 4200, 4124, 4077, 4050, 4025

Awards:

Ninigret Quilters, October 2015:
Master Division
Best Machine Quilting- Domestic
Best Scrap Quilt

A Quilters' Gathering, November 2016:
CoDirector's Award

Narragansett Bay Quilters Association, April 2016:
HM Exemplary Piecing
2nd Place Exemplary Modern

WIP Wednesday

Yesterday was a soggy, rainy day. I have to force myself to be productive on days like that. I'd much rather spend the day on the couch with my laptop.  

I did manage to get two Wild & Goosey blocks done. That brings me to 20 out of 25 I need for my wall hanging. This riot of color was the perfect antidote for the crummy weather.

Quilting the Farmer's Engineer's Wife is at the top of my priority list. I have to add one more large piece to the back, then it can be basted. I will be trying Sharon Shamber's method of using boards to keep the parts square and flat. I haven't decided yet if I'll thread- or pin-baste.

In the finished column since my last WIP post, I have added another QOV for a cousin 

and a graduation gift for a friend's daughter.

I'm participating in the modern fabric postcard swap on Instagram. These are the 4x6" postcards I will be dropping in the mail later today. It was fun playing with the color and fabric choices of the recipients.

 I printed 4" New York Beauty blocks from EQ7 and added 2" of extra background on one side. I wasn't sure if I could piece such a small curve, but it wasn't too bad. I pinned a lot!

Have a great day!

WIP Wednesday

 How has it been three weeks since the my last post? Summer fun has kept me away from the blog, but not my sewing machine. I was able to complete two quilt tops recently.

My Farmer's Engineer's Wife top is done! It's great to have friends working on the same pattern to push me along. (Hi, Sharon & Donna!) Sharon started quilting this week, so the pressure is on!

The spools top is done, too. I might quilt this one first since it's a lot smaller and I can just have fun with it.

I'm finishing up another Quilt of Valor this week. Tonight, I'm burying threads while I watch TV.  More quilting and binding tomorrow or Friday.

Scrappy WIP Wednesday

 I've been obsessively stitching for weeks now. The plus side of all this productivity is that I don't snack when I'm sewing so much, so I've lost a few pounds. Win-Win! Here's what I've been up to.

Farmer's Engineer's Wife: All 111 blocks are now done! I'm a little sick of looking at them, as cute as they are, so we're going to take a little break.

RIMQG Bee blocks for Jackie: Jackie provided the blue for her log cabins. These went in the mail today.

Wild & Goosey: Oh, how I love these blocks! Learn more about Bonnie Hunter's pattern here.

Selvage Log Cabins: This will be my entry in the RIMQG Log Cabin challenge, due in March. These blocks are really time consuming, but so worth it! Karen Griska's pattern is only $5 on Etsy. It's worth every penny!

I'm planning to set them on point. Don't mind my thready socks.

Friendship Star Swap: I quilted half of this last week before I ran out of thread. As soon as my order arrives from Superior, I'll get this finished.

Scrappy Mountain Majesties: When all the scraps were out, I cut some big squares for this project. Can't wait to get back to this one!

It's time to surf...

111 Blocks

My Farmer's Engineer's Wife blocks are done!

I powered through and finished sewing the last 21 blocks yesterday. I had cut them out on Saturday thinking I'd sew through the big game, but I needed to take a break. Honestly, I was getting sick of looking at them!

 Blocks 91-99 (above) were done by lunchtime. Blocks 100-111 (below) were finished by 8:15pm. That's a full day of piecing! (I love days that I don't need to leave the house!)

This lucky ladybug was hiding under the blocks this morning.

 

Since I don't have a design wall big enough to show you all the blocks at once, here are the rest of them. Blocks 61-80 from last week:

Blocks 1-60,  Feb 17 - Aug 5, 2014:

I'm so proud of myself for following through on this challenge and getting all the blocks done. On to the setting!

WIP Wednesday - Farmer's Wife Progress

Progress is being made, but no finishes to report this week.

This batch of Farmer's Wife blocks was really fun (no baskets). I was supposed to be using these blocks when I needed a break from piecing wedding ring arcs, but I got carried away and pieced 12 in one day (and no arcs).

I like how the directional prints played so nicely on the Hovering blocks. Jackknife is one of my favorite blocks so far.

 49-Honeycomb, 50-Honey's Choice, 51-Hovering Birds

52-Hovering Hawks, 53-Jackknife, 54-Kitchen Woodbox

I decided to make the leaf red because the red maple is Rhode Island's state tree. I threw in a little fussy cutting on Morning and Mother's Dream. 

55- Linoleun, 56-Maple Leaf, 57- Morning

59-Night & Day, 58-Mother's Dream,  60-Noon & Light

To recap, here are all of my blocks. I don't have a design wall big enough for all of them, so I had to create a mosaic. They are arranged in numerical order, but I will probably move them all around in the final layout.

Here's another view of all 60 blocks.

Today, I'll need to piece twice as many arcs to reach my goal for the week. There was an anonymous message regarding the orange stars. They were the groom's choice, which I fully support!

Enjoy the day!

Sidetracked by Cuteness

I didn't get much sewing done last week with this little cutie visiting. Mollie and her parents (Chris and Jamie) stayed in the Marine Corps guest room. She's wearing the onesie we bought her in Parris Island after Pete's boot camp graduation. The stuffed bulldog mascot is mine!

I finally put a label on her baby quilt. I had gifted it at the baby shower, so I wanted to wait until after she was born to add the label. I love how crinkly and soft and loved the quilt is! You can see the whole quilt there.

 I'm back to work this week on the wedding ring arcs. You're probably getting as sick of seeing these as I am! If I keep up the pace of 20 arcs per day, they will be done on Friday. That is my goal. 80 done, 80 to go.

In the past two weeks, I've finished 12 Farmer's Engineer's Wife blocks. They've been a nice break from wedding ring arcs. The variety is fun, but the piecing is challenging.

 

 I modified the flower in block 37 slightly to make it easier to paper piece. Four Winds finished about a half-inch too big! Apparently the 1/4" foot on the Featherweight is a little small.

37- Flower Pot, 38-Four Winds, 39-Freindship

 There were a lot of baskets in this batch. They are not my favorite to sew.

40-Friendship Block, 41-Friendship Star, 42- Fruit Basket

 I'm not happy with how dark Gentleman's Fancy is. Might need to remake that one.

43-Garden Path, 44-Gentleman's Fancy, 45-Grape Basket

Again, I modified Homemaker for easier paper piecing. Homeward Bound is on the dark side, too, but it made me think of Pete, so I used some scraps of a Marine camo print.

46-Hill & Valley, 47-Homemaker, 48-Homeward Bound

I think I'll prep another 12 blocks before I head up to the machine today. I'll print the paper piecing templates and cut out all the fabric for the next batch of blocks. Then I can grab a baggie and stitch a block when the mood strikes.