progress

Another shelving unit has been dealt with today along with part of another, leaving just the third one that has some odds and ends on it that I will still need in order to work on my blog hop items.  DJ was kind enough to help me unload and load all the pattern notebooks and magazines, etc that fill a total of 3 shelves.  THX, Honey!  Oh, this one is "decapitated by one shelf at this point too, LOL.  I would have taken off another but saw no point in moving all the stuff already on it.  (Do it later.)

 I reached the saturation point in my bed room storage.  Thankfully, DJ offered a few spots where I could tuck a few things without totally inconveniencing him.  I have another little spot scoped out from my thread containers too.  SO I have not had to use my bathtub or my car trunk other than temporarily, LOL.  Basically, it is just down to the files in my desk and file cabinet and emptying out the bottom of the TV stand. My cutting/pressing table will be needed for a bit longer and that surface can be cleared quickly.

 DJ and I also had a discussion about where the TV stand and file cabinet could be held while the work is being done.  BUT that is absolutely last minute moving there.  One holds the printer which I may need.  The TV, I could live without as I often don't even turn it on till the evening hours.  Robert thought he could work around the large office desk but I need it to be lighter to move!  I don't even know how we managed to get that thing in here in the first place!

 I am going to sew today though--I promised myself that.  How odd that I am facing right up to the wall instead of the book shelf.  So what is on tap?  One block that I will foundation piece--modified Puss in the Corner.  It is a re-do for some less than stellar piecing on my first attempt.  I forget what I had done before to modify it but probably eliminated some extra lines and such.  This is also not original to the quilt either but that is why I term it "inspired by".  Not making an exact duplicate of the cover quilt.  This should not take all that long and I need to start working on the hop item (s).

It is supposed to be warmer tomorrow so I am hopeful that DJ and I can get out to look at flooring.  We were down to 7 this morning by our thermometer and I think it is 20 now, mid afternoon with the sun shining.  Others in the country have had it far worse with blizzard like conditions.  Isn't that how you define a blizzard--below freezing temps, winds of probably a certain mph and snow?  We had some flurries yesterday but nothing that stuck.  The grass is all crunchy though.  They say we have not had this arctic cold down here, with one digit lows since 1996, before we moved down here.  Record rains in 2013 and record cold this year?  I have not resorted to baking yet to warm the house but I did promise him I would make pizza tonight as I have some Italian sausage links thawed.  Poor DJ is still waiting for breakfast muffins or quick bread.

And sew it goes--------

FWIS 1-10

Okay, I have reached the first 10 blocks of MY version of Farmer's Wife (Inspired) Sampler. I had promised not to post the blocks till I had a grouping to show but obviously the piecing etc is on my mind if I am working on them in the background.  That piecing has inspired the last two tip posts, in fact. My mom called last night and said I should use a thread spider to start the stitching and avoid the bias edge of a triangle or QST getting sucked in. I will do that since I will start the next batch on the Brother.

I have my share of sewing snafus this week but I know that happens to all of us. Sometimes you forget something you learned long ago.  Sometimes you need to  learn some new tricks.  I am working on a "new to me" machine that may not be happy going over seams of say, the pinwheel that was giving me fits yesterday. It is a humbling experience when you think you can do a simple block like that and it still comes out a bit off. Well, this may not be the masterpiece work I had hoped but I am going to try to cut myself some slack.   Pinwheel, meet that galloping horse.   I will share my cautionary tales so we can commiserate about our "bad" days. Mom was having fits with one of her own recently. That might have been part of the reason she called, LOL.

A list mate on the Farmer's Wife Sampler yahoo group suggested scanning the blocks.  Until I can figure out where in the house to hang them blocks to take a digital shot that is what I will do.  Some of these are my choice of blocks---if so, I will list the name and pattern source.  Usually it will be a Brackman assigned number from BlockBase.  If they are some that were used in the  Laurie Aaron Hinds book, I will indicate the name assigned in the book though the block are in the public domain. We all know that a block has more than one name in a lot of cases. I cannot remember if I am allowed to use the block number or not.  BUT all that number is the blocks in alphabetical order till it reached 111.  No big deal and I cannot see how that could be copy-righted.  Someone will scream at me if I did inadvertently, not see it their way.

LCHJ Block 1---Castle.  Pattern source:  Quilt Pro Block of the Day for February 22, 2012.  I used some of the birthday fabric that I got in Boaz recently for this one.

LCHJ Block 2---Snowball from the book.    The fabric strip I used came from my friend and fellow Bama Belle Lois.  Some went in the Popsicle Sticks quilt top but this was I set aside for FWIS.  It is the perfect shade of blue I had envisioned!  Background fabric, coincidentally, reclaimed and re-purposed from some abandoned blocks I recently un-sewed.

LCHJ Block 3---Modified Cherry Basket from Quilt Pro Block of the Day March 26, 2012.  Modified because I added the handle to the block.  The Riley Blake background, bday fabric.  The Basket fabric is leftover from the March Button Up and my friend Sheila. 

LCHJ Block 4---K022 Aunt Mary's Favorite.  Since I was foundation piecing the center square in a square section I did the side pieces that way as well. The pinks are some of Boaz b'day splurge.

LCHJ Block 5---from the book Wild Rose & Square but I modified it to eliminate some seams.  (Print fabrics are Vintage Modern and DJ bday splurge).  I talked about a technique for doing the diamonds the other day.  Mom reminded me that these were not true diamonds----and she is right.  I had called them the wrong thing--they are indeed parellolograms and I knew that when I cut them, LOL with the Marti Michell template conversion charts.

I did so well with one half of the block.  SIGH.  The squares fit in perfectly and without hassle.  The third one gave me a little trouble but I got past it.  The 4th one, not so much.  4 tries, two with re-cutting.  Finally I got that stinkin's square in there----and then I promptly sliced that square when the ruler slipped in trimming off the little hairs for the picture.  I patched it and you can see the seam down there without looking too hard.  This may or may not make the cut but I did finish it.

LCHJ Block 6--from the book, Waste Not.  The same night I sliced  up the one above, I got right back on the horse and stitched this one.  I used a Marti Michell trick for cutting it out---it is just half square triangles essentially with another piece angle cut, sewn and flipped.   Fabrics from my stash though I did get that white piece at Heart to Heart recently.

LCHJ Block 7---1266b Whirlwind.  This is the one that was demoralizing me yesterday.  The first one I pieced conventionally and the center looked worse that this one.  I took it out--twice--and made it worse.  I foundation pieced it and everything looked fine---till I joined it.  I think that the Kenmore (nope still not named) may have been balking at the seams as I had it pinned and perfectly in line.    Pinwheel, meet Galloping Horse.  The print piece is actual vintage fabric.  The teal was a bday gift from my friend and fellow Bama Belle Teresa.

LCHJ Block 8---Autumn Tints from the book.  I had to prove to myself that I could piece!  Even this one would not nest at center but I fixed it.  It was not one I had cut out in the last cutting and kitting binge but it may take the place of the one above in with the same fabrics.

LCHJ Block 9---30's style butterfly that I told you about in THIS POST.  Well, I did it because I sure needed to not be piecing anymore yesterday.  Pretty cute, if I do say so.   It will go on a spot lower down the line. 

LCHJ Block 10---yeah you have seen it before.  So far it is still staying in but down the line.  From the book (sort of)  Seasons but not really from there---more like credit to Fons and Porter for their mag article on Album Cross, but re-sized from 8 inch block to a 6.

So there you have it for now.   No more whining about what didn't go right, at least not for today.  I am chosing to focus on what I did get done. That is to say I have 10 blocks completed that I didn't have done a couple weeks ago after months and months of wanting to work on this project. 

Today's plan:  hand applique the sections of  3418 The Whirling Pinwheel that you saw laid out in THIS POST.  Well, make that the straightened out version, LOL.   Get that done and it is on to Practical Orchard.  Yep, back on that horse.

And sew it goes------thanks for stopping by!