Farmers Wife Quilt 2015 Instalment 1

I've been slowly working on my English Paper Piecing (EPP) Farmers Wife  Daughter Quilt and have managed to complete a few blocks.

Beware there are quite a few photos here:

Farmer's Daughter Quilt Block 26 - Cut Glass Dish
Completed 1st January 2015

Farmer's Daughter Quilt Block 27 - Darting Birds
Completed  2nd January 2015

Farmer''s Daughter Quilt Block 28 - Duck & Ducklings
Completed 3rd January 2015

Farmer's Daughter Quilt Block 29 - Economy
Completed 3rd January 2015

 The beginning of January started well, not yet back at work, the air con turned up and the cricket on the TV - plenty of time for stitching!

Farmer's Daughter Quilt Block 30- End of Day
Completed 8th January 2015

Farmer's Daughter Quilt Block 31 - Evening Star
Completed 8th January 2015

 Some of the colours on  here don't look quite as bright as they do 'in the flesh' - I'll have to try and perfect the photography.

Farmer's Daughter Quilt Block 32 - Farmer's Daughter
Completed 14th January 2015

Farmer's Daughter Quilt Block 33 - Farmer's Puzzle
Completed 18th January 2015

Farmer's Daughter Quilt Block 34 - Flock
Completed 24th  January 2015

Farmer's Daughter Quilt Block 35 - Flower Basket
Completed 19th January 2015

Farmer's Daughter Quilt Block 36 - Flower Garden Path
Completed 25th January 2015

I choose the fabrics, bag about five blocks at a time and then work through them.  As I baste and start sewing some blocks I find I am not as happy with the choices, then when it's finished they seem to come together.  But I am going with the overall approach - together as a whole they will look great, I don't have to LOVE every block individually as long as I am happy with the quilt as a whole.

Farmer's Daughter Quilt Block 37 - Flower Pot
Completed 26th January 2015

Here you can see a progress image, still a way to go, but I am enjoying the process.

January 2015 Progress

I haven't decided what I am going to do with the cornerstones and borders yet - I keep changing my mind, but I have got time to make those decisions!

Quilt stats:

• 111 blocks - 37 completed
• 110 cornerstones - nil completed
• 32 half cornerstones - nil completed
• 28 setting triangles - nil completed
• 4 small setting triangles - nil completed
• 252 sashing strips- nil completed
• borders?

You can see previous instalments of this quilts progress here

Today I am linking up with Life Under Quilts Monday Star Count

Thank you for popping by, 

Vicki

Diamond Checkerboard Quilt - A finished Quilt

Welcome,

I have a finished quilt to share, in actual fact I had pieced this top and quilted it way back in November, and then it has been sat in the unfinished pile. I have added a binding and ta-daaa, a finished quilt!

Finished Diamond Checkerboard Quilt

I love the fabrics in this quilt. I purchased them on sale some time ago with the plan of makig a quilt for our bed.

However, if I'm honest, I'm more than a little hesitant in finishing a full queen size quilt. I actually have one queen sized quilt top finished and stored away for the day I am brave enough to quilt it and I couldn't bare to add another.  Hence the reason this quilt ended up at 58 inch square.

I chose to quilt it with a simple grid following the seams of the checkerboard and extending them to the edge of the quilt

I backed it with this coordinating green and navy fabric 

As always I finished it with hand stitched binding, this time in a navy solid, it frames the top beautifully.

All fabrics and threads used are 100% cotton

This quilt top can be found for sale in my Etsy Shop - Diamond Checkerboard Quilt

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For those that were expecting to see the pixel heart quilt completed you'll be glad to know that I am half way through the quilting - I shared this picture on facebook this morning

Pixel Heart Quilt - Heart quilting detail

The pixel heart has a heart in each pixel - can't wait to get it finished!

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Today I'm linking with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday and Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday

Thank you for popping by,
Vicki

Koala Mittens

Hello and Welcome

You have probably heard about the fires that have torn through Victoria and South Australia, well some of the victims are the koala's who got burnt feet from walking through the area's where the fires have been.  Needless to say this means that they end up with burnt feet.



The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) put a call out for mittens that can be used in the rehabilitation of these koalas.

So, today I have made 9 pairs:

Koala Mittens

They are quick and easy to make and I made these by recycling an old pillowcase and digging a little fabric from my stash.

Koala Mittens

Typically, I had them all sat ready to go when I noticed I had an odd number of mittens, I could't send them as 'pairs' so ended up making a few more.

If you'd like to do your bit to help you can find further information and a link to the template here.  

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.

Thanks for popping by,
Vicki

Farmer's Wife Quilt 2014 Instalment 2

Welcome

Today I am sharing the remaining blocks that I completed for my Farmer's Daughter Quilt in 2014, you can find the first 15 here.

Farmer's Daughter Block 16 - Calico Puzzle
Completed 9th May 2014

Farmer's Daughter Block 17- Cats & Mice
Completed 13th May 2014

A reminder that I am English Paper Piecing (EPP) this quilt and it is slow progress, however slow, I am not ready to give up yet.

Farmer's Daughter Block 18 - Century of Progress
Completed 15th May 2014

Farmer's Daughter Block 19 - Checkerboard
Completed 27th December 2014

This block shows quite clearly that I have left the basted paper pieces in, the basting stitches are very obvious!

Farmer's Daughter Block 20 - Churn Dash
Completed 1st August 2014

Farmer's Daughter Block 21 - Contrary Wife
Completed 30th July 2014

Farmer's Daughter Block 22 - Corn & Beans
Completed 2nd August 2014

As you can see from the completion dates, this project often gets set aside and then I have a run at it again.  This is a project that tends to be worked on whilst sat watching the TV if I'm not too exhausted at the end of the day to pick up a needle and thread.

Farmer's Daughter Block 23 - Country Farm
Completed 26th December 2014

Farmer's Daughter Block 24 - Country Path
Completed 28th December 2014

Farmer's Daughter Block 25 - Cups and Saucers
Completed 31st December 2014

To give you an idea of the finished quilt and what I am aiming for here is a progress image showing my blocks superimposed over the finished queen sized quilt:

December  2014 Progress

Quilt stats:

• 111 blocks - 25 completed
• 110 cornerstones - nil completed
• 32 half cornerstones - nil completed
• 28 setting triangles - nil completed
• 4 small setting triangles - nil completed
• 252 sashing strips- nil completed
• 36 border 1 strips - nil completed
• outer border?

Well, I'm glad to say that I'm not depressed by this, 10 months in and 25 of the main blocks are complete. 
With over 570 parts to this quilt, not taking into account that each of the 111 blocks is made up of a number of pieces, I think I can speed my progress up by completing some of the cornerstones, setting triangles and sashing strips each month too - at least it will visually look like I am speeding ahead!

Today I am linking to Life Under Quilts Monday Star Count

Thank you for visiting,

Vicki

Pixel Heart Quilt - A finished top

Welcome

Here is my first quilt top finish of the new year, my Pixel Heart Quilt.

Pixel Heart Quilt Top

There are many variations of this type of quilt out there in cyberspace and I decided that I would create one of my own.

I stuck with the traditional low volume background with a red heart, though I think this would look great with a different colour heart or in reverse.

A little ladybird fluttering around the heart

I love some of the creatures that have made it into the quilt, there are butterflies, ladybirds and bees!

The heart even has some bees buzzing around

And for any swashbucklers out there there are pirate references too!!

Beware!!

 To me, these little things are what make the quilt so interesting - each time you look at it you'll see something different!

There are pirates nearby!

Now I just have to purchase some backing fabric and quilt it, I'm trying to decide between straight line quilting and free motion quilting - maybe I could combine the two? I can't wait!

Pixel Heart Quilt waiting patiently for backing and quilting

This isn't a huge quilt, each finished square is approximately 2 inch square with a finished size of 46 x 50 inches.  A great size for baby, a throw or lap quilt.

Thank you for popping by,

Vicki

Today I'm linking up with: 

Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday 

Confessions of a Fabric Addict - Can I get a Woop Woop

Blossom Heart Quilts Sew Cute Tuesday