I’m too long between posts but not yet able to share what I’m working on, so this is just to let you know I’m still around. This current project is one of the many reasons I’m so glad I can sew! Hopefully you’ll see why soon.
At the completion of this project, there will be a bit of Good Fortune:
Then it will be back to a stack of baby quilts. My friends keep surprising me with their growing families! (Some of them are even surprising themselves with their growing families!)
Sometimes it’s the little things that drive you crazy. I’m working on a project (which I’ll share later, it’s a surprise for a few special someones) and I’ve got to do one simple little thing I haven’t done before: sew an inset curve. The finished piece looks so simple, but I just could not picture how to do it in my mind. And if your mind can’t imagine how to do it, your hands won’t be able to figure it out either. I was STUCK.
And then I found this video from Leanne at She Can Quilt. No pins, no glue needed. WOW.
This morning I am thankful for the crafty bloggers who share their skills!
This was a really special birthday for my Mom. She just retired (WHOOOO!!!) and has free time to do lots of new projects. She’s got plenty of plans and I certainly didn’t want to direct her use of time, but I thought it might be fun for us to slowly work on a quilt block or two a week from The Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt.
We haven’t come up with a game plan yet. Do we want to work on the same blocks together, or whatever strikes our fancy at the time? One block a week? Two? More? And what size quilt do we want to end up with? Or maybe just a wall hanging? We’re still deciding, so it might be a while until we really start.
The book comes with a CD of templates so you can create all 111 blocks in the book. You can see some great examples in The Farmer’s Wife Quilt-A-Long group on Flickr. (I’m really loving Erin’s at Why not Sew?) Even aside from the quilt, the book is a fascinating read. It’s based on a magazine contest from 1922 asking wives of farmers whether or not they’d like their own daughters to grow up and marry a farmer, and why. The heartwarming letters they received are filled with love and stories of simple blessings. The world changes around us, but each generation remains the same in wanting the best possible lives for our kids.
If you’re looking for a crafty gift for your Mom or daughter, take a look at this book!
A friend sent me a box of fabrics to make a quilt for a charity we both support, Mothers Fighting for Others. The sweet floral prints made me think of Little House on the Prairie, and I realized that I should work with that. If the little quilt is going to be auctioned to raise money for an orphanage and a school, isn’t it fitting to pair it with a beloved book from childhood? What Mom or Grandma wouldn’t want to share those memories with their special little girl?
I’ll throw in some white and make an hourglass quilt small enough to be a baby quilt, but large enough for a little girl to sit under and read a good book.
Just to add some intrigue for the quilt’s new little owner - some historians think the hourglass quilt design may have been used as “quilt code” to help send messages to escaping slaves. An hourglass quilt hung outside or visible in a window was a message about when and where travel would be safe. The colors used may have told when to expect help. (You can read more here.) There’s a lot of dispute about whether or not quilts were actually used as codes, but I love the idea that not only can you stitch love and comfort into a quilt, but also bravery and kindness.
This is just going back my “to do” pile while I get to other things, so it may be a while before you see it again! If you’d like to own this future quilt yourself, I’ll post again later to let you know how you’ll be able to bid on it.
Granny square quilts are popping up everywhere! I loved Jolene’s granny square quilt tutorial at Blue Elephant Stitches as soon as I saw it. This design is meant to be great for using up scraps, but since it’s based on 2.5″ squares, it works really well with a jelly roll and charm squares.
I used a Moda jelly roll in Silver and two charm square packs of Malka Dubrawsky’s new fabric line A Stitch in Color. Jelly rolls are strips of fabric 2.5″ wide and as long as the fabric, so cutting 2.5″ squares was especially easy. The charm packs are 5″ squares, so they just needed to be cut in quarters. This saves a LOT of cutting time, lets you get right to sewing AND if you’ve fallen in love with a beautiful line of fabrics, it’s a great way to use them all together!
Since the finished blocks are trimmed up and used on a diagonal, you’ll end up with your fabric on the bias — it tends to not want to lie perfectly flat. Don’t let this worry you, a good pressing before you sew the blocks together works wonders.
And somehow I have to hold every quilt top up in front of a window. I seriously need to make quilt top curtains someday.
The gray background makes the bright colors almost glow.
But be prepared to share, everyone will want your quilt!
If you’d like to see more granny square quilts, check out the I <3 Granny and Scrap Attack Quilt-Along groups on Flickr. You’ll find loads of inspiration!
