FWQAL Week 9

Well it seems as though my Wednesday posts for the Farmer's Wife have turned into Thursday posts.  Which I guess is the luxury of these blocks.  They just get done when there's a little down time, and if they don't no biggie.  It's not going to be done for a year anyway! 

 Block 19: Checkerboard

I really liked the stack of fabrics I had picked for this block.  However, when I put them together I wasn't too crazy about it.  I don't hate it, it's just not the same love I had before I put it together.  Also, this is my first block with solids (!) I think it's time to use some more!

Block 20: Churn Dash

I like this block a lot.  I like the colors, I liked putting it together.  It's just all around a good block!

20 finished!

 91 to go!

Summer Fair Quilt Show

Hello if you're stopping by from the Summer Fair Quilt and Recipe Show! Hello to my regular followers too, bear with me, you've seen this quilt already!

I want to share with all of you my Summertime Picnic quilt.  Summertime Picnic was a pattern that I designed to show off larger prints that you love.  It is a very quick and easy pattern (great for beginners too!)

I want to share with all of you my Summertime Picnic quilt.  Summertime Picnic was a pattern that I designed to show off larger prints that you love.  It is a very quick and easy pattern (great for beginners too!)

The back was made with one of the darker prints so there wouldn't be fear in sitting it on the grass for picnic time.

I used fabrics from DS line for Joanns: Picnics and Fairgrounds.  I really love this line for summertime sewing (and even better that you can get it with a 50% off coupon!) and can't wait for her next Joanns line next month!

Since this is a quilt and recipie show and I'm showing a picnic quilt, I thought I would share my favorite picnic recipe:

Image found via pintrest

My Family's Deviled Eggs

My family has made deviled eggs like this for generations.  I'm funny about my eggs and this is the ONLY way to make them in my opinion!

You need:

Eggs (however many you want, 1 egg = 2 deviled eggs.  I usually boil 9)

Mayo (Helmans is best)

Mustard

Vinegar

Paprika

• Boil eggs as you normally would
• Slice eggs in half, put yolks in bowl and put the white halves on a pretty egg plate
• In bowl with yolks add 1 lid full of vinegar (about 1 tablespoon), decent squirt of mustard (more or less to taste) and a big glob of mayo (about 1 cup) and salt and pepper.  Mix all until yolks aren't chunky.
• Put a spoonful of mixture into the sliced egg halves.
• Sprinkle paprika on top
• Refridgerate

There you now have the BEST egg recipe ever.  At my house we make these for all holidays and anytime there is going to be burgers on the grill!  And we have to make a lot since there isn't a single person who won't eat at least 3!  Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to check out all of the other amazing quilts and recipes over at Gen X Quilters and a big thanks to AnneMarie for putting this together!

On a Roll

It seems like I have somehow had a lot of extra sewing time this week.  I was able to make a great new E Reader case this morning.   I love this case!  It's roomy enough to have a leather sleeve on my Nook and store the charger as well.  The inside is made with soft Minky for that extra little bit of protection.

 

I'm loving this Summertime fabric.  I'm thinking I might have to get some more!

Summertime E Reader case is listed on my Facebook Site!

Did you think....

....that I forgot how to sew anything other than hexagons and Farmer's Wife blocks?

Well finally I have something else to share!  I was playing around with  designing templates in Word and then piecing them together.  I had so much fun I didn't stop at one and made three!  I did some more playing around and have 3 more template designs to make!

This one reminds me of sitting on a farm enjoying a yummy cup of coffee!

 

Mug Rugs are listed on my Facebook Page.  Have you checked it out yet?  You should!

FWQAL Week 8

I'm only a day late for my Wednesday update post!  Pretty impressive since I have been out of town this past week.  We packed up and went to visit family and have A's christening.  It was a wonderful week, and it's been hard adjusting our schedules to get back on track.  I did manage to get my Farmer's Wife blocks done today.  

 Block 17: Cats and Mice

This block was fun to do.  I was not very excited about those teeny, tiny triangles but it went a lot faster than I thought it would!

Block 18: Century of Progress

This is one of my favorite blocks.  It went together really fast and I like how sometimes when I look at it I see the purple star, but other times I see an orange cross.  I kinda want to make this block in a bunch of different fabrics and see how they change it!

18 done!

93 to go!

Hexagon Update Month 3

3 months into my crazy hexagon adventure and I'm still going strong!  I have pieced together 330 individual hexagons.  2 100 blocks have been finished and all put together.  The other 130 are just pieced together in rows of 10. 

 

200 hexagons all pieced and ready to go!

2    100 piece blocks done

14   100 piece blocks to go!

FWQAL Week 7

We made it to week 7!  And more remarkable, I have been on track for 7 weeks!!  

 Block 15: Buzzard's Roost

I continued with going with the colors in the book.  This block is very dark for me, and I don't really like it with all my others, although it does make block 5 (bat wing) fit a little better.  I'll continue on, but this is one of those that might get remade.  I don't mind that though, this was my favorite block to make so far! 

 

Block 16: Calico Puzzle

Such a fitting name....I do not like this block one bit!  The fabrics I like.  Especially those little strawberries.  It is one of my favorite Japanese prints that I have.  Makes me sad that I don't like this block.  It was a pain for me to make!  First it was a little small, so I redid one of the rows.  After that I noticed that one of the HST was upside down.  I fixed it 4 times, each time sewing it the was it was and not fixing it.  Ugh!  I would like it to be a little straighter, but I am NOT redoing this one!  Funny that it should have been so easy yet made me so mad!

16 done!

95 to go!

Summertime Picnic

I finally cut into my DS stash and created Summertime Picnic.  Is it bad to make a whole quilt top and not even make a dent in your stash?  I went overboard armed with my 50% off coupons and I think I have enough to last me forever!

  I designed this to be a pattern that would showcase prints (thinking I'm going to remake in my Loulouthi!)  I have a tutorial in the works that should be up next week!

This  quilt is for sale on my facebook page!  

Linking up to Sew Modern Monday...now go check out all the other awesome quilty things!

FWQAL Week 6

And now my week 6 blocks!

 Block 13: Buckwheat

I liked this block, I just wish my two colors in the twist weren't so alike.  It made it hard to distinguish the twist.  Although I don't think it needs to be remade!

Block 14: Butterfly at the Crossroads

This one was really quick and easy to make.  And I just love those green squares!  

14 down

97 to go!

Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July!

I hope your day was filled with lots of this...

and this....

Even though it was rainy here, it didn't stop us from grilling!

And now the sun is out and I hope the clouds burn off so we can see some fireworks!

FWQAL Week 5

This week's blocks resulted in my favorite block and one I could care less about.  I dreaded Block 11.  It just looked like so much cutting, blah.  I couldn't find the right fabrics and decided to abandon the method of trying to match my fabric choices to the colors in the original blocks (just not enough cream, brown and yellows in my stash!)  I am so glad I did.  

Block 11: Broken Dishes

This is my favorite so far.  I love the contrast and how that brown print just pops!  

Block 12: Broken Sugar Bowl

This block actually started out as my favorite for this week and I made it first.  I was excited about the fabric choices and the design.  Once I finished it I really didn't like it!  I don't hate it, but it's not my favorite.  Once it's mixed with 110 others I'll forget about it!

I can't wait to get to next weeks blocks (so much so that I might just make them today!)

12 Finished!

99 To Go!

Sample Quilt Top

**WARNING** Poor indoor, quick photographs were taken...please look past the bad coloring and creases. 

I few weeks ago I was asked to make a sample for the most adorable looking shop in Massachusetts!  I was so excited and the He Zigs She Zags pattern by Tallgrass Prairie and some Summertime fabric was coming to me!! 

Let me tell you, this quilt didn't happen without a bunch of issues along the way!  The shop owner sent me the fabric that was listed in requirements on the pattern.  Great!  Time to start cutitng.  Well after I got all the fabric cut for the zig zags I didn't have enough fabric for the appliqued flowers.  So we worked it out to do the stars instead (pattern includes star and flower shapes)  Not what either of us wanted but we would make do.  So continue sewing and sewing and sewing....ugh, bias work....and then I got half way through.  Yikes, no more big white triangles.  I had the amount of fabric that was supposed to be needed, I cut it the right way but why was I short half of the triangles.  My initial thought was I misunderstood the pattern and needed to cut the big squares into 4 triangles and not 2.  No big deal.  I would just cut the ones already done in half and sew back together.  Nope!  This made the triangles way to small for the zig zags.  There was absolutely no way that was the solution.  I emailed the shop owner (again) and we decided to just make the quilt half as big.  This made it look very awkward if I made it half the size.  Luckily, if I took some length off the rows I had enough sections to make 2 more rows.  That made the top much more visually pleasing and not like someone just gave up with a half a zig.  And the quilt is still a good size.  It's as tall as I am and I'm practically 6 feet tall!  Since the quilt was smaller now I would have enough fabric for the flowers (yay!) since I didn't need as many.  I actually think that this modified size is better for a snuggly quilt than the original twin size (unless of course you wanted it on a twin size bed!)  

Has anyone else used this pattern or heard about this fabric shortage in the pattern?  I find it really hard to believe that a mistake this large would go through testers, but mistakes do happen.  Or did I cut wrong?  If so what did I do so I don't do it again?  My advice on this pattern is to buy about a 1/2 yard extra solid so that if you want a twin size quilt you can have one!

Now that it's all done and ready to be mailed out and arriving at it's new home I really like it!  I was so frustrated through out, and swore I would never make this horrendous quilt again.....but now I'm already thinking about what fabrics I want to use to make my own!