FWQAL – Status & Plan

I've been participating in the Flickr FWQAL in fits and starts -- I joined in a bit late, came charging out of the gate for my first 30 or so blocks, and then have been producing blocks, shall we say, intermittently since then. Last weekend, I made another block (#59 - Night & Day), photographed some others I'd made in the past few months but never posted, and made a mosaic of the 64 I had completed:

FWQAL: 64 Block Mosaic

Now, I never intended to do all of them; there were some that were practically duplicates, some that seemed more trouble than they were worth, and one that looked too much like a swastika for my taste, but I still didn't feel like I'd made "enough". So, I was talking this over with my therapist, and I actually hit on what feels like a good idea: however many more I get done by the end of this year (2013) is how many are going into the quilt. My general target is 1-2 a week, which would put the block count in the range of 80-100, and I'm planning to set them in a Garden Maze setting, so that, plus borders, should be plenty big enough.
I'm now up to 67, including the one I made last Friday:

FWQAL #059 - Night and Day

FWQAL #074 - Ribbons

FWQAL #056 - Maple Leaf

I feel like I've been working on these forever, so it's comforting to know that there's an end in sight.

FNSI - FWQAL - OMGWTFBBQ

FWQAL #059 - Night and Day, a photo by funkysmama on Flickr.

Oy, this block was a pain! I actually tried making it before by cutting out the pieces using the provided templates, then paper-piecing, and I just couldn't make it work.

This time, I started with the big triangles, then used oversized scraps for the others, which worked, but required a lot of trimming to be done.

While I was working on it, I kept asking myself whether I shouldn't have just put it in the FWQAL "skip" category, but once I finally finished it up, I was glad I did it. It's such a great graphic block.

See what other folks got up to on their Friday Night on Flickr!

FWQAL #080 - Single Wedding Star

Hey, just a quick post to show off the FWQAL block I made last night:


FWQAL #080 - Single Wedding Star

FNSI / Think Pink!

Decided to knock off two birds on Friday--1 for just doing Friday Night Sew In, and 1 for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge's final pink Saturday.

Before I could do anything, though, I had to clean up the pile of miscellaneous junk that had accumulated by my sewing area (right by the front door, unfortunately):



I didn't get an "after" photo, so you'll just have to trust that it was improved enough for me to actually work there.

First up was a partially done Farmer's Wife block, #50 Honey's Choice.  I'd gotten the sub-units done (with some wrassling), but hadn't put them all together yet.  This was also the first 5-patch block that I made using my new Marti Michell templates, which worked pretty well.

 

I'm not entirely crazy about the block--not enough contrast, and the colors aren't my favorites, but hey, it's done!

Next up: Disappearing 16 Patch in pink.  This month's challenge had suggested sticking to hot pinks, but I didn't have that much selection, so I went with the pinks I had.

First I laid them out:


Then I moved them around:


Then I told my inner perfectionist that it's a scrap block, so quit fussing & start sewing!  First rows of 4, then all together into a 16-patch, and then cut on the diagonal.




Walla!  Tucked them into the folder with the previously made orange, purple, and blue triangles and patted myself on the back.

I then spent about 15 minutes practicing free-motion quilting--just parallel-ish straight lines, noodled around with an idea for an AAQI quilt, and called it a night.

So that's my first sewing of 2013, and I say yay! In celebration, allow me to share the "Think Pink!" number from Funny Face:

ZOMGWTFBBQFWQAL!!1!

Oh, look! I made a quilt block!! First sewing I've done in months, and I'm as pleased as punch.

FWQAL 071 - Puss In The Corner

No templates, just rotary cut squares & rectangles, speed-pieced HSTs, and sewn together.

Farmer's Wife Quilt-Along Week 8

Hmmm. It seems that I have been doing more sewing than blogging. I'll try to catch up, but I'm not sure how much I even remember about putting these together now!

#17 - Cats + Mice (2nd try)

I liked the first one I made, except that points didn't match in the middle, and apparently I'm haven't recovered enough from my perfectionism to let it go. This started with 4 QST units, and then paper-pieced the rest.

#18 - Century of Progress

Progress, my size 11 foot! What's so progressive about having 12 seams meet up in the middle, I'd like to know! Feels like there's a dried pea in the middle of my block. grumble, grumble I think I made the first version (on the top) using only templates, and it came out OK, but there wasn't enough contrast between the two background yellows to really see the pattern. I meant to do the next version with the same "pinwheel" layout of the background, but accidentally cut my pieces so that half were reversed. I'm happy enough with the the little kites that came out, and I like these colors better.

#29 - Economy

I was frustrated after making my first Century of Progress block, so I wanted something Qwik & EZ. This fit the bill. Can't remember if I used the book's templates or if I just rotary cut the pieces, but either way it worked up nicely. I'm a little sorry I missed an opportunity to use larger scale prints, but I like the finished result.

#48 - Homeward Bound

Again, I was looking for something quick. I'm pretty sure I just rotary cut this one, although I don't really remember much about making it. I do wish I used fabric with a stronger value contrast for the corner squares.

#53 - Jackknife

Ah, Jackknife! This is my current pride & joy -- all rotary cut, no paper piecing. Same color combo as my first Cats & Mice, but much better results. The QST's were speed-pieced, and the corner units started as speed-pieced HSTs that had corner squares sewn onto them. All the point-matching was courtesy of basting glue-stick, which worked wonderfully.

#103 - Whirlwind

The paper-piecing foundation for this is actually in Anita Solomon Grossman's Make It Simpler Perfect Piecing (under the name "Twin Sisters") so I figured it'd be a piece of cake to whip one up. Xerox, cut, & sew -- what could go wrong? Well, you could cut the pieces backwards, for one thing. It meant I had to skip using the paper foundation, which wasn't so bad, but I felt the finished block didn't have enough contrast between the pinwheel and the background, so I went ahead & made another, this time cutting it correctly & using the foundation.

#19 - Checkerboard

Paper-pieced, no problems. I never used to care much for orange, but since (mostly) making an orange twinkling star, I seem to have grown much fonder of it.

Whew! OK, that's week 8. More to come as I continue to catch up with my blogging!

Important post about copyright, especially re: The Farmer's Wife

Stitching Fun: I'm calling "shenanigans" - There are limits to an author's rights!

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along - Week 7

Hi! My name is Jennifer, and I'm a Farmer's Wife-aholic! I've done 22 blocks in 8 days (not counting the last one, which I'm going to redo), so I'm caught up & then some. Maybe it's time to ease up a bit and get back to my myriad other projects, but this is such a fun project! Anyway, here's the skinny on this week's blocks.

#7 - Birds in the Air

Paper-pieced the first quadrant (top left), then I thought I'd give the next a try using templates (bottom right). It came out OK, but a little wonky, so I did the final 2 paper-pieced as well.



Rotary cut, with help from Marti Mitchell's templates. The top & bottom rows are one rectangle with corners cut off (rather than 2 HSTs plus a square) to keep from chopping up the fabric pattern too much.

#8 - Bouquet

Used the templates for this, and it went together quite easily. I'm also happy with the fabric combo on this one.

#11 - Broken Dishes

I made the HSTs using Jean Korte's free HST PDF paper pattern, then just sewed them into rows. Worked quite nicely, and definitely quicker than templates or even making 8 individual squares' worth of HSTs. The only problem was that the colors had me craving raspberry-lime sherbet.

#12 - Broken Sugar Bowl

Rotary cut, with HSTs speed-pieced. This was kind of a PITA, and I'm not sure why. I seemed to just keep making mistakes all the way through the process. In fact, the center square is 90° off, but I only noticed it when I was done, and I just didn't have the will to take it apart & fix it. The block still looks OK, I think.

#20 - Churn Dash

I needed something quick & easy after the previous block, so I chose this one. Rotary cut, speed-pieced HSTs. Phew!

#69 - Practical Orchard

Rotary cut, speed-pieced QST. I love making QSTs this way, seems like a miracle every time one comes together. The lighter yellow is actually the reverse side of the fabric, which preserved almost all of the pattern's detail, while toning the color down a couple of notches, which made for better contrast with the other yellow.

#13 - Buckwheat

Paper-pieced, with a pattern drafted by me using Anita Grossman Solomon's technique. I wasn't sure if the 3 colors had enough value difference to make the block work, but I'm happy with the finished block.

#41 - Friendship Star

Again, I wanted something I could whip off quickly. Rotary cut, speed-pieced HSTs.

#21 - Contrary Wife

Another quickie (I'm terribly afraid that I'm going to run out of easy blocks to do, and be left with only the hard ones.) You know the drill: rotary cut, speed-pieced HSTs.

#14 - Butterfly at the Crossroads

I actually used the templates on this one, and it came out OK, but for other blocks like this, I think I'm going to paper-piece.

#68 - Postage Stamp

I've been saving up 1½" square scraps from my other blocks. I had been thinking about paper-piecing it using Terrie Sandelin's miniature technique, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and just sewed the pieces up into the block. It probably would have been more accurate if I'd paper-pieced it, but this way was definitely quicker.

#15 - Buzzard's Roost

I used the "no-waste flying geese" method for most of this block. Not 100% happy with it -- I think the points could have been better. I probably would have done just as well just going with the templates.

#17 - Cats & Mice (1st try)

I'm including this one for, I don't know, journalistic accuracy? I paper-pieced this, but I didn't draft the pattern correctly, and the points don't match well enough. Definitely going to be redoing this one. The color combo's nice, at least.

Whew!

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along - Week 6*

So, I didn't have nearly enough WIPs/UFOs, so I took a running start and jumped on the Farmer's Wife bandwagon. I got the book on sale at Connecting Threads, it arrived literally minutes before I left for the holiday weekend, took it with me, and commenced making blocks the minute I got home.

My fabric/theme is 30's reproductions, which I'm just crazy about. Right now I'm working with the remains of a fat eighth bundle, again from Connecting Threads, but that won't make it the whole way, so I'll be forced to buy some more fabric. Tragic, really.

#1 - Attic Windows

I did this one mostly using Marti Mitchell templates (the A set), and I'm happy with how it sewed up, but I'm a little iffy on the colors. I'll probably make another one more in keeping with the overall theme.

#2 - Autumn Tints

This one may be my favorite -- I really like how the colors work. No templates here, just rotary cut the large squares, and strip-pieced the smaller 4 patches. (Made a little big, then trimmed after sewing).

#3 - Basket

The was the first time I used my machine's buttonhole stitch for applique, and it was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be. Pieces were cut from templates for this one.

#4 - Basket Weave

I did originally sew this in the same arrangement as the book, but even in the Easter egg colors, it still looked a little too much like a swastika for my taste, so I re-did the bottom half in the Roman Stripes arrangement. Strip-pieced.

#6 - Big Dipper

I've had this yellow solid fabric FOREVER, so it's nice to be using up some of it. By itself, it's a nice plain yellow, but oddly, when it's next to the green, it starts looking like a light green. Used the "sew squares together, cut on the diagonal" method for making the QSTs. (Is there a shorter name for that?)

#10 - Bowtie

I was a little worried that the red would totally overpower the block, but I think the blue holds it own. Made using the "small square in the corner of the big square" technique. (Again, is there a better name?)

#6 - Bat Wing

D'oh! Almost forgot this one! Put it together last night, using shiny new templates.

#9 - Box

Just whipped this one up this morning. I didn't want to chop up the plaid background too much, so I made this with 4 Flying Geese blocks around the central square.

#16 - Calico Puzzle

Also did this one this morning, and I'm not entirely pleased with it. The colors are kind of jarring to me -- maybe it should have been just two patterned fabrics and one solid, or even white? Also, for whatever reason, I kept making mistakes putting it together -- I had to rotate the HSTs a couple of times.

* Although it's my first week, it's Week 6 of the QAL.