Farmer's Wife Quilt: Week ?

Hello friends! I've not been the most productive sewer - or blogger, for that matter recently. The summer always get's a little busier for me, Sew and Quilt is busier, I work more hours at my day job and take on a part-time Saturday job as well! I generally have more of a social life in the summer months too, oh and there's that fiance Robin of mine who needs attention every now and again ;-) and not forgetting that wedding I have to plan for this October in Maui! Needless to say, sewing sometimes drops to the bottom of the to-do list - though maybe not as often as it probably should though ...

I did squeeze in some sewing time yesterday morning before work and got two more Farmer's Wife quilt blocks done. I prepped them the previous evening and chain pieced them as quick as possible the next day. Of course chain piecing in a hurry isn't a smart idea for me as I managed to incorrectly piece the centre pinwheel in block #38 - only to notice after I had posted a photo on Instagram, oops! Oh well, all fixed now :-) 

Blocks: #37 Flower Pot / #38 Four Winds. 

You may have noticed in the title that I have no idea what week I'm on with the FWQAL... I need to address that asap and get back on track, I like to know where I am on a project otherwise I feel a little bit lost. I'm planning on sharing two new blocks a week with you on Friday's; Farmer's Wife Friday ;-) that should help me along a bit, I think I used to do this but didn't keep it up? I'm also about to embark on a new weekly craft project too, so I will update you each week on this too - more on that soon! and generally get a little more organised. Wish me luck! xo

Sewing Updates and More.

Where have I been!? Well, nowhere really. I'm just amazed how fast time has flown by recently! So since my very ambitious list of '2014 sewing goals' in my previous post, I've not really done that much :-/

Ok, I've done a little bit! ;-) 

I've been making a flurry of farmer's wife quilt blocks and had so much fun with them! I've noticed when I've pulled all my blocks together they all look very bright and 'pretty' so I wanted to tone it down a bit with some more muted tones, so that's what I've done with these blocks. In my next post I'll lay them all out for a progress report. Until recently I used to just make random blocks from the book I fancied making at that particular time, now I've got a little more strict so I'm working on them in order - which is sooo much easier! I have no idea why I didn't think of doing this before?

I think this is my new favourite; #26 Cut Glass Dish. The yellow fabric is a vintage piece from my stash, I have the tiniest amount so it was perfect for a bit of fussy cutting to use in my FWQ. The small floral is a Liberty Tana Lawn which is another stash favourite, and the cream background is the Le Creme Swiss Dot. 

So what else have I been up to? Oh, I left the sewing room, as I occasionally do ;-) and took a lovely walk around the coast where we live. The photo above is walking from Porthcurno, overlooking Logans Rock in Cornwall. 

AND … my fiancé Robin and I have finally made a decision and booked our wedding, we're eloping in Maui this October - I cannot wait!!!!! We got engaged in October 2012 (can't remember if I mentioned that on the blog here?) so I'm excited things are getting sorted! :-) and of course I already have grand plans for lots of dressmaking for the holiday! Let's see how I get on… Hope you all had a good month. xo

Farmers Wife Quilt Update

Oh how I forgot how much I love working on my Farmer's Wife Quilt. I cracked on with 12 new blocks over the weekend and had a blast! but yikes, did I forget how labour intensive they were!? These pretty 6" blocks may look relatively easy peasy to some, but not me :/ I'm finding some of them quite the challenge! Especially the one's with flying geese units, I'm avoiding those blocks at all costs now… 

An enjoyable challenge, but a challenge nonetheless. I think my general piecing accuracy has definitely improved over time so I'm looking back at older blocks and thinking "what?!". I'm also finding that since it's taking an age to complete my taste is changing as well, so I may need to update some blocks, oops! I'm also in a quandary about adding solid white to some blocks, until now I had only used patterned fabric? Now I'm undecided.

I've been making the blocks in sets of four at a time and chain piecing as much as possible - following Camille Roskelley's FWQ tips. She recommends doing them six at a time but I don't think I have a workspace that allows me that so I can get into a bit of a muddle doing it that way.  

How's your #fwqal going?

PS. apologies to some of my lovely readers who are kind enough to leave comments but I haven't got back to you! A lot of comments are not being fed back to my email account so I haven't been able to reply, agh.. blogger can be a nuisance. Oh, and you may notice a picture of MEEE! on the blog now, I know? what was I thinking!? but I figured it was high time to have a permanent photo of my on here - like every blogger. I've been meaning to do it for years but I never have photo's of myself, and I had to take one of myself the other day for a publication so I figured I would post it here too! Maybe the fwq blocks may distract you anyway ;) xo

'New' Vintage Fabric + Latest Farmer's Wife

I don't know if I've mentioned this before? but I'm addicted to shopping on Etsy! especially for vintage fabric. I normally go through faddy stages where I can end up spending hours, yes hours ... (and I wonder where all my time goes?!) hunting for lovely fabric to add to my stash. These two below are the latest additions...

I have a real weakness for kitchen inspired fabric, so I couldn't resist this delightful fruit bowl print. There's over 5 yards of it - which was the main reason to buy! So much potential. I do love a gingham too, and these primary colours are right up my street ;)

I picked up a vintage sheet this week too, I do a little happy dance whenever I get one nowadays as I can never seem to find them. This one is a bit of a gem as it's so bright, it will make a great quilt backing. Talking of fads, I've added five more farmer's wife blocks to my collection! I scratched an itch when I made two the other week, and I haven't been able to stop. Though I have to take a break from them again as I have other *must* projects to be getting on with.

From top left; #71 Puss In The Corner / #72 Railroad 

#106 Wild Rose & Square / #80 Single Wedding Star / #52 Hovering Hawks

My latest embroidery design project

I've been working on some embroidery designs for a commissioned embroidery project recently. Birds have been the chosen theme, and although I'm really not much of an artist - I eventually sketched out some cute little birdie's, all of which look rather plump! It seems there's no such thing as delicate skinny birds in my imagination! ;) The floral background is a new vintage sheet I got last week!

I also finished up two more farmer's wife blocks this morning before work. I have been neglecting my FWQ for so long! It was great to get back into the swing of it yesterday. Now I have a good selection of 1930's reproduction prints in my stash it's becoming a lot easier to make up the blocks carrying on with my vintage'y vibe. 

#18 Century of Progress / #2 Autumn Tints

On the subject of fabric, I also picked up a few fat quarters from the Briar Rose collection. It was Amy from nanacompany that inspired me to purchase after I saw those delightful pot holders. I couldn't resist any longer! I'm not sure what the future hold for these, but there will be petting and admiring in the mean time. xo

A Little Bit Country

MessyJesse - a quilt blog by Jessie Fincham · Post A Little Bit Country Posting as Jessie Fincham

Happy Thursday guys! Now don't you just love a great deal, and even more so when it's from one of these huge companies that seem to rule everything. Well I do, and that's exactly what I got last week when I was drooling over all the different quilt books I dreamed of owning on Amazon - I found this great little book for 1p !! Yes you heard me correct, a penny! It drew me straight in after eyeing up those pretty quilts on the front, I really love the traditional patterns and colours more and more at the moment so I had a closer look ;)

And so there it was, 'available from 1p', and as quick as a flash I added it to my bag and checked outta' there!

I've only just had a quick flick through as it's just come through my postbox now, but on first glance it looks very informative and gives instructions for lots of traditional quilt patterns, just my cup of tea. Also, more importantly how to use speed technique's, very much what I need to take lessons in with my quilt making ;) 

You can find the link to this book with my Amazon widget on the left sidebar and apparently it's still 1p!! Quick ...

And in other country news, I whipped up three more farmers wife blocks yesterday. It was such a pleasure putting them together in my new tidy craft room (more on that next week!) 

I used my new very, very cute kitty and scottie dog prints which are now available in the Sew and Quilt shop! xo

Post settings Labels book, farmers wife, quilting Published on 16/05/2013 18:06 Greenwich Mean Time Permalink Location Search Description Options

Farmer's Wife Catch-Up

Hello all! I'm not quite sure what week number I'm on for the farmers wife quilt-a-long, but I thought it was high time for a show and tell of my latest blocks. This is the first time I've put them together and I can really see how it's coming together, eeeeeeehhh I just love them!! I really like the idea of having them on a checkered background too (that's my tablecloth, by the way!). 

#51 Hovering Birds, #84 Spool

#69 Practical Orchard, #61 Northern Lights

#16 Calico Puzzle, #13 Buckwheat

I think these 6 might be my new favourites ... but don't I say that everytime? 

I will be back in the week, I've been working on my dutch pinwheel quilt today so I have updates to share with you! yay! I had planned to be posting last week but came down with the most awful bug all week blueghhh! still lingering, but my sewing machine was calling... I hope you are all well? Working on anything fun? Jessie, xo

Farmers Wife: 07/04

I have four new farmers wife quilt blocks to show you this week! I've been a little behind recently, but got cracking away on them over the weekend. I really enjoy making these, choosing fabrics is of course my favourite part :) though this can end up taking more time than actually making the blocks!? I'm using mainly 1930s reproduction prints, as I want to achieve a nostalgic look. Below is #30 End of Day, #111 Wrench and #37 Flower Pot, #75 Rosebud.

I have 9 in total now, although I have made 3 more but they have been rejected! I may think differently once I start laying them all out together, but it's not a total loss I will have to turn them into mug rugs or something? :) Jessie, xo

More Farming

Hello folks! I didn't get a chance to drop by on Friday to share with you my latest Farmer's Wife blocks, so I'm here today :) I finished up #29 Economy and #103 Whirlwind. I have made a bunch more since my first two blocks, but I'm going to re-do them, as they don't seem to sit together very well? I need to plan out my fabric choices more carefully next time! How are you planning out your colours/fabrics for each block?

Speak soon! Jessie, xo

New Fabric & Farmers Wife Friday

I was soo happy on Wednesday to receive my wonderful fabric swap I arranged with lovely Steffi of steffiscandyquilts, she was having a fabric giveaway a little while ago with some cute 1930s repro fabrics - unfortunately I didn't win the giveaway but I asked her if she would be interested in a little swap and she was :) they were definately worth the wait! I just love them all, and Steffi kindly included some extra pieces! yippee! Don't they look such a sweet bunch, all sitting neatly!

I also had some time to whip up a couple more farmers wife blocks, these were much simpler than my first two! Although, for this one #9 Box it was a little tricky because I had to match up the straight design of the red fabric so all my triangle peices were facing the right direction... it took me a few attempts ha!

I'm not so keen on this one now? #10 Bowtie maybe it will grow on me... it was nice and simple to put together though :) Have a great weekend guys! Jessie, xo

1st Farmers Wife

One of the main reasons I started learning to quilt this year, was because of the farmers wife quilt along. I was so inspired by all the amazing blocks I was seeing on the blogosphere - I thought I had to have some of that myself! 

I loved the idea of doing a sampler quilt, it really appealed to me to have such a mix of blocks and colours in one quilt :) I'm planning on completing two blocks a week as the quilt-a-long suggests - here's hoping!

So these are my first two blocks! #34 Flock was my vert first to complete. I thought this would be a nice simple one to ease myself in. I then got wayyy to ahead of myself and had a go at #27 Darting Birds, which as you can see, was a little out of my depth!! haha I am a beginner though :) I used my very, very precious PamkittyMorning fabrics from my lovely blog friend Melissa, which I had been saving for a special project and I think this fits the bill ;) Are you all joining in the farmers wife fun? Jessie, xo