Saturday 11 June 2011

The Farmer's Wife-

I have started my Farmer's Wife blocks and what betther than to start a new project than a bit of admin.  I designed a simple spreadsheet to keep a progress on my blocks and templates and any of you are welcome to Click here for Google Docs so you can use it too!
I haven't had much experience of using templates before and after a bit of hit and miss cutting I found the easiest way has been to copy all the squares templates into one file and then print out, and then do the same for triangles and rectangles.  I am measuring each square/rectangle so I have a reference of the cutting size.  Many of the triangles will go onto template plastic as they get used a lot.  I will print the more unusual shapes onto freezer paper as these are not in many of the blocks- so a bit of a mix.  Now the blocks.   I am going where my fancy takes me so I started with Number 1 Attic Window 
I have no specific colour scheme in mind but I am trying to include as many of my favourites as I possibly can.  I do my usual fabric pull and then see how they look next to each other and keep getting out/putting bakc until I am happy.  Sometimes a quick process and sometimes not but this is where I like to spend a bit of time getting it right.  Above includes some Sukuko Koseki- calligraphy, Kumiko Fujita-text, Urban Chiks 1974 aqua,  Sharon Kessler- black/cream
This block is Number 39 Friendship
I already knew that I wanted these fabrics and this is a perfect block for fabrics that I only have the tiniest scraps of- Flea Market fancy vines for example.  The red is from Sherbert Pips (Moda), daisies are by Suzuko Koseki, rulers are Kumiko Fujita, text is Michael Miller's Dick and Jane Sentence Structure print.  The blocks are quite small, around 6.5" which I like.  I don't know how many I will do, I am doing this as a long term relaxing type project without deadline and I am hoping the end quilt will be a homage to all my favourite prints.
Have a great weekend :)
sib blog

14 comments:

  1. I like the idea of showcasing all your favourite prints! That last block especially is fab! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. these are great! i like how you added the prints with the words too :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. love the "see jane go" block! it is going to be a beautiful quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  4. These blocks are beautiful! I love the fussy cut center on Attic Window.

    ReplyDelete
  5. They're gorgeous Kerry! I just love all the little bits of fabric you've chosen.
    You're making me anxious to start mine, have to wait for the book to arrive *sigh*

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kerry, these are absolutely beautiful!! You have such a great range of fabrics in your stash -- and such a good eye for combining them! I may have to ad lib a couple of the FW blocks right now (my book hasn't yet arrived, boo hoo).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great plan to keep on top of the blocks Kerry. Love that your fabric choices are making these really you! Glad to see the blogs picking up on sampler quilts - they seem to have been a wee bit neglected in favour of the single repeated block quilt and I do love samplers!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You're a girl after my own heart. Oh how I love a good spreadsheet! Love the blocks too - I wasn't planning on joining the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along, but now that everyone is posting these amazing blocks it makes me want to jump in...

    ReplyDelete
  9. It looks great! Looking forward to seeing which other treasured prints appear in the coming weeks. I spent a lovely afternoon piecing blocks 1 & 2 today, hoping to manage 3 & 4 tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  10. So glad you are doing the FW QAL! I love both of these especially the friendship one. That is one of my favorite blocks in the book!

    ReplyDelete
  11. beautiful kerry! i just ordered my book on thursday, hope it gets here soon!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love your blocks! Your tracking system is a good one too, and I may just borrow your spreadsheet. I'm measuring the templates and using the rotary cutter and hst methods to do the piecing on some of the blocks, as I'm hating the templates really. And to keep track for now I'm writing directly in the book the date that I complete the block and any special shortcuts I did to make it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful - you have a great instinct for fabric combinations that really work well and result in dynamic blocks.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time out to leave your thoughts, I do very much appreciate you stopping by! Blogger is not sending comments through by email at the moment so I'll reply in the comments.