Farmer's wife QAL Blocks 25 & 26: Crystal and Daffodil

Week 13 and two contrasting blocks in the  Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt Along.   Starting with block 25, Crystal, (p. 148, letter 184) which took me an awfully long time, I'll be sharing my foundation paper piecing tips for this one in my Periscope broadcast later today.  Jo Avery is guest posting about Crystal and she used English Paper Piecing- read all about it on her blog, she's talking about colour! 

Fabric credits:
Bonnie and Camille for Moda, Daysail Cross hatch in Aqua
Bella Solids in Peacock
Kona Corn Yellow

I was a bit wary of block 26, daffodil (p. 185, letter p. 106).  In the end I used the foundation paper piecing pattern from the CD - hence it is the mirror image of the book image, but I did make a minor change...

Fabric credits:
Windham Playdate in ditsy blue
Yellow: Moda Garden Project, Vintage floral pear 
Kona Citrus
Kona Sour Apple

I shortened the leaf in section A- you can see in the block diagram below:

On the diagram, I've covered up the original seam line between A1 and A2 and drawn a new dashed red line in as  replacement.  This changes the shape of the leaf and makes it a bit more delicate.  It makes no difference to the piecing of the block, it's purely an aesthetic change.

I used the freezer paper template technique as I did with Bride and many other blocks so far and all the pieces were pre-cut in this way before being pieced together.

Top piecing tips for this block:

• Use freezer paper templates to pre-cut all the pieces.
• Use water based glue stick like Sewline to stick the the first piece of each section.

Remember you can:

• Use the hashtags  Don't forget to use #fw1930sqal on Instagram and the Flickr group if you like to share there.  
• For individual blocks, you can use #crystalblock and #daffodilblock on Instagram. are using these hash tags, #fw25crystal,  #fw26daffodil, I'm using both hashtag systems.
• You can also copy and paste links to any blog posts you do on these blocks in the comments and I'd love to visit and take a look. 
• Watch and join in on Periscope.  I'll be talking about piecing  periscope.tv/@verykb at 2.30pm GMT today.  It will be available for 24 hours to replay before it disappears! Link will be in my twitter feed @verykb and I'll post on Instagram and twitter about 15 minutes before it goes out.  

Please note:  I have linked to my sponsors on items bought through them and elsewhere for anything that has come from other shops.

You can join the quilt-along at any time, all the posts are here for you to catch up with.  Back next Monday with Sarah Edgar of Pretty Fabrics & Trims and blocks 27 and 28.  They are quite fiddly blocks, lots of small pieces... deep breaths, it will be fine!

December at Village Haberdashery

I'm fitting my December sponsor visit posts in early this month to give you time for gift buying and supplies for Christmas makes, starting with Village Haberdashery.
Some beautiful checked woollens have arrived in store, great for capes , ponchos, coats, blankets and cushions:

These are a 80% wool/20% nylon band so you get all the benefits of wool with the added hard wearing addition of nylon which also stops the moths being attracted when you've got woollen goods in storage in the summer.  They would work perfectly with the April Rhodes Pop-Over Poncho pattern which is an easy make.  I would make the neck section from a sweatshirt fabric or fleece to avoid an itchy neck.

Also fresh in store are selected prints from Erin Michael's Purebred range for Moda.  Painter's Palette is my top choice from these.

 

I've been mentioning Fancy and Fabulous in my Farmer's Wife posts and Periscopes,  it has to be one of my favourite ranges of the year!   Warm sunny colours, a great variety of prints in different sizes and scales, what't not to like? Co-ordinating Kona's found here.

Melodies is a cute dotty style collection by Sarah Campbell for Michael Miller.  The green and red prints will work well for Christmas and beyond that and there are some gorgeous other colour options for the rest of the prints.  

This is Folk Floral Dot in Leaf and Poppy, also available in Teal and Fuchsia. 

You know I'm a sucker for Chambray and denim- I'm working on another chambray skirt today!  The Robert Kaufman Selvedge Collection has just arrived at Village Haberdashery and it looks like great quality fabric, perfect for a Grainline Moss skirt.   Due to the manufacturing process, these denims are narrow at 78cm/31" wide so do factor that in for clothing projects. 

In the new chambrays, the Alternating Dot in Indigo caught my eye.  This is lightweight with good drape- a shirting sort of weight, great for tops like the Archer and gathered/pleated skirts like the Zinnia.

I am keen on the one-inch Carolina gingham in classic blue/white.  Perfect for an Alder shirt-dress, a Fen, an Emery or Sylvie dress- so many options!

Annual  Colour of the Month Club memberships are on sale and makes a lovely gift for a keen quilters.  This is an example of November's colour.  Options include  5 FQs/month or 10 Fqs/month and the extra offer equates to getting one month for free!  January's colour is going to be yellow!

I've saved the biggest news from Village Haberdashery until the end.  Annie is looking for investors big and small  to help with her equity raising crowd funding campaign  for massive Village Haberdashery expansion plans using Crowdcube.   You can even buy shares as a gift for Christmas, contact the shop for help creating a gift card for the recipient.  See the full story in the video and read more about the details here.

The Village Haberdashery - Seeking Investment Via Crowdcube from Big Hair Films on Vimeo.

For those of you lucky enough to live in easy travelling distance of the Village Haberdashery shop, don't forget that there's a big sale in store on Dec 12th and 13th with 20% off in store and mulled wine + treats to eat to help celebrate three years since the shop first openedy.

 Meanwhile, online buyers can still find bargains with Ribbons and Trims discounted by 25% using the code TRIM20- this ends anytime! There are also bolt ends and bargains to be had in the sale section.  Enjoy x

Prep

It's crazy Christmas build-up time for many.  Busy at work, busy at home and a few finishes too.  I completed the Little Joys quilt- from the Fat Quarter Shop quilt-along and using Elea Lutz Little Joys prints for Penny Rose fabrics.  I am using this as a throw or cover for children's seasonal activities at work so it didn't need quilting. Instead I added Prairie points following Penny Layman's great tutorial.  

I've been despatching patterns, fabrics and books and with the proceeds I bought a Bernina walking foot which comes with three bases: here's the edge stitcher in action.  It is a beautiful thing!   I was fortunate to find it on offer a couple of weeks ago but there's no denying it is an investment.

I've continued to make felt goodies from Pipsqueaks by Sally Dixon.  I made a couple of tiny elephants and some kitties and have promptly lost the photos I took before they were wrapped and popped in the post.  The dachshund is a brooch.

And this tiny pup from the same book is a mini hanging decoration.  It took just over an episode of Fargo to make.

Farmer's Wife QAL Blocks 23 and 24: Charlotte and Coral

Week 11 and a couple of lovely and straightforward blocks in the  Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt Along.   Block 23 is Charlotte, (p. 182, letter 182) and from when I first saw this I thought the boat shapes in each half of the block would appeal to Jessie and sure enough, she chose this one to guest post: read all about it here!   Here's my version, the boat shape reminded me of paper boats made from newspaper so I used a Jane Austen text print and I love how it looks.

Fabric credits:
Riley Blake Ardently Austen- Text Black
Penny Rose Fabrics Hope Chest Blossom Yellow
Penny Rose Fabrics Hope Chest Blossom Teal

For block 24, Coral (p. 183, letter p. 138) I strayed from my usual construction methods to try out rotary cutting and piecing.  There are rotary cutting instructions for all the shapes in this block.  I did this partly because, when placed on point, this block is no longer symmetrical vertically and horizontally which means the foundation paper pattern pieces will give me a reverse or mirror image block because they haven't been reversed for the CD.  I also wanted to see how accurate I could be!

Fabric credits:
Riley Blake Fancy and Fabulous, Breath in coral
Windham, Heather Ross Tiger Lily Cat Grid in green

I'll show you what I mean about the symmetry.  Looking at the block square on, there is vertical symmetry, although not horizontal symmetry because of the little window shape.   If you want a square on block for your final quilt, foundation paper piecing block that will work fine.

Now the small block on point.  I've added a horizontal line to this one and you can see it is not symmetrical, it wouldn't be with a vertical line either!

If you do chose to foundation paper piece this block, you can use the rotary cutting instructions and just make your pieces bigger- ½" bigger is a good amount for me.   For rotary cutting, my top tips are:

Top piecing tips for this block:

• Chain piece where you can
• ensure scant ¼" seams throughout.  It doesn't hurt to test your seam allowances and see if they measure up.
• Press seams to one side and nest them where you can
• When joining the half-square triangles together,  dab little light fabric glue to hold them together rather than pins-  this keeps the bias edges undisturbed.  You can see the dabs in the picture.  Dragging the glue stick across the diagonal edge will distort the triangle.

The letter for this block has a timeless message to enjoy your children whilst they are still at home with you, something I am constantly reminded of with my daughter, currently in her last year at high school.

Remember you can:

• Use the hashtags  Don't forget to use #fw1930sqal on Instagram and the Flickr group if you like to share there.  
• For individual blocks, you can use #charlotteblock and #coralblock on Instagram. are using these hash tags, #fw23charlotte,  #fw24coral, I'm using both hashtag systems.
• You can also copy and paste links to any blog posts you do on these blocks in the comments and I'd love to visit and take a look. 
• Watch and join in on Periscope.  I'll be talking about fabrics and piecing accuracy on periscope.tv/@verykb at 2.30pm GMT today.   There's a lovely regular crowd who join me each Monday so please feel welcome to add to it!  It will be available for 24 hours to replay before it disappears! Link will be in my twitter feed @verykb and I'll post on Instagram and twitter about 15 minutes before it goes out.  

Please note:  I have linked to my sponsors on items bought through them and elsewhere for anything that has come from other shops.

You can join the quilt-along at any time, all the posts are here for you to catch up with.  Back next Monday with Jo Avery from My Bear Paw and blocks 25 and 26- they are a bit tougher next week although not as bad as the next week!  Have a peep at your book and you'll see what I mean...   

Knit one Purl One: Wool and the Gang Kits

Charlotte Hintzen of  By Hand London  recently got in touch as part of her new role at Wool and the Gang- she's leading a busy life working at two creative companies- and sent me a couple of the Wool and the Gang kits to try out.  I've chosen to blog about them as I liked what she sent and I thought they had great appeal to beginner knitters as well as established hat sock and jumper makers!

The first was Lil Foxy Roxy Scarf.

It's on offer this weekend with a very large discount - limited stocks!

Here's what you get inside:

Very chunky wool, lovely quality and a  beautiful set of rosewood 15mm knitting needles.  There's also a card wallet with a needle  to weave your finished ends in and pin to adorn your finished scarf.  The whole think is beautifully packages and the thick paper parcel bag makes a handy project bag.

I was an experienced knitter.  It was one of my first ways of earning money, knitting mohair cardigans during my teenage years in the 1980s.  These days it can cause my RSI to flare up, especially on fine needles but I really miss it.  The Lil Roxy Scarf kit is just garter stitch so I thought I would make a tentative offering to my husband and teach him how to knit.  He said yes!

He's not a sewer or a knitter so this was a totally new creative experience.  However, the size of the needles and wool makes for a much easier way to teach a beginner and gives fast and forgiving results.   Before I even cast on, I showed him the Wool and the Gang videos so he could see the mechanics of the process. 

We started last Friday and last night we cast off the finished scarf.  He is genuinely thrilled with the results.  I'm just about to weave the ends in and he'll be wearing it today.   A hand knitted 100% wool chunky scarf which is as long as he is tall- he's 5'8".

I'm going to try the Bonnie Beret kit next- slow and steady and I think the thickness of the needles will help me too, meanwhile, scarf is now in action...  

Dress Hanger Lavender Bag Tutorial: Black Friday Discount at Sew-Ichigo

Happy Thanksgiving to all USA readers.  I hope you are enjoying friends, family and food today!  I've just posted a new gift idea tutorial over at Sew-Ichigo to accompany our annual Black Friday sale offer starts today at Sew-Ichigo!   It's a hanging lavender bag  made using the dress from our Sew Very Christmas pattern set.  There's a free template  so you can add the hanger shape to the dress block.

There's a whopping 30% off all our patterns throughout our Payhip shop  ending Sunday night.

November at Plush Addict

Days away from Thanksgiving for all the USA folks and Black Friday offers have already started.  Plush Addict have a series of offers as well as lots of new arrivals so time for my monthly visit!

Lots of Jelly rolls have arrived including Kona roll-ups and this curated colour selection chosen by Rita Hodges of Red Pepper quilts.

Cat prints are always popular- they seem to sell so fast!  I like the simple style of this Baltic Cats print by Wee Gallery for Dear Stella.

It's also available in a dark pink cranberry colour.

Lots of animal prints have arrived- birds, penguins, polar bears, rabbits.  I like this Wilmington Jungle Jubilee flannel- this is the grey, also available in yellow.  A lovely print for pyjamas.

As you'd expect, there are lots of wintery/Christmas fabrics in stock right now.  I'm a sucker for graphic style house prints and this grey, monoprint fabric- Grey Winter Village by Studio E ticks all the right boxes for me. You can see other prints from the same range here.

Lecien have some similarly understated fabrics that whisper 'winter' rather than shout 'Christmas!'-Yuletime Ornaments in grey and also in red.

I must be craving calm colours today as my next choice is this beauty from  Kate Spain for Moda,  Murmuration in Sand

I couldn't resist this pug print from Cosmo.  I can see this making a great cushion with turquoise binding.

This Riley Blake fabric looks like it would be a great pairing with the pugs, Four Corners - Triangles in Teal

The rest of the Four Corners range looks good too- bold, graphic and bright.

In the Black Friday offers, the Gutermann Sew-All thread bundle is a great bargain.  Five spools of 1000m polyester thread, perfect for dressmaking and home decor sewing and there are lots of colour options.  I like to have big spools like these in white, black, natural/beige, navy and grey as they are my most used colours. 

For quilters, there's a great offer on Hobbs precut batting/wadding.  There's different kinds including premium cotton (craft size at only £4.62 and queen size at £22.68) and cotton blend in lots of sizes.  I have used Hobbs cotton blend a few times- its a good option for hand quilting as its quite light.  It needs stitching 4" apart.

You'll also find a multitude of fabrics with up to 80% off.  Offers finish Monday 30th November. Enjoy- there's lots to chose from!