Farmer's Wife Quilt - Finished!

 My FWQ is finally finished. I started it in late June and finished in early December. I did almost all of the piecing within three months, then there was a lag of about two months while I worked on my master's coursework.

The room is suddenly so colorful - I love it!

 The last few days have been taken up by finishing the binding by hand. Though it makes my fingers ache, it slows the time down and totally relaxes me.

 I was very daunted by the prospect of using my sewing machine, the Swedish/German Pfaff, to do all of the free-motion-quilting (FMQ - not to be confused with FWQ!). But FMQ was the biggest reason I bought it  (my little Brother was so basic that I couldn't even lower the feed dogs). So I have been practicing on potholders, table runners, and pillows that are all going out for Christmas gifts. Still, I didn't think I would be able to really handle the bulk of a queen-sized quilt under the arm of my Pfaff.

 

But I just went for it. It was not as difficult as I thought it would be. As an FMQ novice, I took about five hours spread over the course of three days to quilt it. I did have to rip out some of the quilting where I moved the quilt faster than the needle could sew, causing some awful looking tension problems on the back.

 And I think it looks good! It's no professional job, but it was a huge learning experience for me. The whole quilt, in fact. From the very traditional and difficult piecing, all the way to the large scale quilting. I am glad I decided on FMQ, rather than anything more intricate. I think the intricate piecing of the individual blocks needs no competition. Plus, I like how I unifies the quilt, despite all of the pattern and color going on.

Late English autumn means that opportunities to photograph something in decent lighting are very limited. I took my quilt out to a sports field, where the wind was so strong that I had no other option but to photograph the quilt with the sun right behind it. The upside was that my friend, Aneta, and I didn't have to hold the quilt - the wind plastered it right to the fence! Because the sun is behind the quilt, you can pretty much see how the backing looks (oops, forgot to photograph the back!).

The position of the sun does give it that interesting stained-glass effect that I like.

And soon, when Christmas is over, I hope to start on the next big thing!

More progress

 There is precious little time for blogging, but I wanted to put up a few photos. The Farmer's Wife quilt top is finished...I think. I may widen the sides still, but I have until the backing fabric arrives before I commit to that. (Pay no mind to the religious icon hanging near the bed - I loved it when I bought it in Greece...but next to the bed it just doesn't belong - husbands joke!)

 In the meantime, I'm making a row of extra blocks, possibly to piece onto the back...another "we'll see!"

When this project is over, I will resume a few others, already lined up in the queue. There are random quilt blocks I've made out of curiosity, an unfinished table runner for my grandma, a hand-quilted pillow top I'm making from Hungarian fabric, and that gorgeous feather block you see in the center. The feather is a pattern from Anna Maria Horner that reminds me of something from Anthropologie- I'm thinking wall-hanging. Sewing is the perfect respite from all things stressful - namely, the environmental law class I'm taking!

More to follow soon!

Farmer's Wife. Continued.

 I am still plugging away at my Farmer's Wife Quilt. I actually have three more blocks to piece together, but have already begun putting together the quilt top itself. To some, it may be a haphazard way to work, but I am more inspired by the visuals of putting it together. This way I can amend the last of the colors I will be adding to this mix. Also, I have been studying away for my degree and it is taking double the time I thought it would take during the day, so there are fewer hours left for sewing.

Tall Pine Tree

 The FW Quilt is spreading like wildfire throughout the online sewing community. I'm happy to say that I've been part of the torch relay and a new group has started up a sew-along on Threadbias. If you're thinking about trying it, I would highly recommended participating or at least referencing this group. There were a lot of bumps in the road that I had to just figure out myself, and it's so much better to learn from someone else's mistake rather than have to pull out the seam ripper!

Two types of settings that will alternate

To include here what I mentioned on the group forum, I will say that I had a lot of trouble on block size consistency, no matter how careful I was. I will take some hits for shaving too close to the template paper, etc, but in the end I felt like some templates were slightly off (again, as someone mentioned, maybe it was my printer). Also, I found some template repeats - my number 3 was equal to my number 12. And some blocks I found I could piece by eye after a while!

This is called Waste Not - but I prefer Ninja Star!

Wedding Ring

Wild Geeese

 In the end, if you find your blocks are slightly too big or too small, you may not need to worry if your sashing is forgiving. For example, since I'm alternating squares by putting every other on "on-point," I have some leeway there. I was also able to make adjustments in the seam allowances for my blocks that ended up a half inch or so too small. My final block size is 8.5 inches with the background fabric sewn on.

These would make cool wall-hangings themselves..

Now I just have to make a decision on how I'm going to put together the back, and how I will quilt it. By hand? By machine? Maybe a combo? And what design? I want something simple, but also something that I haven't done before. I hope I can have this quilt finished by Thanksgiving! There, now I have a deadline - let's see if I can meet it!

More Farmers Wife Blocks!

Friendship Block

Quilting is coming second or third these days, while I enjoy the last couple of weeks of summer. The last couple of weeks of freedom with my little girl before she starts school for the first time.

Honey's Choice

So I'm squeezing in time for sewing only after I've put in some time doing other things. The things I am really going to miss come September...the spontaneous walks, trips to the pool, and yes, even playing Barbies.

Old Windmill

But I have not forgotten about my Farmers Wife quilt. I am loving this long, meditative process. I love picking out random fabrics to combine in different ways for all of this crazy geometry. When I get a window of time, I put on some music, or a podcast (This American Life is perfect - an episode lasts just about as long as it takes me to make one block or two), and I get to cutting and sewing. 

Peace and Plenty

It's the most wonderful hobby. I reached a point this year when I thought I could take it beyond the realm of hobby into business, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet. I'm fortunate to be able to stay-at-home with Isabella, and each time I tend to speed away from that I find the need to put the brakes on. For me, it's not the moment yet.

Noon and Light

Because of this, I recently made a very difficult decision to turn down a place at a great university in London because it would compromise me a little too much and Isabella would need after-school day care. Though lots of parents do it, that was a sacrifice I had no real justification for. Like I said, just not the right moment.

Maple Leaf

 But I will be studying again, just online. We shall how that fits - I am optimistic and getting excited to start learning new things again. (It's interesting to see how those last few sentences reduced a weeks-long agonizing decision into such simplicity. I think that if my ego hadn't been party of it, it would have been very simple indeed.)

Mother's Dream

 In the meantime, there is no shortage of learning new things with this quilting process. Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy line makes these blocks come alive with whimsy and cheerfulness. And some blocks are downright frustrating.

Bat Wing

I think I've got nearly 60 blocks now, not all of which are pictured below. There are at least two blocks that I don't think I am going to do at all - both of which are flower baskets. The flower pots were stretching it, too. I think they may be a little bit too country-style for me. Maybe I will change my mind - we'll see!

Check out my Threadbias page for photos of all the blocks so far!