I. AM. DONE. (At least 1/2)

Yes, believe it or not, I met two goals today. (Close your eyes, and imagine me doing the happy dance) I completed the color way "Moda" Breath of Avignon, Farmer's Wife's blocks for December, and thus the whole set to complete the quilt.  This means, I have done 110 blocks this year.  This color way was part of an online quilt-a-long, that started in February, so I got a late start on them, and had to double up the number I did per month to get the set completed by the end of the year.  The quilt-a-long fizzled out about the fourth month, but I really wanted to keep going and make my goal of getting them all done by the end of the year.

Let me say, that this was a much bigger task that I could have ever realized or imagined.  Most of the blocks are multiple pieces, complicated assembly, and tiny pieces, making it all that more difficult to work with in getting them together.  Some blocks should have been done in a paper piece method, but I am not talented in that area, so I struggled to piece these blocks.  Another area that I made an error in, was the templates I printed out were not at 100% scale.  Which, would have been fine, if I had made all the blocks with just the templates, but I bought into the quilt-a-long's use of Marti Michell's templates for some of the most repeated used pieces.  After the first 10 blocks I did in February, I made the decision to cut out all remaining 100 blocks, so that I could just sit down and make a block or two when I had short times to do some sewing.  About half-way into the next 10 blocks, I realized that my templates were off.  But since I had already cut out all the blocks, I knew I would be in for a struggle to get all the remaining blocks to fit together properly.  So mixing the full sized templates with the printed templates at less than 100% scale, made for some mis-matched pieces and blocks, as each block size was to be 6.5 inches square.  My blocks range from 6.0 inches to 6.5 inches, so I am going to make it work with the sashing when putting the blocks together.

So with further ado, here are my December blocks for the "Moda" Breath of Avignon color way....

Block Two

Awhile back, I started a BOM that involved applique. I finished block one with the technique called needle turn applique. I talked about it here, and after thinking about it for a few more months, I decided to do the next block by doing the technique by machine. I don't have to cut the pieces a 1/4 inch bigger, and do lots of hand stitching. So today, yes Christmas, I got the pieces cut out using heat and bond adhesive and ironed on and in place ready for taking it to the machine and stitch down the pieces with a nice blanket stitch.

Stay Tuned

I have a new adventure I want to try, so stay tuned to find out the result!

FQS Block 7

Here is block seven of the Block of the month club from Fat Quarter Shop, Designer Mystery Club.

If you are interested in joining their many block of the month clubs, just click here to look at all what they have to offer.

I have pictured the previous blocks below to give you a look of all the blocks done to date.


Block 6

Block 5

 Block 4

Block 3

Block 2

Block 1

November's Done

Yep, November's blocks are done. That's all I can say. Oh, other than, on to December's blocks!

Vintage Christmas Present

I have a dear friend / co-worker that loves all things vintage.  She is a big collector of the potholders that were crocheted into all kinds of designs and colors.  When she showed me her collection, she made a comment that it is a dying skill that now one does anymore.  I told here that I can do them because I can crochet, but had never made potholders.  I don't think she believed me, so when  I found this pattern on Pinterest, and thought about crocheting up a couple of them for her for Christmas.

Her kitchen is decorated in red accents, so I picked the colors red and ecru and whipped them up in about two hours.  I used cotton yarn to make them stronger and more durable, which is why the made up faster than If I had used cotton thread.

Then I looked through my dish towel fabric that I have, and found the perfect match, red and ecru!  The toweling is from Moda, comes 18"wide, hemmed on the sides.  I just cut to a length of 24" and hemmed each end.  A perfect match, if I say so myself!

Farmer's Wife Update

Well, remember a few posts back, when I said I would be posting my November blocks from the Breath of Avignon colorway, but it would have to wait until I got all of Novermber's done?  Well, as I so eloquently crabby stated in my blog yesterday, I still haven't gotten any sewing done yet this month, so I decided to share those November blocks that I did get done.  Here they are:

 

No Sew December



December is always a busy month for everyone.  It was even more so when the boys were little, but even now, I find that the month takes on a whole life of it's own.  Everybody is either super busy or out and it makes it difficult to get things done.  Most things that I normally enjoy become a chore.  I haven't gotten in one lick of sewing this month, not that I needed to get any done for gifts, but I get cranky when I am unable to sew.  On top of that, hubby has two gun shows this month, and that takes up two weekends.  We just did one of the two shows this last weekend, and we were slammed.  It was extremely busy, especially Saturday. 

 

But on Sunday, I was able to get a couple of baby blankets done for my Etsy Shop.  These blankets are college themed fleece fabric that have a crochet edging around them.  These get listed in my shop, but I have made hundreds for charity over the last couple of years.  I give them to my local law enforcement officers to carry around in their vehicles, so that if they come across a baby or small child that is dirty, they have a clean and soft blanket to wrap them in.  Most of the officers keep a couple in their trunks and use them more than I would like to believe that there is that much of a need. 

 

I listed one of the  yellow and green ones on my sight about two weeks ago, and it sold in a matter of two days, so I got busy and made some more and put them up in my shop yesterday.  I am hoping that people know that shipping becomes a nightmare the closer we get to Christmas.

 

PS...Could you tell that I have the bah hum bugs bad this year.  Maybe it will get better as we move towards Our Saviour's Birth!

 

 

 

Something Different

I have begun to make more items for the Etsy shop.  Here is a dog collar for a large dog, made out of yellow 1" poly webbing, with two Oregon Ducks logo patches sewn on each side of the collar.  I will be making several of these tomorrow, including more for the Oregon Ducks, some for the Oregon Beavers, and camo.  I also will be making them in various sizes, large (1" - neck size 16" to 24"), medium (3/4" - neck size 13" to 18"), and small (5/8" - neck size 9" to 12").

 

 

November's Farmer's Wife Blocks - Civil War

Well, nothing like the last day of the month to get this month's blocks done, but I'll take this win. BUT, it is only one of the two colorways that I got done on time this month, which is the civil war reproduction prints. I will let you know that I have five blocks done in the other colorway, so I should be able to get those done this weekend. Woot! Woot! That means I have only nine blocks in each colorway to do in December, meaning I met my goal! Then, after the first of the year, I can begin the task of assembling the blocks into the quilt tops.

Marketing Wren's Nest

I have been ubber busy making some more items for the Etsy shop (I won't bore you with them, but you can click on my Etsy store at the right, and you can see for yourself what is new).

I have also been working on my Farmer's Wife blocks, but I won't share those until I have at least one colorway done. Should be in a couple of days, I can post the Civil War colorway.

But, I have been reading the Etsy forum, and other blogs about branding yourself and marketing your products. I tried various forms of pricing my items, and just didn't land on one that I really liked. Then over the past couple of months, I have gathered a couple of tools and today I worked on my new price tags. For smaller items, I punch out of scrapbooking sheets tags so I can get the color I want - Pink! Then punch a hole in the top and punched the lace border on the other end. Next I stamped it with my Wren bird, done in pink ink, and finally I will tie a pink string through the hole that will allow me to attach it my items.

For my bigger items, I purchased good 'ole white tags, punched the lace border at the bottom, stamped it with Wren's Nest and my Wren bird, and finally I will tie a pink string through the hole.

It seems like a lot of work for just a price tag, but I am sure there is none like it, and it tells customers a little of who I am. I really like the lace border on the tags, and I know this is way different than any price tag I have ever seen. To top it off, it only took me an hour to make 25 large white tags and 78 small pink tags. Granted I haven't tied on the strings yet, but all in all, I like the outcome, and will use it as part of my brand!