Farmer's Wife Reproduction Print Colorway

I have been furiously working on my Farmer's Wife blocks the last two days. Puppy sitting is more than I remember when my dogs were pups! The weather has been cold, raining (with some snowflakes), and windy, so it has been an excellent time to hunker down inside and sew and of course keep an eye on the pup!

This is the other colorway, Civil War prints, that I am doing. I am a slow piecer when stitching. I don't chain piece, or use any fast tips in my sewing. I feel my quilting is a process rather than a marathon or a competation. I probably use more thread, because I only stitch two pieces together, then press before I do the next pieces. I have always wanted to enjoy each step, which emerses me in a very comfortable state. A happy slow paced state!

Farmer's Wife Blocks

These are the last of February's blocks on the QAL in the Breath of Avagnon colorway.

Cutting

I haven't got much sewing done, just a set of criss-crossed coasters for a birthday present, but I didn't get pictures, before I sealed them in a package to the receiptant (darn, I'm still too new at this to remember things like taking a picture before packaging)

What I have been doing though, is cutting and cutting and cutting the blocks for my Farmer's Wifes quilt-a-long. Using the templates is time consuming, but the end result is as close to perfect as any other method I've used. I have cut out both colorways and have a little more than a quarter of them cut out.

Now, you ask why with a new sewing room why would I not be sewing, but cutting out blocks? Well, our weather has turned cold, raining, and windy the last couple of days, and we have a wood stove in the livingroom, where I can cut at a table, and be toasty warm (I am a complete wimp when it comes to being cold). Nothing beats wood heat!

This is our son's 7 month old pup we are watching for a week, while he is out of state getting training. His name is Lincoln. Isn't he just the cutest?

Critters

In my profile, I mentioned that we have a host of domistic animals and chickens. So, since I just recently read a post about "likes" on a blog that mentioned everyone always likes animals and pics of animals, I thought I would share our 4 four legged friends.


This is Junior, also known as, Tin Man (the shelter's name for him). DH also calles him, Junior Jones Junior The Third, bugger nose, little boy, brat, and snot rocket. He came to us via my son, who couldn't keep him anymore in the apartment he was living at. He hasn't gotten big like most tom cats do, and I swear he has rubber for bones, because he sleeps in contorted positions, and when he snuggles, he rolles up into a ball and purrs!

Next we have Sierra. She also came to us from one of our boys, via an ex-girlfriend. She is the great proctor for us. She has bionic ears and is better than an alarm system. She is also the groomer of the bunch, and gives everyone a bath when she can get them pinned. I can attest to the fact that the cats are not fond of the grooming routine, especially the sniff and lick of their behinds after coming in the doggie door.

This is Rufus, our only pure breed in the house. He is a Sheltland Sheepdog, commonly known as Shelties. He was a runt of the litter, so I got him at no charge. Rufus and Sierra are about the same age, and are inseparable. Shelties, like our Rufus, need lots of attention, are high maintenance, have sensitive tummies, and very sensitive feelings. He's expressive, extremely loving, and very loyal. his nicknames are, buddy boy, Ruffie, Wussy, and Fart Knocker (hence the sensitive stomach)

And finally we have Chunky Tuna (yes, DH is very creative in naming our pets). She is a chunk of a cat sounding like a moose when she fast walks down the hall. She is almost pure black, except for three white hairs on her chest. She is very aloof, cranky, and does not like anyone except DH.

We will be babysitting another son's new puppy next week while he attends some training out of state. I can only imagine how much fun that's going to be, especially for the cats, as I think they have reached their saturation point with our two dogs!

Moving the Sewing Room

The chaos of moving one sewing room to another is daunting, especially when you have as much accumulations (border line hoarding?) as I have right now. This is the reason I have not gotten much sewing accomplished this week.

This is what (chaos) you see when you first walk in from the kitchen.

As you turn to your left, this is my storage area of current projects. These are the IKEA shelves we got a couple of weeks ago.

Now, this is the right side of the room, where my big picture window is looking out on my chickens, backyard and garden. I think I am really going to just love sitting here to sew and see all of these things out my window, and I know I will enjoy the natural light.

I call this area my primative area, where I will be working with wools, and do my wool rug hooking!

Finally, this is looking the oppisite way from the first picture, showing the entrance from the kitchen and the door to outside that leads to the back patio!

Quilt Run Purchase

Boy, the pictures does not do the colors justice! This is a new line out from an emerging fabric company called Dear Stella, http://dearstelladesign.com/ (man I gotta learn how to do links). This line is called Mimosa, with a few pieces from Yard Sale. They have some really new and fresh free patterns. This young company from what I can gather started in 2011, their blog started in October 2011.

I picked it up on our Quilt Run 101 this year at Creative Fabrics in Wheeler, OR. When I saw it on display, I just had to have a half yard of each. The website has a free pattern out of this line and I think I will make it, as it is quick and stunning.

Next Birdie Stitches

This is block three.

This is block four.


I took these on the quilt run and while riding in the car, I managed to get two more blocks done of the project Birdie Stitches.