Blogging A to Z Teaser

Hey all!!
It has been 7 years since I completed the Blogging A to Z Challenge.  I always had plans to do it again, but all my good intentions of blogging at all seemed to fail.  But this year I am signed up ... and I will triumph!

Many years ago, when I started quilting, I fell in love with sampler quilts.  I started working on random blocks with homespun material thinking that someday I would have a wonderful sampler.  Throughout the years I added blocks, re-worked blocks, decided on a layout, changed my mind, and then put everything away again.  Well I decided to bring this quilt back out, hopefully for the last time, and complete it during the A to Z Challenge.

I am adding blocks for each letter of the alphabet.  I will have a total of 42 blocks when I'm done, some letters with be represented by more than one block.  Each block measures 9 inches, but I am bordering each block to get them to be 11 inches (finished).  I am pulling most of the block patterns from two different books; 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks and Marsha McCloskey's Block Party.

I have also decided on a sashing that I will be adding as I go.  By the end of April, I should have a completed quilt top!

I hope you all enjoy the posts!  I can't wait to get started!!

Until next time ... Happy Sewing!!

Cat

On Ringo Lake - Week 1

Hey all ... so obviously Mom and I took a long hiatus from Farm Girl in order to work on other projects.  We have been talking about getting it back out to work on but lately there has just been other things ... like the Bonnie Hunter Mystery 2017!!  (For those of you who don't know about Bonnie Hunter, her website and blog are here.)

I love Bonnie's quilts but had never heard of her mystery quilt that she puts out each year, until last year.  In 2016 I followed along with her clues each week but did not start the quilt top until I had a few clues and felt a bit more comfortable (I was really nervous!)  Then I was hooked, and completed my top sometime in the spring.  I haven't found the perfect backing yet, so it remains unquilted.

This year, Mom decided to do the mystery quilt also.  Mom switched up her colors a bit from what Bonnie suggests, using black, yellow, and a greenish teal.  I am keeping mine brown, melon, and a blueish teal.  Since Mom and I live in the same house and use the same stash, we figured we better use different colors.

A couple of our friends are doing the quilt also, and came over to our "Happy Place" for a mystery kick-off sewing party.  Everyone is doing different colors so I can't wait to see how they all turn out.  I forgot to get a picture of everyone, but below are mine and Mom's finished Clue 1 pieces.  It's difficult to tell in the picture, but mine are on the left.  Thanks Bonnie for only having us do 50 of these ... I'm a bit scared for the next clue!!

Until next time ... Happy Sewing!

Cat and Sue

Yay for Spring Break

It is true that I abandoned Mom for a short while. I have been feeling quite bogged down with the day job, so doing anything else feels a bit overwhelming. But Spring Break is here! Hooray!! I am slowly catching up to Mom's total of Farm Girl blocks. I finished Pie Cherries on Saturday and will complete my last one this week. Mom is anxious to work on her next block so I really should "allow" her to get back to it this weekend!  LOL!! It's not like she didn't have anything else to work on anyway!

FYI ... If you are working on this project too, make sure you don't put the stems of the cherries together backwards. I had to rip out 4 seams because I wasn't paying attention to the size and shape of each stem ... they are slightly different. Overall it was a pretty easy block, and of course I had to use cherry material for one of the cherries.  :)

Until next time ... Happy Sewing!

Cat and Sue

On My Own

Oh, to be on my own! Cat has abandoned me, though not permanently! I am having so much fun making the Farm Girl blocks that I am ahead by two blocks. I completed Corn and Tomatoes, Momma Hen, Crop Block, and Apron Strings. Cat finished Maple Leaf and Churn Dash. I wanted to start another block but Cat said I was not allowed until she caught up! The nerve telling me I could not sew!! "Sew" I have been working on other projects; doll clothes and curtains.

This is truly a Mother and Daughter experience. We are in the sewing room usually every weekend and we laugh, sometimes hysterically, eat chocolate, and have the best time picking out fabrics from our stash to use in the Farm Girl blocks as well as our other projects. The phrase, "We need more fabric!" comes up quite often but we come to our senses, raid the stash again and usually find fabric that will work.

Time to get back to sewing. Until we meet again!

Cat and Sue

The Fourth Set

Last weekend Mom and I completed our fourth set of blocks for our Farm Girl sampler quilt. Mom did "Milking Day" and I choose "Old Glory". We are getting the hang of the smaller size (each block is 6 inches finished) and there was considerably less cursing on my part putting the pieces together. I'm not sure if you can tell by the picture, but "Old Glory" is a little short. I don't really know what happened there, but my plan is to just make the outer white borders bigger to fix it. 

When I got done with my block I put all 8 of them together for one picture. Mom and I were "oohing" and "aahing" at how well they look. I am loving the materials we are using ... I am a huge scrappy quilt nut anyway, but the bright and 30's patterns are just so fun! 

Mom did her block for this weekend, but I did not.  I am a high school teacher by day, and it's getting toward the end of our grading term so I was grading most of the day. Speaking of grading, I better get my butt back to it.  :-)

Until next time ... Happy Sewing!

Cat and Sue

"Snow" Day ... Sew Day

On Monday this week, our area got hit with some freezing rain and ice. It wasn't as bad as our last ice episode, but the roads were slippery enough for many businesses to close for the day. Yay! Mom and I both got to stay home! Sew Day!! We decided to each do a Farm Girl block and a "special episode" of Mother and Daughter Sewing Experience.

After the first two blocks I completed, I really needed to pick something a little more simple ... bigger pieces, less matching seams, less bulk. Mom was working on a personal project as well so she wanted a block that would sew up pretty quick. Mom's is left; "Kitchen Window", and mine right; "Out to Pasture".

I definitely had less stress putting this block together. Now to find some red gingham for my next block. :)

Until next time ... Happy Sewing!

Cat and Sue

Farm Girl Week 2

Mom and I finished our two blocks for this week; Mom did "Baking Day Block" (on the right) and I did "Peas and Carrots".

Again, Mom's block went together better than mine.  She picked out the material last week, and went giddy over the green roosters.  We knew we would have to go find the brown for the spoon, though.  So yesterday we took a ride to a fabric store about 45 minutes north of here hoping they would have a cutesy brown print. Nothing cutesy, but she did find a brown dimple pattern that worked.

I also picked out a block and materials last week, but I wanted a red gingham print to complement the other materials. While shopping, I picked out two gingham type materials, but when I got them home one was too pink-y and the other too orange-y.  Anyway, as a result, I picked out a different block.  I love this block, but some of the pieces are puckering and it came out just a tad too small.  I'm hoping we can make it work instead of re-doing the block.  Fingers crossed!

On our excursions yesterday, the fabric store we went in to must have been doing a "Farm Girl" class because on the wall of their classroom were some completed 12-inch blocks. Mom and I are very happy we are doing the 6-inch blocks. The 12-inch blocks just seemed to have been missing something ... maybe they were just too big. Mom said that they didn't seem to have that nostalgic feeling that the small ones do. I agree ... the small ones are just so cute and fun!!  :-)

Until next time ... Happy Sewing!

Cat and Sue