March News

We are back home again!
All my good intentions for writing weekly haven't really gone too well - but today is another day.
So far this year we have caravanned all over north-east New South Wales, from the Queensland border to Tamworth, Hunter Valley and back up the coast. We were then home for 3 days packing for a Fiji and Pacific Islands cruise - read about it here on PetalliTraveller NEXT WEEK - and it is only the first week in March! I'm still unpacking.
I did have time to do some sewing. I finished a mystery baby quilt top, which I am very happy about and will definitely make more. Will post about that next. I also did another Farmer's Wife block, and some scrap string blocks, and of course some hexies. I even took a box of squares to make hexies on the cruise ship.

With not a lot of time for sewing while travelling, I was able to look at a few different websites, some of which I thought I would share with you.
*Angie at GnomeAngel is starting another sew-along next week. I'm thinking about it 😍, but still doing her Farmer's Wife Sew-along - and a long way behind.

*Lynn at Simply Colorful started a new mystery called 'Row by Row' while I was away. I am starting that today, but only making the baby quilt size. I still have to finish her sampler mystery, and her Brown Paper Bag mystery.
*Aussie Hero Quilts (and laundry bags) is in need of more sewers. If you can help check the website or FB page.
*Also in my email I received news about Quilter's Diary changing not only their website, but also their name to NewQuilters. Check it out, lots of hints and good ideas.

Farmers Wife #22 Cat

My first thought seeing Cat was look at all those tiny little pieces. Next it was what fabrics will I use? 
Once I started piecing it wasn't that difficult. However, I did lose some of my points, so don't look too close ☺.
The Gnome Angel tutorial can be found here.

My thoughts on the letter 'The First School Day' 

by Glad - after - all,  1935

Glad - after - all expresses her feelings about dropping her 'baby' to school. She talks about her aspirations and dreams for him in the future.

It is often difficult to leave one's child with 'strangers' and under someone else's control, even when one knows it is the right thing to do. Over the years I have seen many different reactions by parents as they leave their children on the first day of school, all appropriate,  just different. 

Quote: Children grow, and parents will always watch out for their children, but the emotions felt by parents on the first day of school are very strong and very raw.

Farmers Wife #13 Belle

Week 3 of the Quiltalong - #13 Belle is a good block for fussy cutting and my first thought was to do exactly that, but the fabric selection I've chosen - Downton Abbey by Andover Fabrics -  wouldn't really work with fussy cutting.

You can find the GnomeAngel tutorial here.

I'm having a little trouble with the measurements for the triangles in the rotary cutting instructions on the CD. I'm not sure what the single measurement refers to in the triangles. Is it the two equal sides, or the long side? It's worked out ok so far, but in Belle it just didn't work out.

This block involves Y seams. I started doing the Y seam on the blue block - see below, and it was ok, but I lost some of the points. You can see Jinny Beyer has a video tutorial for Y seams, and I watched it as a refresher, but I think it is the size of the triangles that is causing me grief.

So I decided to change the sewing of the block. Angie at Gnomeangel has a 'cheat' in her tutorial, but I decided to do my 'cheat' a little different. I wanted to keep the large squares as one piece. I got out my trusty grid paper and started to draw the block and different ways I could 'cheat' on the block. This is what I came up with:

Much happier with this layout, and it will still look like the block. I need to trim the 'dog ears' in this photo.

 

My thoughts on 'Gift, Fun, Fellowship 

by Merry Christmas 1935

Merry Christmas talks about the tradition of a family Christmas. My early memories of Christmas were waking early - only day us kids woke early - opening presents, taking a bus ride to Maroubra, and a hot roast lunch with my Grandma and Auntie M and Uncle D. We would open more presents, maybe go to the beach if the grown ups would take us, and then what seemed the longest bus ride home again. 

We had a large extended family, so a family gathering was usually held some weeks before Christmas. As we got older the family gatherings would be at different times of the year, sometimes for a reason - birthday, celebration day, - sometimes for no other reason other than we all wanted to get together. All the aunties and uncles and cousins and second cousins and in-laws and friends etc. would meet at one family members home and we would talk as though we had seen each other only weeks before, when in reality it could have been a year before. We all brought food to share, presents for the kids if it was Christmas, and a good time was had. We always looked forward to family days.

Today, family days are few, except for weddings, special birthdays and anniversaries, and sadly funerals.

It is the funerals that make one think about the good times 

and the times that will now be missed.

So before I cry .... here is my quote:

The presents under the tree don't matter - the people do!

Happy Sewing

Allison

Farmer's Wife Block #20 Caroline

I spent the last few days at a wonderful family wedding interstate, so today was my first change to do last Thursday's block #20 Caroline. You will find GnomeAngel tutorial here.

I had some trouble with the sizes of the triangles, as only one size is mentioned in the rotary cutting instructions on the CD. So I went back to GnomeAngel tutorial instructions to find the other guest tutorials. Elven Garden Quilts explained the way to cut both the small triangle, listed on the CD, and the larger triangle. The larger triangles are twice the size of the one listed.

I followed the instructions on Elven Gardens Quilts tutorial and cut out small and large squares.

Like Jess at Elven Gardens, and many others, I like to chain sew pieces when I can. As I am doing two different colour-ways I had cut out all pieces for the two blocks.

I also like to iron smaller pieces before combining to make the desired block.

The finished pink tone block.

My thoughts on the letter :- When I Behold the Heavens

by What-is-man July 1933

What-is-man talks about common everyday events that often go un-noticed and how life is the "most complicated" of all. That made me reflect on how one often forgets about the simple (and complicated) parts of ones self. 

You are important. I am important. 

Stop to enjoy the little things. 

Walk in the park and stop and listen to the trees, the birds, the everyday sounds. 

Have a drink of water and taste the water in your mouth, breathe and feel the breath in your body. Look at the details around you. Close your eyes and feel....

A person is more than a name, more than a job. 

What defines us is up to us.

We are the miracle!

We need to embrace all around us.

 

The finished purple tone block.

Quote:

Each new day is a chance to make a new beginning.

Count your blessings, live with gratitude and love with all your heart. 

Happy Sewing
Allison

Farmers Wife 1930 Sampler Quilt #14 Betty

Week two of the Farmers Wife QAL and the first block this week is #14 Betty. You can see GnomeAngel Tutorial here.

Here are the two blocks for #14 Betty. I decided to use a dark green fabric on both colour ways as I think it works.  I'm not doing a Christmas one this week.

Angie at GnomeAngel likes to iron the seams open, but I'm not a fan, so my seams are usually pressed to the dark. It does make some small parts of the blocks a little bulky, but I don't mind that. I also love making the little tiny four patch when pressing my seam the same way.

You can see that either my cutting or seams were a little out. However, I was able to adjust to make all the points and matches correct.

 

 My thoughts on the letter by Music Maker, 1933.

Music Maker talks about her greatest desire, and how it was difficult to achieve for many reasons. Money, time, energy all take its toll on our dreams, but if it is a passion one will find a way to do it.

My passion was teaching. I had always wanted to be a teacher, even as a small child. It was my hobby. I enjoyed working out different strategies for different levels of learning. I enjoyed making resources - as many were not provided - and took great satisfaction in seeing the faces of the children as they played, when I knew they were really learning. I use to think I was so lucky to get paid for doing something that I loved. But that was in the past. The passion is gone. 

I've always been creative and have been doing quilting since the early 90's. I have been journaling since I could write, and blogging for the  past 6 or 7 years. I started family tree when I was 12!

These are my passions now, and I'm going to make them work. I have more time to spend with my family and more time to spend on me .... and my passions.

Two quotes came to mind today:

Nothing is really work, unless you would rather be doing something else. J.M.Barrie

and

Life is a journey and it is never too late to chart a new course.

Happy Sewing
Allison

Farmers Wife - #12 Becky

I really had to do some house work before starting, so didn't get to my emails until after 8 - but that's ok, I'm not on a deadline.  
 First block is #12 Becky - tutorial from GnomeAngel

I used the rotary cutting method and machine pieced, making three blocks in total. 

The first block I used Christmas left overs from 'special presents' that I have been working on. I just guessed the measurements as I haven't looked at the CD that came with the book yet. I did make a mistake, forgetting to add the 1/4" seam allowance on some pieces, so had to add a strip to make it 6 1/2" sq.

The second and third blocks I used Downton Abbey Collection, in two different colour tones. One pink/rose tones above, and the other in purple/blue tones.

Each block was inspired by letters written by 'Farmers Wives'. Angie from GnomeAngel wrote about her thoughts on each letter included with the blocks. I thought that was a great idea, so I'll attempt to give my own thoughts of some of the letters.

My thoughts on #12Becky letter: Quit Merely Existing by Emancipated, 1934.

Emancipated talks about living life to the fullest and her reasons for saying that.

Everyone has a different story but no matter what one's story is, it is important to remember to have a balance in one's life. It is easy to get bogged down and so busy that one forgets about what is important. With me it was work. Life was 6 days (and nights) working with only Saturday to myself, and I usually did sewing. Recently I had even given up Saturday's with the constant increasing and demanding workload. It only took 'the last straw' - you know the one that broke the camels back - to make me realise that life is short, it could end tomorrow. I needed to refocus on what I wanted, not what everyone else wanted of me. Family and friends are important as is having a balance in life. I didn't have that balance, it became all work, and as a consequence I didn't have time for family and friends. Life should not be all work and no play. 

I took time out and did 'me' stuff - reading, painting, family tree, photography, and yes, got back to sewing. It took many months to start sewing again, I just couldn't focus on what sewing I wanted to do. This quilt along is just what I needed. As Emancipated says

'live a glorious, full life'.   

Happy Sewing 

Allison