Saturday, December 24, 2011

This Christmas Eve...

I can't believe that tomorrow is Christmas, and that we are just a week away from a New Year. Happy Holidays, everyone, and thank you for sticking around while I figure out sewing around my schedule.

So, anyway, today is Christmas Eve. Guess what I was doing?
Cheating on the Farmer's Wife
That's right ;) I finished a quilt top!

Actually, I finished this last week Saturday, along with the binding. I even got a portion of the backing done. It was an AWESOME sewing day.
The Backing
Everything in this quilt is from my stash - I'm starting to see a desperate need to start stockpiling again. My Double Wedding Ring top denuded my stash of oranges and lime green. This Bento Box quilt top has eliminated most of my aquas and purples.
Backing, View 2

I used some of my absolutely favorite fabric in the backing - Alexander Henry's "flora de los muertos" from 2004. (Yeah, I've stashed fabric for seven years. Haven't you??) I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but there are skulls interspersed through the fabric.

I bought almost a full bolt of this stuff. I wanted to quilt with it, and my husband wanted a Hawaiian shirt made of it... I can tell you which one actually happened ;)

So, anyway, the stats on this quilt.. the top measures 64" X 64", with sixteen 16" finished blocks. I couldn't tell you how many different fabrics are actually in this thing. I just cut until I thought I had enough strips. I spent two and a half hours this morning pinning the hell out the quilt sandwich. My goal is to be done quilting this by Monday evening, and, yes, I do have a plan for quilting it.

I'm determined to have a finish this year!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Cheating on the Farmer's Wife...

...and using up stash at the same time.
Cheating on the Farmer's Wife...

After making Bright Flowers for the Farmer's Wife Sampler:
#073 Rainbow Flowers
I realized that the block is, in essence, one quarter of a Bento Box Block.  I then decided that this would make a nice, quick, and easy project.

I was right about easy, it's been a couple of weeks, and I've only made eight full blocks as shown in the top photo. I'm refusing to purchase anything for piecing this top, so when I'm out of aqua and purple strips, I'm out. The top will be done at that point. I've think I've decided to quilt this with circles, to contrast the very strong straight lines of this top.

I've also decided that I'm ignoring where seams don't match up exactly. This is my 'easy' project for the year, which means it's the one the project where I just let things happen as they will.

So, this is where I've been for the last couple of weeks. I'm going to finish this top as soon as possible. I want to start actually quilting something soon.

Friday, November 18, 2011

More Farmer's Wife Blocks

I made another bunch of Farmer's Wife Blocks this past week. Big surprise, no?
#111 Wrench
#111 Wrench
I love the background fabric in this block. Unfortunately, I only ever found this fabric in fat quarters at Joann's. The black fabric is from one of StudioE's Essentials lines. I love those lines, though I don't buy much of them. Black and white fabrics in beautiful designs - total crack for me.
#053 Jackknife
#053 Jackknife
I resisted the urge to paper-piece the corner units. Instead I pieced strips and cut from there. I'm not a big fan of the black and white fabric, but it gave this block some much needed breathing space, so I'll live with it.
#049 Honeycomb
#049 Honeycomb
I desperately need to get myself some more of that delicious yellow fabric, I really do... But anyway, #049 Honeycomb. I actually used my Tri-Recs ruler for this one, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. Also, I pieced this without looking back and the book and actually pieced this incorrectly. The block as presented in the book looks like sheaves of wheat to me... I'm happier with this layout, so it's staying this way.
#072 Railroad
#072 Railroad
Another super easy block in which strip piecing methods made this a breeze. I'm really happy with the contrast of the strong aqua with the black and white fabric.
#073 Rainbow Flowers
#073 Rainbow Flowers
Kind of a boring block, in my honest opinion. Of course, looking at it, I realized that it's essentially 1/4 of a Bento Block and that with strip piecing, I could whip out a Bento Box top in a weekend. *sighs* Another project on the to-do list.
#092 Streak of Lightning
#092 Streak of Lightning
Far more dramatic than my last attempt at this block. And, of course, it's in red, white and black. I really do have an obsession with that particular trio of colors.
#051 Hovering Birds
#051 Hovering Birds
And, of course screaming bright green fabric had to make an appearance. Pretty easy to piece, though I did manage to avoid paper-piecing the quadrants with those big green HSTs.
#054 Kitchen Wood Box
#054 Kitchen Woodbox
More orange peel fabric! And I love the red/orange fabric here.

That brings me to a total of 38 blocks. I am officially over the one-third mark.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Some Steps to Health

I've talked a little bit about my health here before... Not much, because I've always wanted the focus of this blog to be my sewing, not my personal life. However, I've recently started feeling a lot of internal pressure to make better choices for myself.

As you all know, my mother-in-law recently had her left knee replaced. What you don't know is that my father has had a lot of health issues in the last couple of years, involving everything from having his gall bladder removed to a diagnosis of COPD. He's been getting his high blood pressure under control and is eating better...

Which is all great, and wonderful, and I'm proud of him and desperately happy to know he'll be around longer to see his grandson grow older...

But these health issues in the ones I love have just been making my anxiety over my own health just skyrocket. I've had a couple of anxiety attacks and have been growing steadily more morose over my body image. So, rather than let this drag me down some more, I took things in hand...

I purchased two-year memberships at a local fitness center for myself and my husband Wednesday afternoon.

Hubby is thrilled, which is surprising to me, and has reached out for this chance to feel better about himself with both hands. He's especially happy that there is a pool available for him to swim in.

For myself, I went both Wednesday afternoon and today after work. I'm taking things slowly - it's been a while since I had access to fitness equipment, and I don't want to cause an injury to myself that would discourage me from returning. Wednesday I simply took advantage of the treadmills and walked a mile. Today, I biked two miles, and walked another two.Not sure if I'll go Friday evening - my head cold is becoming worse, and I'd rather not spread the disease.

Hubby actually questioned the number of small colds I've had this fall so far - the answer seemed fairly obvious to me. I've been working in IT now for just under six months. That's six months in which my physical activity has been reduced to practically nothing. I have always been less likely to catch something the more physically active I am. Now I sit at a desk for eight or more hours a day, just to return home and veg on the sofa for a while. I think my limited access to people is the only thing saving me from a bout with the flu!

So, anyway... As cheesy as it sounds, I'm finally giving myself the gift of health. I'm giving myself permission to take an hour or more each day and focus on truly feeling better. This isn't about losing weight - this is about feeling my age and being free to run around with my son without getting winded. This is about being able to take stairs and not have my knees twinge with every step.

This is about giving myself a healthier future, where my body is working with me, not against me.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

This Two Jobs Thing...

... is cramping my style.

Don't get me wrong. I am absolutely agog that I can, for the first time in forever, pay rent and have money left over. Admittedly, I'm still doing the oh-so-adult thing and paying off credit cards and utilities with that 'extra', but I'm not stressing finances the way I used to.

Still, working fifty plus hours a week seriously digs into my 'free' time. Not to mention, my mother-in-law is still in the nursing home undergoing therapy for her knee replacement. So, that one, precious evening 'off' that I used to have each week has been missing for about six weeks. And Zeb is in a serious 'attached at the knees to mommy' phase. Thankfully, my mother-in-law will be home on Thursday, but no word yet if she'll be cleared for driving or baby-sitting any time soon.

I'm sewing when I should be sleeping, but to make the most of that time, I'm pre-cutting at odd, free moments. I'd hand-sew something on the way to and from work, but I need to prep more fabric for hexagons and I just haven't felt like doing that.

My general lack of time means that I'm practicing project monogamy, which is frustrating in the extreme. I want to get something big done, like my DWR top. I want to quilt my baskets top. I really, really want to get caught up on the Test Your Skills Sampler. I'm seriously jonesing to see how that one comes out. I'm only able to post this because I promised my son some quality time with the PlayLand in our local McDonald's.

I'm sure you all have figured out what project is currently reaping the benefits of my enforced project monogamy: the Farmer's Wife Sampler. Six inch blocks are super easy to prep and zip through my sewing machine quickly. I am, however, getting to a point in which the remainder of my blocks will be paper-pieced. I've already decided that I'm going to switch out some of the blocks, because I really don't want to make all of the 5-grid blocks that require me to cut at 1/5th of an inch, when, really, they're basic shapes and shouldn't require paper-piecing. But, dang it!, I haven't found a quilting ruler that marks inches out in fifths.

So, anyway, enough whining. The whole point of this ramble was to point out that I have more Farmer's Wife blocks made.
#007 Birds in the Air
#007 Birds in the Air
I ended up giving in and paper-piecing the 1" HSTs. I had actually successfully strip pieced these, but then I made a mistake and actually sewed on a half square triangle to the bottoms of the strips, which mean that I was piecing on a bias edge... I ended up throwing those attempts away. I'm glad I did though, as I'm much happier with my fabric selections this time around.
#025 Cups and Saucers
#025 Cups and Saucers
More of that grey fabric combined with a lovely poppy print from my stash. I actually cut off a couple of points in this block, but I'm not really seeing them from afar, so I'm ignoring them.
#038 Four Winds
#038 Four Winds
I actually had a really hard time distinguishing the pattern in this block when I looked at the illustration and photo in the book. I deliberately tried to pick out fabrics with more contrast as a result.
#041 Friendship Star
#041 Friendship Star
Very simple, very quick block. I picked out a charcoal gray background fabric that's been in my stash for at least four years. I'd made one cut into it previously, and that was it, for my Grandmother's Fan top.
#081 Snowball
#081 Snowball
Another couple of fabrics that haven't been used in forever. I'm pretty sure I bought these fabrics back when I first started seriously stashing, which was seven or either years ago. This one is actually my second attempt at this block. I felt the first try came out too dark.
#084 Homeward Bound
#084 Homeward Bound
I love these three fabric separately. I love them even more combined. I think I could argue that this is the most 'modern' looking of all the blocks I've done for this QAL.
#109 Windows
#109 Windows

Okay, I am STUPIDLY proud of how nicely the points in my that QST match. I think I finally figured out my methodology for making them all so nice and perfect, which basically amounts to trimming, and then trimming again. And, I totally love the black and white dot fabric here. I seriously need to buy a bolt of this stuff.

Another seven blocks down. I'm up to 30! That's a whopping 27% of the blocks for this sampler done.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Happy Farmer's Harvest!

As I type this, my little boy is sleeping in my lap, exhausted from trick or treating for his first time, not having a nap, and having been in school today. He was Thomas the Tank Engine, and not entirely sure about the whole process of knocking on stranger's doors. He caught on pretty quick when he realized that candy was the reward though!

Tonight, I have more Farmer's Widow blocks to share. I cannot wait until I get some more sewing time. I really want to work on other projects, but right now, one block at each stolen moments session seems to be all I get to accomplish.
#010 Bowtie
#010 Bowtie
More fussy-cutting fun! The butter yellow is a Jinny Beyer print. The white/blue print I found in Joann's nursery section. I thought it was too pretty and clean to put in an infant quilt.
#015 Buzzard's Roost
#015 Buzzard's Roost
I ended up admitting defeat and paper-piecing this one. My original plan had been to make six flying geese units, but I kept losing triangle points, and that's just not acceptable.
#020 Churn Dash
#020  Churn Dash
I'm forcing myself to incorporate pink into these blocks. However, I must say I like the contrast of the more modern dot print against the very traditional tone on tone black print.
#026 Cut Glass Dish
#026 Cut Glass Dish
So many freaking HSTs, and finishing at 1"!! I was very glad to sew the last seam on this one. I was going to use a more geometric print for the orange, but kiddo got to my pre-cut pieces with his own scissors. I'm just lucky he didn't attack the strips that were precut for the HSTs.
#031 Evening Star
#031 Evening Star
I hadn't realized, when I was piecing these, that my Evening Star and Buzzard's Roost were going to come out so similar. I might re-do one or the other... On the other hand, there's a lot of blocks, and I can just place them far, far apart in the top.
#034 Flock
#034 Flock
Aqua, raspberry, and paisley! Love :)
#084 Spool
#084 Spool
Much happier with this iteration of Spool. I've had the gray background fabric forever, along with some coordinating prints. I've been collecting grays with pink and red in them for a Lone Star quilt.

That's it for this Farmer's update. I'm headed for bed.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Skill Builder Series - Leaders, Enders and Strings

Waaay back in May, I wrote a small post on leaders and enders as part of the Skill Builders Series. In a recent post, Weekend Recap, I mentioned that I'd done my string blocks as leaders and enders and I received a comment from Lynne asking:
I am new to the concept of leaders/enders; I haven't used them and don't chain piece (yet). Could you please explain how you use the string blocks as your leader/ender project for this novice (who is always keen to learn something new)? 
I thought about replying in an email to her, but then realized that it was clearly time for another tutorial, because of all the photos I would be taking anyway. So, Lynne, here is the tutorial I promised all that time ago. I'm just sorry it took me this long to find time to sit down and write this! And, I'm sorry that the photos are dark. Now that I'm working two jobs, most of my sewing time is stolen from those hours that I should be sleeping!

Let me preface the tutorial itself by saying that I typically use string blocks as the no-thinking portion of my sewing and to keep the machine running whenever I'm working on a block or series of blocks that require me to stop and start. When I took the photos for this tutorial, I was working on blocks for the Test Your Skills Sampler (which I have to photograph and catch up on, bad me!). This means that I have the pieces pre-cut for whatever my primary project is. Pre-cutting is the only that I've been able to maximize my time at the sewing machine lately, so this means that I have tons of time for string blocks too.

So, in addition to having my primary piecing ready to go, I have my components for the string blocks ready to go:
Because of the sheer number of string blocks that I'll need to complete a top, I simply bought a pad of lined notebook paper at my local office supply store while it was on sale for the start of the school year. At the same time, I went to the printing department there and had them cut the paper into 7" squares for me. They can do up to 250 sheets as once, which totally beats my one at a time. I know 7" seems like a weird size. I actually end up trimming the blocks down to 6 1/2", for a finished size of 6". There's a little more waste this way, but this way I'm certain that I have enough seam allowance.

As you can see from the photo above, I've drawn my initial sewing lines on to each sheet. That middle portion of each block is a 1" finished wide stripe of Kona White, to give the top some continuity (whenever it actually becomes a top). I pre-cut my strips of Kona to 1 1/2". I really should remember, next time, to cut them at 1 3/4", so that I don't have to be quite so precise when placing the fabric for these first two seams.


Some time ago, I reduced a bunch of my scraps to strips of various widths. I knew that I wanted to make a string quilt, but I didn't want every seam to match up. I wanted some variety, especially since I knew that my scraps wouldn't all provide the necessary width to produce, say, 1" strips. Some of my pre-cut strips start at 3/4", so that the finished size is only 1/4". Very little was too thin for this project. My favorite part about having all of these strips pre-cut is that I literally just threw them into a box. I blindly reach into the box, check to make sure the strip is long enough and sew it on if it's long enough. Randomness is not a problem with this 'organization'.

I had a caboose left in the machine from the sewing session previous to this one, so I started working on my primary project, which was the Test Your Skills Sampler Log Cabin Block:
Upon finishing that line of stitches, I lined up my white strip and sewed the first seam, right along one of those marked lines. Slight blurry photo below... Sorry!

You can just barely see the edge of the green strip blow the white one in the foreground of this photo. Right sides of the fabric should face each other, and the wrong side of the center strip will be flush against the paper. Oh, and speaking of the paper... I use the notebook paper for projects like this because it's cheap. I'm not going to waste the Carol Doak stuff on blocks that are this simple.
Once I had that first seam sewn on the string block, I continued with my primary piecing. In the photo below, I turned over the string block so you could see the way the two strips were laid on the paper. Not that it's especially descriptive, now that I look at it...
More alternating... Are you all getting the idea that this leader/ender thing is really good about cutting back on the waste thread that results from having to stop and start every time we rotate or add on to a block?  This time, I sewed sewed down along the second drawn stitching line. Again, right sides of the fabric should face each other, and the wrong side of the center strip will be flush against the paper. And, yes, I did twist the blocks around to the front of the machine to get a good photo. The night I was working on this, I did everything on my computer desk, so directly behind the sewing machine (Bessie), is my computer monitor and keyboard. Stolen moments!
I sewed a little more on the primary project, and clipped my string block off the chain in order to iron down the strips. I always iron before adding on to the block, so that I know that I won't have any puffiness in the block, and thus preventing any pleating to take in any extra. I know they're scrap blocks, but I can't help myself.

As you can see, there's extra fabric running over the sides of the paper. Again, I trim down at the end of the process.
So I pick another strip, and sew it down, followed by work on the primary project. At this point in the primary project, I'd finished the center of the log cabin block and was starting to add the first non-background fabric round.
So, I kept going, alternating string block with log cabin block, always checking the next potential strip to be the right length. If it was too long, I just cut off the part that was too long and threw that bit back into the box of scrappy strips.
...and the Log Cabin and string block just keep growing...
...and growing...
...and growing...
At this point, I'm sure you get the idea. I'll save you from more progress photos that are essentially the same. In the end, I had a Log Cabin block, in which I took some artistic liberty and didn't make all of the non-background rounds from the same fabric.
I also had a couple string blocks like this:
I always trim these from the back, so that I can be sure that the white strip in the center of the block is centered. Again, these are cut down to 6.5" for a finished size of 6". They should come out looking something like:
Obviously, you can make these string blocks whatever size you like. You may also use fabric as your foundation. I prefer the paper, so that I can tear it away and reduce the bulk, because I do plan on using batting in this project when I reach the quilting stage. By using paper, I am limited by paper sizes, especially since I don't like using standard copy or printing paper. It's thicker and doesn't tear away as easily.

And that's string blocks, used as leader/ender projects. Don't you just love how quickly and easily these can come together?

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Thoughts on Fabric

I regularly browse other blogs, because I love to read about what people are doing with their quilting and to see what they are getting inspired over... I also love to read about hot topics, and the things that make us stand up and take notice.


A little bit ago, a visit over to completely cauchy and reading her post about the striking tea towel quilt she made just struck a chord with me...


Okay, so it wasn't just about the tea towel quilt, which is totally worth taking a gander at (and she makes yummy knitted items too!).


cauchy09 wrote:
"Here’s a radical notion: I don’t want to buy quilting fabric anymore.
I know. Right? We’re still looking for signs of alien abduction over here.
I find myself continuously angry at the industry. We’ll save those issues for later. More than that, though, I am continuously angry at myself because I can’t bring myself to use the contemporary quilting fabric yardage that I own. It’s not hoarding. I just know that I don’t design naturally with these prints in amounts more than a small scrap each. Yes, they are beautiful fabrics and I covet them all, but they are not me."
You all know that I buy a lot of tone-on-tones... I posted an in depth look into my buying habits for the Skill Builders Series Part 2A - Buying for the Stash. And, by the end of writing it, I'd started to realize just how much I am starting to dislike even looking at designer print and lines...


It's not that they're not pretty. They're very pretty, and sing to the wannabe graphic designer in my heart.


They're just not usable as is if you're not making big blocks that follow the modern aesthetic.


Unfortunately, the modern aesthetic isn't exactly me. I love to play with design and color. However, I do my playing on a smaller scale. Very rarely do I make a block large than 12" square, and even then it's likely to be a traditional block. When I do make bigger blocks, they have quite a bit of piecing to go along with them. The best way to describe me is that I'm a traditionalist who's not afraid of color (at all - have you seen my DWR-WIP?).


And really, when one works with pieces that typically don't go over 4" square, what's the point of buying a big, bold modern print? Case in point, Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush line, which I lovelovelovelove. I got two fat quarters of it from a swap partner, and I swooned over it. The two that I received were Woodcut in Passion and Slow Dance in Vintage.


Beautiful, right? Problem is, the repeat on Woodcut is almost eight inches in width. But I love the rich red! Slow Dance is almost twenty inches. And I'm enchanted by the movement of the lines... I'd been sitting on these two fat quarters for months, feeling trapped by their size. And what was I supposed to do with them?
#005 Bat Wing
Farmer's Wife Block #005 - Bat Wing
In the end, I fussy cut the snot out of Slow Dance and completely lost the repeat in Woodcut. That block finishes at 6". And let me tell you, there is no way that I would repeat this process to make multiples of this block. Fussy-cutting makes the miser in me shriek in pain at the waste of good cotton.


Throw in that fabric lines are so color coordinated and perfectly matched... I find that while I can love individual prints in a line, I often am turned off by seeing the line in its entirety. Why? Because I can't help but feel that if I limit my fabric selection to a single line, I'm not expressing my own creative vision. Every time I sit down with the one fabric line I purchased nearly every print of, I feel trapped. I don't see my own design emerging. I see myself catering to the fabric designer's vision. Not exactly a great starting point. Quite frankly, I've given up on using those fabrics together, and they're being parceled out into other tops.


And that's me and most modern fabrics, over and over and over. I've learned to just look and drool, because otherwise I'll be disappointed that I spent my limited fun money on fabric that's just going to sit there. I support a family on my income, so that $50 or so that I eke out every few months to spend on me!me!me! is something that I want to be able to enjoy long-term. (Especially if that money ends up going toward supplies like batting, thread and new rotary blades instead of fabric every now and then.)


As I stated in my comment on cauchy09's post, I want my skills as a piecer and quilter to be what shine - not my ability to buy attractive fabrics. I feel that the fabrics in my quilts should work together to create a total image, to tell a story together. I want to step back, and see my quilt.

Not the pretty designer fabric that dominates the design.


Because, you know what? That's all I'm going to focus on ten years from now. When that quilt has been used and loved to death, I just know that I'm going to regret having made the focal point of that quilt the fabric, not my skills with needle and thread, color and design. Of course, there's the whole problem of will I even use and love that quilt to death if I have any regrets about it after completion... 


The pretty designer fabric lines out there represent what manufacturers have decided should be in fashion as far as color, shape and line. On top of that, there's new fabric lines constantly releasing. I don't know about you all, but I've already pointed out that my fabric budget is pretty limited. I just can't afford to keep up with whatever is new and bright and trendy. I can't do it with my clothing, so why am I going to do it with fabric?


Now, I'm not out to bash designer fabrics in the modern aesthetic, or the quilters who use them. They're beautiful fabrics, and while I don't always like the quilts that are made from them, the quilter-maker was following his/her muse. And I appreciate that. Quilting is my chosen form of artistic expression, and I love the community of individuals who share in this passion.


With all of that said, I'd like to leave you all with a comment that Sherri Lynn Wood left on the blog post that sparked this post. I think it encapsulates perfectly the whole point of this post:
"The fabrics we use in our quilts are the narrative, plot, place, and the characters of the story. Each fabric has the potential of carrying so much meaning or NOT – especially if it’s the most recent color coordinated fabric line out by the latest crafty pop designer."

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Give Away!! Bright Blocks Need Good Homes

Update: Most of the blocks have been claimed and I've sent out emails to the lucky people to have claimed blocks. Thank you all so much for giving homes to these blocks! Comments have been closed for this particular give-away.

As you all know, I changed directions on my Farmer's Wife Sampler. As a result, I have several blocks that need new homes and I'm more than happy to drop these babies into the mail this weekend to someone who will love them.

So, the rules. Photos of the blocks up for grabs are below. One block per person. First come, first served, though I have to limit this particular give-away to U.S. residents. Leave a comment telling me which block you want. I will follow up to your comment with an email asking for your snail mail address. This means, if you don't have a Blogger/Google account, please provide me an email address in the comment for me to contact you.
#001 Attic Window
#001 Attic Windows
The orientation on this block doesn't match the book - I downloaded the foundation pattern from the Yahoogroup, and forgot to mirror image this prior to printing.
#002 Autumn Tints
#002 Autumn Tints
For whatever reason, I also paper-pieced this one. Couldn't tell you why now, but I did.
#100 Weathervane
#100 Weathervane
Another paper-pieced block, in which I removed some unnecessary seams.
#004 Basket Weave
#004 Basket Weave
I followed the book lay out for the colors, and it's a grouping of some prints that I just love. No surprise that they're all tone on tone, right?
#010 Bowtie
#010 Bowtie
Again, paper-piecing to the resuc. I was kind of retentive about how the white patches met in the middle.
#008 Bouquet
#008 Bouquet
I'm not sure what I was thinking when I finished this one up... I'd meant for the pink triangle that's the base of the basket to be the polka dot fabric.
#006 Big Dipper
#006 Big Dipper
Have I told you all how much Quarter Square Triangles can kick my ass? It took me three tries to do this one without a cut off point.
#009 Box
#009 Box
I have an attraction to 'ugly' prints. Plus, the floral print here was on clearance for $2/yard.
#012 Broken Sugar Bowl
#012 Broken Sugar Bowl
Not only do I like 'ugly' prints, I made too many HSTs that finish at 2".
#111 Wrench
#111 Wrench
And, finally, the end of my mistake. Yeah.. Way too many of that unit.
#029 Economy
#029 Economy

Bright screaming pink... I'm not even sure why I bought this fabric in the first place. I'm almost out of it, thank goodness. It only took five years.

#061 Northern Lights
#061 Northern Lights

Funnily enough, I love both of these fabrics... by themselves. Together? Not so much.

#092 Streak of Lightning
#092 Streak of Lightning

I love, love, love, this polka dot fabric. I should have purchased the whole bolt when I saw it in the shop.

Well, there you have it, folks! Thirteen Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks, all in need of new homes. For those of you not doing the FWS, but just like the blocks, these finish at 6" X 6", so they're actually 6.5"square with the seam allowances.