Summer happenings at Farmhouse Quilts

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Happy Summer, everyone! ( I know, it is not really officially summer YET, but our youngest son is done school and on summer vacation so it feels like summer to me!)

I am looking forward to NO set schedule and LOTS of sewing this summer...we will see how that works out....you know, something about the best laid plans and all that :D. So far, so good, though!

As I mentioned last time, I am sewing along with the Fat Quarter Shop and Lori Holt on the Quilted Scarecrow quilt! The plan is to make just a few blocks each month, and then by next May we will have this wonderful quilt top!

My kit arrived and it was so much fun to open the box and drool over all the goodies inside! Even though everything was already pretty organized, I wanted to organize for me, so I folded the fabrics and stacked all the same sizes together, and pinned notes with sizes on each stack. I also bought one of those clear plastic bins to keep my finished blocks in. Wouldn't want to misplace any of the blocks and find out I can't sew my top together next Spring!

The sewalong starts this Sunday, June 9th, so I got to work cutting my fabrics and making my first set of blocks. This time around we are making 4 leaf blocks, but there are many more to come!

Here are mine:

As I was working on these blocks I wrote myself some notes, which I thought I would share, because they might be helpful hints to those of you sewing along!

•  If using the kit, pay attention to which fabrics you are supposed to be sewing with! There are several that are called by the same name ( different SKUs, but same name!)
• as you are sewing your units, measure each one and trim if necessary to stay on size.
• when stitching squares onto corners to make triangles, flip and press first BEFORE trimming. The fabric underneath is a great guide!
• using a leader ( or scrap piece of fabric) before you sew will greatly reduce the chances of your corners being pulled down into the throat plate. Also, using a single hole needle plate is a good idea, if you have one.
• and lastly, pay careful attention to which colors you should be using to construct your blocks. I already messed up and used red in 2 different leaves, when that should have just been used in one leaf...so I decided to make all my leaves extra scrappy. :P.

I hope these hints are helpful to you, and if there are any you want to add, please do so in the comments!

For more info on the pattern and the kit, click here: Quilted Scarecrow sewalong.

So other than making my leafy blocks I have been trying to finish up some older projects, rather than starting a new one( but it has been SO hard! Ha!)

I finished this quilt top and now need to layer and quilt it. I am tempted to handquilt, but on the other hand, machine quilting would be a lot faster....

This one was based on a quilt pattern I found in a book, but I made mine with my 9" Accuquilt Qube, using just 2 dies. I think it looks way more complicated than that! And, although I'm not usually a purple fan, I do love the way this one turned out! 

The star quilt I made last year needed a little something extra,  so I cut a 8.5" wide border and added ricrac and appliqued flowers and leaves to it. Now I'm in the process of sewing all of them down, before I add them to my quilt center. It is so much easier to stitch items down when they are not attached to a big center!

I still need to decide what to do for the cornerstones, but I will come up with something.

You all know by now that I love doing  handwork in the evening, so I am continuing work on my red and white hexie quilt. I am currently completing the edges, just flying by the seats of my pants really, but I think it will work out. 

 Do you know, I just realized that all these projects were made using Accuquilt dies...it is amazing how versatile a project you can make with their products! IF you would like to check them out, click here click here ( but ask me if you want to know about specific dies I used in my projects!) 

And this segues nicely into my very exciting announcement....

 I have been accepted as an Accuquilt Guru! This means I will be able to attend their educational classes and give workshops and classes to shops and guilds and local groups! But mostly I am just hoping to share new information with my Accuquilt FB group! By the way, if you would like to join either of my Facebook groups you are very welcome to do so by clicking either of these links:

Farmhouse Quilts and Friends

Made with Accuquilt~a friendly support group

Hope to see you there, but if you are not a Facebook person, I am also on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/farmhousequilts/

What are YOU up to this summer? Will you be getting lots of sewing in? What project are you hoping to complete? Drop me a comment below and tell me!

Until next time~happy creating!

Monique