February lovelies

 Hello friend, 

Can you believe February is here already? I always tell my school age child that the months after Christmas FLY by and before we know it it will be summer holidays, but he never believes me! 

Amazingly enough I made a lot of progress on many, many projects ( even though January was just 5 days long :D ). Would you like some show and tell? Grab a cup of coffee or tea and let's begin!

{my posts may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you purchase something through one of my links. This does not increase your cost in any way, but does support Farmhouse Quilts and I thank you for that}

First of all I am happy to report that my little blue tulip quilt top is complete and currently waiting on some batting, backing, and basting! I am thrilled at how the flying geese surround the tulips and can't wait to display this one. It was a bit of a nail biter finding out if I had enough of that dark blue dotty fabric because it was all I had, but everything worked out in the end ( I did have to put a few little cheater pieces in on those 2 side borders, but SHHHHH, don't tell anyone!)   

I haven't quite decided how I'm going to quilt it~by hand or by machine~ but will at least  "anchor" all my blocks down by machine and then I will decide how to proceed. It would be fun to do a big quilt stitch around all the tulips circles, but I do not want to even begin on those flying geese! Luckily I can mix and match techniques to hopefully bring out the best features of the quilt.

I finished the little reindeer embroidery that I started too late last year, but it can definitely be made into a little pillow before Christmas of 2023~ha!  

In the evenings I love to sit and do some slow stitching and my hexie quilt is slowly getting bigger and bigger.

I find it very relaxing to sit and baste hexies, and then to sew them together into rosettes, which then get added to my quilt. top.

Don't you think this would make an adorable baby quilt for a little baby girl? Me too, so in my mind this one is for my first granddaughter~no pressure at all kids~Hahaha!

As I have been cleaning and organizing my quilt room, I have been pulling out projects to finish up. I had 2 quilts all basted and ready for quilting, so last week I pulled this one out and am using a big stitch and my favorite Sulky threads( click) to add some fun stitching! 

This quilt is from a sewalong I hosted in my FB group last Fall, and I figured I should finally get to it. It is loosely based on the Tessie quilt which you have probably seen floating around the internet, and I loved it so much I wanted to make my very own version. The little birdies were not in the original, but I think they add such a fun little touch so I added them into mine.

As you know, I love my Accuquilt, and with my Sunbonnet Sue die was able to make this quilt in just 3 days, start to finish:

This one is already on its way overseas to a favorite aunt who just moved into a new assisted living home. I hope it will add some additional joy and comfort in her new surroundings!

The sewalong scarf project is wrapping up this week and it has been a fun project! I totally ignored the original instructions and basically started from scratch with measurements that made more sense for those of us working in inches, but I think the final result will have the same feel as the original project! There are going to be a whole bunch of very fashionable ladies with fabulous scarves out and about this Spring! Did you sew a version? Please send me an email photo if you did, or share in the FB group. I would love to see all the different versions! I modeled mine in the mirror and do you know how hard it is to take a photo in a mirror?! 

And  finally I want to share some fabric postcards that I made as part of a postcard exchange I hosted in the Facebook group ( yes, we have been VERY busy doing exchanges and challenges!). These were so fun to make, and such a quick project, that I highly recommend you make one if you have never tried it!

Phew, I do believe that is all for this post, but I have been asked to figure out some guidance for this quilt that I shared a pic of a few days ago....

....and I will be participating in a sewalong hosted by Accuquilt and AQS to make this beauty: 

So as you can see I have plenty of projects to keep me out of trouble for the next little while  ;).

If you would like to join my FB group so you don't miss out on all the exchanges, challenges, and giveaways, go to this link and answer the questions: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1790902080964624. I manually approve people so it might take a little bit of time, but do read the rules and agree to them. I try very hard to keep a friendly and supportive environment and so far I have succeeded.

And if you happened upon this blog post by accident but would like to receive it in your inbox, just send me an email through the CONTACT ME link on this page and I will get you added!  That way you don't have to come search for my posts but they will just appear in your inbox whenever I write a new one ( and I NEVER sell or give out your email!)

Until next time~happy creating!

Monique

Happy holiday greetings from Farmhouse Quilts!

 Hello and happy holidays to you!

Are you all ready for the holidays?  I still need to wrap and would like to do a little baking, but other than that I have no pressing matters. It certainly helps that I am not making handmade presents for all our kids anymore each Christmas! That seemed like a great idea at the time, but coming up with a brilliant idea AND executing it was often stressful. So no more. And you know, our kids never even mentioned it so I think they don't even realize I have stopped ;). 

So I have been working on some fun project just because...and not all of them quilting related!

In the summer I picked up an antique door. I planned on using it in my garden somewhere, but that plan never materialized, but then came up with a brilliant plan for it. Luckily I have a very clever, handy, and patient hubby, who is (mostly) always willing to listen to my ( sometimes crazy) ideas! You see, we had a stocking hanger that we bought years and years ago that really was getting very crowded with not only the stockings for our own family members, but also those of girlfriends. Not to mention the fact that it was hung by a wire, which meant that as soon as one stocking had something heavy in it, the entire thing would start being lop-sided! 

So, I suggested that we use the antique door as the base for a new stocking spot and here is the end result: 

( no worries, the last knob is now in use, after locating the missing stocking, which was at our son's apartment ;) )

This door is HEAVY and we had some fun hanging it, but I love it so much with its "antique-y" knobs ( found at Hobby Lobby) that I might just leave it up all year round and hang other seasonal items or small quilts from it, especially because the greenery at the top is removable. 

On a more quilt-related theme, I decided we needed another Christmas pillow so I pulled out my Christmassy quilt books and settled on this cute little reindeer designed by Gail Pan ( see her book here- click and please note this is an affiliate link-see my disclosure in the sidebar)

I have a sneaky suspicion he might not make it in time for this Christmas, but there is always next year ;).

I did finish the top for the tree quilt that I shared in my previous post. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to tackle all those different sized blocks ( 19 of them in total!) but just started sewing and piecing trees and filler pieces and I like how it turned out ( although it is quite a bit longer than I anticipated!) 

This one will not be done for this year's Christmas either, but the top looks pretty just hanging there so I am happy.

One final project that I WILL ( oh yes, you can all hold me accountable now!) finish in time for this year is this quilt that I started a few years back. It was a free pattern by Jedi Craft Girl ( you can find it here~click) and I adore the scrappiness of it! It is so close to being done. Just 2 more corners to go around with the binding, and then it can be a great cuddly quilt to throw over the sofa! 

Well, that is about all from the farmhouse. I will leave you with a few more Christmassy photos.....

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, or just simply Happy Holidays! See you in 2023!

 Monique

P.s. If you happened upon this blog and would like to receive it in your email inbox, please contact me and I will get you added!

About sunporches, gardens, and quilts

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Hello friends, 

We are deep into summer weather here in Pennsylvania, which means it is muggy and sticky and hot...thank goodness for air conditioning and pools, although the latter we just put up this past weekend and the water is probably a bit too cold for my liking at the moment...let's see how desperate I get ;)

We are enjoying our sunporch quite a lot! It is a nice place to sit and eat dinner, especially with the fan going or a breeze blowing. 

In our college town there are quite a few moving sales happening after graduation, so last week I was able to score this baker's rack for a good price.  

I have always admired baker's racks, but never owned one, so I had fun "styling" it for our sunporch!

This one has a rack for wine bottles at the bottom too, but seeing as we are not huge wine drinkers ( not to mention that storing the bottled wine in the heat would probably be a bad idea!), I decided that  it could hold rolled-up magazines perfectly! 

And if you ever have a chance to hang one of these hammock chairs, I highly recommend it! They are the perfect spot to lounge and relax...and maybe even have a little nap!

My garden looks so good right now...the Hydrangea bush that pretty much got destroyed by the fence crew is making a nice comeback. I wish that you could see the colors of the blooms in person! It is the most amazing periwinkle blue and I cannot get enough of it! I think other than Hollyhocks, these lacecap Hydrangeas are my favorite flowers....but then I can't get enough of daisies either....Hahaha! Just as with fabric, I can never have enough flowers! ( Did I mention that the lady who runs the local, temporary flower and plant tent in a local parking lot recognizes which car I drive? That's probably a bad thing, right?) 

Even with all the flower and plant adoration going on over here, I did manage to spend some time with my sewing machine this past week! I have been working on our summer sewalong project, and it has been so much fun to work on! ( If you would like to join in it is not too late, just click through my older posts and look for the "summer sewalong" titles!). It would make for a great scrap quilt, but I have seen some stunning versions from people in my FB group that are using a limited color palette, so really it would look great in any color way! Here are my blocks so far: 

 I started out making a scrappy version and then changed my mind and decided to use soft blues and pinks. That proved to be too boring for my liking so I started adding in some reds and bright greens and dark blues and now I'm much happier :). Some of my fabrics are pretty funky too...do you see those chickens? But I  like it and that's all that matters! 

I haven't decided yet what size I'll make the quilt, but it will at least be 36 blocks....as long as I have fabric I will keep going and I still have quite a pile! 

A few weeks back I shared a little embroidery that I started. I found the pattern in a Simply Vintage magazine and enlarged it just a little so it would make a good pillow size. It is not quite done, but getting there ( although I do think the humidity is slowly erasing the blue marker so I better hurry up and finish it!) 

Well, those are all the updates from the farmhouse for this week.

Wherever you are, I hope you are staying cool and comfortable and until next time~happy creating!

Monique

Summer at Farmhouse Quilts

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Hello, how are you? I feel like it has been forever since I last wrote a real blog post!

We are transitioning into a summer schedule here at our house, and that always takes some time to get used to. I'm sad to say that I really have not spend any time with my sewing machine because we have been so busy!

Our oldest boy moved to a new state ( Connecticut) to start his job and we helped him get settled in his new place. It was really fun to get to know his new city a little bit, and to spend a bit of time at the ocean, and to get to shop at Ikea! ( You see where my priorities lie ;) ).  His apartment building is in a very nice part of town, with lots of big, mature trees, and beautiful older mansions. We enjoyed walking around and taking some photos ( well, I enjoyed the photo taking~ I think it embarrasses our kids, who are afraid that the owners might think I'm casing their houses!)

For the record, I would have taken a picture of the Ikea store, but that would have been embarrassing! *grin*. And before you ask, yes, I of course brought home some Ikea items, mostly useful items, like tea towels and mattress covers, but also some pretty little chairs, which I am in the process of putting together. 

It's a good thing that there is no Ikea store anywhere close to us, that's all I'll say!

Back home again, I have been hanging out with our other graduate son, and convinced him to take a walk around his apartment neighborhood. And yes, I had to take photos! 

Aren't these the most wonderful, storybook-like houses? And their gardens are amazing as well!

Speaking of gardens, mine is coming along nicely! When I started this garden I was aiming to make it look English country cottage, and I think it is well on its way. My little bushes ( that started out as twigs) are finally starting to grow and turn into something. It is no coincidence that they are doing MUCH better by being protected with chicken wire fencing, NOT from the critters that might harm them, but from the hubby who overzealously chopped a bunch of them down with his weed-whacker, not once, but twice, last year! 

Are you tired of seeing nature pics yet? Fortunately I think a lot of us quilters are also enthusiastic gardeners, so I'm hoping this is all as fascinating to you as it is to me ;).

As I mentioned at the start of my post, I have not spent a lot of time with my sewing machine at all, but before all the graduating and moving busyness began I did start a fun quilt with a panel that I picked up at my local re-use store. I cut the panel into blocks and have been sewing freeform Log Cabin blocks around them and it has been so freeing and fun...no measuring, no plan, just sew! 

This project and the scrappy, happy colors are so fun, and I have already planned to hand quilt it with a BIG stitch and chunky, colorful thread. 

And while my sewing machine and I have been estranged lately, I have been keeping busy in the evenings by doing some handwork. I have 3 hexie projects on the go ( yes, you read that right, 3!) that range in size from 1 inch hexies, to 3 inch hexies, to 9 inch hexies.

I am also still finishing up the hand quilting on my little red and white orphan block quilt....

....and started a little blue and white embroidery from a pattern I found in the latest issue of Simply Vintage...

...and then just  had to buy this pattern from one of my favorite British designers, who always makes the most wonderful, simple, but heart-tugging patterns! 

As usual, I have plenty of project to keep me out of trouble!

If you are still with me after all that rambling on, I just want to share this quote by Mark Twain: 

                    “I apologize for such a long letter - I didn't have time to write a short one.”

Until next time~happy creating!

Monique