February Sewalong...and a kitchen update

 Hello friends, 

I am back with the first set of instructions for our sewalong! This really is a super simple sewalong and once I explain how to sew your blocks you are going to be able to just run and go, making however many blocks you want for your project. So this week I will just share the cutting instructions and how you might want to organize your fabrics, and then next week I will share the sewing instructions. After that you are going to be able to just make as many blocks as you need and then I will share one final post with some updates and maybe some hints. So this sewalong should be pretty much wrapped up by the end of February! Today I am also going to share an alternate block and I think it is so sweet and versatile!

Alright, let's get started. These are the cutting instructions for the 1st option: 

The block we are making consists of 4 smaller blocks, each 4.5" unfinished, which you will sew into an 8.5" unfinished block. That will end up looking something like this block:

So grab your fabric 1.5" fabric scraps and cut the following: 

 

You will need a light and dark 1.5" square;

a light and dark rectangle 1.5 by 2.5" ;

a light and dark rectangle 1.5 by 3.5";

and a dark rectangle 1.5 by 4.5".

Each of the little blocks requires 7 pieces total, 3 that are light, and 4 that are dark.

I found it very helpful to lay my pieces out the way I show in the photo above because those are the sizes that are going to get sewn together, but for this week you can just go ahead and cut your fabrics and then next week when we sew you can organize them like this.

As I shared last week,  you can really make your blocks looks different depending on your fabric choices....

Darks ( reds, blues, and browns): 

Reds and pinks: 

Brights:  

The possibilities are endless! 

Now, if you are not into sewing 1.5" strips because those are too finicky for your liking, or maybe you don't have a stash of 1.5" strips, I have another option for you! I happen to have 2 buckets full of 2.5" strips, leftover from other projects, and I thought it would be fun to try making a variation of this block using that size strips. And I have to tell you that I LOVED making these blocks!

Using 2.5" strips, I made the following block: Option #2:

So it looks a lot like the original block, with a slight variation. The great thing about using 2.5" blocks is that the 4 blocks are 6.5" unfinished, thus making a 12.5" final block. 12.5" blocks make for a real quick quilt! I am finishing up a baby quilt using these blocks and it took hardly any time at all! 

Isn't it bright and happy? I just love it! And just imagine what it would look like in different fabrics and colors! I am already planning on making a fun Spring table runner with some pinks and yellows using this block!

If you would like to go this route, you will need to cut the following pieces for each 6.5" block:

One dark square 2.5";

One light and one dark rectangle at 2.5 by 3.5" ;

One light rectangle 2.5 by 4.5";

One dark rectangle 2.5 by 6.5".

Each one of the 6.5" blocks requires 5 strips~ 3 dark and 2 light.

If you are not sure which size block you want to make, why not try both and see which one you like best?

Now remember that in Lori Holt's example, she adds a heart applique to the center of the blocks. 

You can of course do that too, or you can add a different appliqué ( how about green and white blocks with a shamrock applique or bright and light blocks appliqued with daisies?) or you can omit the applique all together, which is what I opted to do in my baby quilt. So think about this a little bit before you make your fabric choices!

So this coming week, your "homework" is to pick out your fabrics and cut them the correct sizes. Next week I will share how I laid out my pieces and some general hints and tips about the construction.

This blog post is already pretty long, but for those of you who have been following along with our kitchen reno, we got our paint and were able to put (many more) layers of the final top coat on the cabinets and install the new hardware. 

And just for fun I will include some "before" pictures of the kitchen when we bought the house: 

And here are the "afters": 

Almost unrecognizable, isn't it? And now we are waiting on new countertops and a new (white!!) sink to get installed later in February. I am SO excited :D.

If you are still here reading until the very end, thank you for indulging me!

Until next time~happy creating!

Monique

Cold winter days...and a new sewalong!

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 Hello friends!

Back again with another quick update on the kitchen reno, AND a special announcement about a new sewalong!

I hope all of you in North America are staying warm! It has been sooooo chilly here the last week or so! My car really let me know it was not happy being started up at 0* Fahrenheit, but at least it started! And I do love all that sunshine we get when it is so darn cold....makes it more bearable, don't you agree?

This past week we celebrated 2 more birthdays in our house...yep, we really know how to pile things on! But now we are done until July ;). So one of my journal entries was this piece of chocolate cake, to commemorate the cake my hubby bought to celebrate my birthday. 

I haven't yet decided what to embroider for daughter's birthday, but I have until Sunday to come up with an idea!

Our kitchen reno is coming along so nicely! I was able to get the paint we need for our final top coat, so hopefully that will go on this weekend, along with the rest of the hardware. It has been a little tricky opening drawers without handles :P.  And happily we were able to settle on some new and very affordable countertops and a new sink....I am SO excited, especially about the sink! Now comes the hard part of waiting for the company to come out and template and measure....everyone is so busy and the wait is quite long, and have I mentioned that I am not patient?? You will have to wait and see the countertops, but here are some of the samples that we were looking at...

Other than work on the kitchen, I did manage to complete at least one of my projects for January! I started this one a few years back. It is very simple, made up of half-square triangles, all done in reds and whites, but I really like it. I machine quilted diagonally between the rows and then hand-quilted a scallop pattern with a big stitch in the borders. 

See that bright spot in the bottom left corner? That would be the sunshine streaming in! Now it's time for my next Christmas quilt to get finished, although it might have to be delayed a bit because as I mentioned above, I am hosting a new sewalong!

This one is based on a pattern by Lori Holt and will be a great scrap buster! 

( image via Lori Holt)

Isn't it the cutest block? I will be sharing all the instructions right here on my blog in the next few weeks. This is a simple block and I think anyone can join in, no matter what skill level. I will be sharing a few tips and hints along the way, AND will also share a bigger option, for those that would like to use bigger-sized scraps. 

I have been busy sewing up some test blocks too and will share some information about those next week as well. 

Even though there is nothing for you to get ready yet, IF you don't have scraps, you might want to purchase a 1 1/2" strip roll ( click here for some options or here for more options), OR, if you want to make a bigger, alternate version of this block, a 2 1/2" strip roll ( click here for some options or here for more options).

Alright, that is all from here for this week! I hope you will join in on this newest sewalong...I always enjoy seeing everyone's versions at the end!

Until next time, stay warm, and, as always, happy creating!

Monique

Sunny day

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Today I am writing to you from my sunny quilting room, thanks to my new little Chromebook ( it is soooo cute and little!). Normally I love using my desktop, but having a portable little laptop is awfully nice, especially when I want to watch a video or attend a meeting, while still being productive in my sewing room!

It has been a while since my last blog post. I have always said that I wouldn't clog your email inbox with posts that have nothing new to share, so the fact that you are getting one now must tell you something :D.

I think I shared in my most recent blog post that we were starting a little kitchen reno? Many of you know that we bought an old house about 3 years ago and we have been updating it ever since we bought it. Before we even moved in we spray painted all the kitchen cabinets white~ this house was built in the 70's and everything was BROWN....very depressing and dark~and figured we could live with them for a while. 

Now we have and have decided that the cabinets could use a better re-do. So we have been painting them again, this time going with a lovely dark green ( the same as our dining room) on the bottom, and a glossy creamy-white on the top. We ordered some new hardware too and the cabinets are looking pretty darn good. We are still waiting to put a final coat of paint on the bottom ( supply chain problems, maybe you heard about this issue?? Ha!), and then hubby can install all the new pulls. Seeing as our countertop is falling apart, we are getting some quotes for a new one, and I have fingers and toes crossed that it will be affordable! Hopefully I will be able to share a photo of the whole re-do soon, but here are some progress pics:

 Other than painting cabinets, I have been busy working on some quilty projects! I finished this little table mat last weekend. 

I made this entirely out of scraps, using my Accuquilt fabric cutter( click). It sure makes quick work out of cutting all your blocks, and then I was able to use my new snowflake die to cut a bunch of snowflakes ( already pre-fused!).

I think I also shared that I was going to journal my way through 2022 with embroidery. So far I have kept up and embroidered once per week. These are my entries so far: 

The year 2022, for obvious reasons; a lemon ( explained in a minute); and an exploding cake, this one we sent to  our oldest son for his birthday~our first time ever not being able to celebrate together in person with him. By the way, do a Google search on exploding cakes, they are highly entertaining!

 Curious about the lemon? I have been having issues with my sewing machine for a while now. It would do odd things, like start sewing backwards when I switched stitches, or decide to stop sewing, knot the thread and then keep going....it was driving me mad, especially because my dealer is an hour away and I was fed up having to drive that far every couple of months. I actually considered getting a different brand machine, but I have a drop in table, made especially for my machine, plus accessories, so changing brand seemed wasteful. I think my dealer sensed my frustration and offered to trade my old machine for a brand new machine at a very good deal so that is what I decided to do. The great thing is that it is exactly the same size as my old one, so everything fits and works on this one....and there is not too much of  a new learning curve either ;). Fingers crossed that this one is not a lemon!

In other quilty news, I am well on my way to getting one of my January projects finished! This was a quilt I started a few years ago, and I really thought I would finish it before Christmas, but that didn't happen. But it is now quilted, and the binding is ready to go on. This should be finished by the end of the month, and then I only have 3 other Christmas quilts to complete...hahahahaha! 

I have to tell you that finishing projects would go a lot faster if I didn't get distracted by NEW projects! I got this pattern for Christmas and just had to start it....

Isn't it cute? Luckily I have tons of blue fabric to choose from!

Well, I think I have now updated you on all the most important happenings here at Farmhouse Quilts....

It is supposed to be verrrrry cold here the next few days.. in fact, the temps are dropping rapidly as the day progresses. Luckily I have my potato and carrot soup already simmering away, and Constant Comment tea is steeping as I'm typing! I think it is time for some hunkering down with some cozy quilts...how about you?

Until next time~happy creating!

Monique