Party Time

Crafting hours were far and few between last week.  This is because it was the week leading up to The Party.  My seven year old became an eight year old and left me wondering where the time had gone, not to mention the fact I don't feel old enough to have an eight year old!  In a moment, in which I must have completely lost all my senses, I consented to a four hour party in my own home for eight little girls plus birthday girl on a Saturday afternoon.  By this morning I am nearly recovered.

We had definite activities plus adult help to marshal the troops which I think made the experience a lot less stressful than it could have been.  After an initial welcoming period and present opening time the girls spent an hour decorating cupcakes:

Followed by film watching and popcorn:

And hot dogs, chips and birthday cake to finish!

Whirlpool III

I have started re-doing some of the blocks in my reject pile - to be honest it is not a very large pile.  I really struggled with the 'Whirlpool' block.  The first attempt was before Christmas and it didn't even make it onto a post - it went straight in the bin.  A few weeks ago I had a second attempt which was a lot better - however, during the time I fell out with the FWQ a few weeks ago, 'Whirlpool II' also joined it's first cousin in the bin!

A few weeks and a lot of spray starch later, I present 'Whirlpool III':

Soooo pleased ;-)

And here are two more blocks for the week:

 (Temperance Tree)

(Steps to the Alter)

Enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend whatever you are doing!

For Mel :-)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Inventory

I love lists so I thought it would be good to write a list of all the Farmer's Wife blocks I've made - a sort of inventory.  To date I have made 54 blocks!  By the end of today I may even have 56 ;-).  Writing the list made me realise two things - firstly, just how far I've come in the project, and secondly, all the blocks in the book are arranged alphabetically.  Goodness knows why I didn't notice the latter before!  It was also helpful to see exactly which blocks I had or hadn't made - some of them are so similar I had been getting confused as to which were actually completed.  I am well over half way in the project now which makes me very happy.

I arranged all the blocks in order in a nice little pile.  It it dawn on me that two or three blocks might need a re-do.  I know a couple of blocks are a bit off in their measurements while at least one has questionable fabric choices so I should probably work on re-doing these at some point soon.

Here are last week's blocks - they were made early in the week but only found time to photograph them today:

 (Homeward Bound)

(Windblown Square)

It is a very sunny day here so every single crease and stray thread has shown up in both photos, not to mention the fact that these blocks haven't exactly been ironed flat!  Never mind!

Baby Knitting

My friends are quite a fertile bunch it seems - I always have some sort of baby gift on the go.  March/April has been no exception and I have made a couple of  baby knitted items.  Sometimes a handmade gift can be a bit hit or miss , but thankfully my friends are also an appreciative bunch too ;-)

This is the raglan sweater I made for baby Levi (and I love the name) the offspring of my very dear friend Hailey.  The pattern is from one of Debbie Bliss' baby books and is knitted with aran wool on 5mm needles - a very quick knit indeed.  The beauty of it is that the back and front instructions are exactly the same so quick to memorise.  I know not everyone likes a raglan shaping but I do very much - I also find raglans much easier to seam together.  The yarn I chose for this project was Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran in this lovely Indigo colour.

My second baby knitting project is this lovely 'Little Scallop' hat made for baby Eliza - truly the teeniest baby I have ever met at 5lb 3oz birth weight!  She has some growing to do before the hat will fit I think!  The pattern was found on Ravelry and the crochet flower and button detail is my own addition.  This is just the start of a baby knitting spree - I have projects on the needles for my twin niece and nephew too!

On a roll

I am on a roll this week with my FWQ!  I have made this week's two blocks and it is only Wednesday.  Time will tell if I am as organised and productive next time!  This week I've departed from using the template method for making my blocks.  I am completely convinced that every time I use those templates I shave off a little with each cut thus making them less and less accurate.  The two blocks I've made this time has involved some basic maths, a bit of drafting (I so love graph paper), a ruler and a rotary cutter - it has been a bit like coming home for me as I soooo prefer this method :-).

So without further ado I present my blocks!

Chequerboard

Hovering Hawks

I love arranging the blocks on point (which is how they should be in the finished product) as they look so different!  Also I love this aqua Bambi print that has made it into the last few blocks I've made.  It has always been part of the bundle I am using for the FWQ but it had been forgotten at the bottom of the box - what a travesty.  I will be making up for it from now on.

Falling out

I have fallen out with the Farmer's Wife Quilt this week.  She has been most demanding and I have been quite down in the mouth about it.  A few things have contributed to this, the first being lack of sewing time.  Second is the development of a 'reject pile' when I discovered two of my blocks are half an inch too small and third is the fact that there are a lot of very proficient quilters out in the blogosphere who have beautiful, accurate blocks!  I have been feeling a teeny bit discouraged and frustrated.

If the truth be told, I am a perfectionist at heart and i get annoyed when things don't turn out as I had hoped.  One of the blocks in my 'reject pile' is 'Whirlpool' which was already my second attempt at the block!  It isn't the most difficult of blocks but I cannot get the seam allowance or the points right!  In a fit of frustration I threw it in the bin and ended up joining the Farmer's Wife Quilt Yahoo group.  This is not something i would not ordinarily do as these sorts of things scare me a little.  However, it has proved to be a wealth of tips and encouragement and I have found the will to get back to it this week.  The two blocks took me absolutely ages but I decided they would NOT defeat me.

I am thus pleased to share:

Block number 100 - Weathervane:

I LOVE it and it was such hard work!

And here is block 25 - Cups and Saucers:

Bear in mind that this is the unfinished block so the step in the pink spotty fabric will be (hopefully) eliminated when I add the borders and sew it into the completed quilt.  I cannot begin to contemplate when in time this will be!

For now I have gained a second quilting wind :-)