Some of my Fabric Selections for the Farmer's Wife Quilt

Fabric Frenzy

When I checked my mail today I had a delightful surprise. My fabric from HoneyBeeHumble had arrived!

I ordered an Alphabet panel from American Jane for Moda to use as the back of the quilt I'm making for Levi. You know, the one I'm having so much trouble deciding on a layout for? My most recent plan is to scrap  the Sugar Baby pattern altogether and use my Punctuation strips to make a Stacked Coin Quilt of some type.  The other two fabrics pictured are also from American Jane and are Pin Dot Mustard and Pin Dot Black Hat.

Levi and I also took a trip to The Workroom today to pick up some fabric for a special secret project I'm working on tonight and tomorrow. I don't want to give it away yet, but can to show you the FQ's I picked up.

From bottom to top: Modern Workshop, Oliver + S for Moda (I used the yellow/orange colourway as the backing for my Watch Me Grow Chart which reminds me - I was supposed to blog about finishing it in more detail.  Oops!I've just realized I); Outfoxed, Jewels in Purple; 1001 Peeps, Peeps Towers in Purple; Outfoxed, Jewels in Deep Purple; Outfoxed, Hedgehogs in Deep Purple; Kona Snow; Origins by BasicGrey, Graph Paper Kelp; 1001 Peeps, Peeps Scheherazade in Turquoise.  Huh. I guess I really love Lizzy House!

And last but certainly not least, I bought a charm pack of Flora. I hope to use this as the jumping off point for a QAL Bee Blocks and practice blocks.

Oh wait! I bought something else today. Two books. First, The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt: 55 Letters and the 111 Blocks they Inspired. Karyn of The Workroom is hosting a QAL which I plan to join.  I may use the Flora charms for these squares.  The other book I picked up is Modern Blocks: 99 Quilt Blocks from Your Favorite Designers. I'm still hoping to get into a Bee based on this book.

Okay, enough procrastinating! I am off to start cutting fabric for my top secret project.

Fabric Friday

My Wonky Log Cabin Placemats needed a few more fabrics to round them out, as well as backing fabric so Levi and I headed out in the snow to The Workroom.  

From the top: Kona Espresso, Greenfield Hill in Cranberry, Betty Dear Orange Leaves, Greenfield Hill in Dogwood, Kona Burgandy.

Once again, I messed up my first Wonky Log Cabin block.  Can you guess how?

Yup, my third round of strips were just short of my desired 12 inches, so I had to add a fourth round. This led to several of the fourth round strips not making it all the way across the block when I cut the block to size.  I haven't decided if I'm going to use this block or rip back two rounds and try again.  What do you think? Rip or use?

Truth #1

It is time to stop sewing and go to sleep when you realize that you screwed up your very first attempt ever at a Wonky Log Cabin block.  The strip with the star is supposed to be my centre square. The brown fabric should have gone where the white strip is. I was not consistent in my direction when rotating 90 degrees.

The saving grace is that the fabrics look pretty together, don't you think?

Because I Don't Have Enough Projects

My rotary cutter needed a new blade (see P.S. below for my tip of the week!) so I had to go to Fabricland.  Everyone knows you can't go to Fabricland and leave without fabric.  Right?  RIGHT! Here is today's haul:

These lovely prints are destined to be quilted placemats.  I'm going to make Wonky Log Cabin blocks using Quilt Dad's tutorial.  I'll add strips on either side of the squares to make rectangles, use a solid backing, quilt and bind them up.  I think I will need to throw in some extra prints so I'll work from my stash.  Right now I'm planning to incorporate the fabrics below.

 

I would like to find a chartruese or lime green to contract the pinks. Just one print. Because what I really need is an excuse to buy more fabric.  

P.S. Before replacing my rotary blade, I googled for tips on sharpening blades.  A number of sewists suggested folding aluminum foil and running your blade across it.  I tried it and IT DID NOT WORK! In fact, it made my blade much more dull.  This, my friends, is your Tuesday Tip from me.  I'm curious if anyone else has found this to not work out for them.  Drop me a comment and let me know!

  

P.P.S. I'm linking up with Fabric Tuesday. I'm not sure if this is kosher because this is a WIP and not a finished project. UPDATED: There is progress made. Not good progress, but still, check it out!