Roamin' FWQ Week 2

So I have zero finished blocks for this week. I know, I know, I'm totally ashamed. But I did get some cutting done.

I'm working on #26 Cut Glass Dish and it's difficult. The triangles are small (1 1/2 inch) and there are 48 (!!!) of them. I did fussy cut a buffalo, so that's something, right?

I also helped Nins with this Yeti ice pack from Mollie Johanson's book, Stitch Love. So even if I'm not completing my own projects, I'm helping my daughter complete hers. I know it's still a bit of a cop-out and I sincerely apologize. I've totally dropped the ball and it's only the second week. I need to schedule in my sewing time, which makes it seem less fun, but if I want to actually accomplish any of the sewing goals I need to me strict with my time. So next week, I'll have at least one finished. Scouts honor.

Roamin' FWQ Week 1

I'm not going to lie you guys working with this fabric was a little bit stressful. It is a super high thread count and feels a little stiff to work with. I'm not sure if this is how all high thread count fabrics are but it took a bit getting used to.

With that now out of the way, I can get to showing the block. I started with the first letter. In this letter the lovely, Mrs. J. E. F. talks about living in God's open air. I loved that expression. I live pretty darn close to Big Sky Country (Montana) and spent a bit of time up there in my youth and the Big Sky is no joke. I'm not sure how it does it but Montana's sky is bigger than Idaho's, Wyoming's, and Utah's...combined. Being out there, feels all at once infinite and minuscule. Part of the world and detached.

So I based these blocks on the theme of God's open air, which conveniently for me, seems to fit perfectly in the Western and Roam motifs. The first block is #54 Kitchen Wood Box and was the first, and only block, this week. Cutting the fabric was mostly nerve-wrecking and piecing as mentioned above took a bit getting used to (I'm still getting used to it to be honest).

I still plan on doing the second block this weekend, but you know how life gets, so maybe next week, I'll have three. Wishful thinking, but still probable.

I'm thinking I might need to invest in some other template or rethink my strategy of cutting the fabric. Right now, I've got the paper templates and have been gluing them to cardboard as a stabilizer, but found it difficult to maneuver the fabric while keeping the cardboard from rotating too and ended up cutting inaccurately. Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

* The legless sheep is a family inside joke, I never actually saw a legless sheep and neither did anyone else in my family (that I'm aware)

Roamin' Farmer's Wife Quilt

Oh my! I am so so excited to be writing this post. Giddy. Seriously, you should see me, I look like a toddler that's had too much sugar or soda. Either way, it's funny.

My amazing husband got me this book and fabric for Christmas and I immediately set about to making the quilt using these fabrics. I love love love this collection! We live out West (and have for most of our lives) so this color palette really struck a chord. And we need a new queen sized quilt for the bed. Our five-year old duvet is starting to look a little worse for wear. This will be perfect.

And the buffalo. So cute. I once had a close encounter with a buffalo that made them not so cute, but I can almost forgive that large mammal for wanting to visit my mum and I on a snowmobile in Yellowstone when the machines weren't banned (are they still banned? I don't even know). I remarked to husband that this is probably the first year in many that we haven't driven up there only for him to remind me that we've only be once in five years! What the what?!? I used to go every year when Nins was little...okay littler. It seems strange not to have gone when some travel from halfway across the world and we are so close. The last time we were there though definitely left an impression. Wookie was car sick and went through two changes of clothes and was wearing Nins' extra jammies by the time we made it to Old Faithful, which I missed because I was searching for her shoes. I don't know how we lost two hot pink sparkly shoes from the parking lot to the lodge but we managed. So she went barefoot. But we did see buffalo and that's really the whole point.

I love every single thing about this line and am totally terrified that I'll screw it up somehow. It's bound to happen, but I am being extra careful because that's what being invested will do for you. I wish I had toned down the excitement for Wookie's Wee Wander blanket and taken it slow and really done a top notch job, but I really was just so excited (and it was my very first quilt). It's not bad, but knowing what I know now, I think I could do it better. The Cabin Fever quilt turned out pretty well and I took more time with that one, so with that in mind, I want to try to complete two Farmer's Wife squares a week and post on Fridays, but if I only get one square done but done right then, yay! I also plan on writing my thoughts on the corresponding letter because the quilt is only part of this book. The other parts, the letters, are so great and vital to providing context and depth to the quilt.

Farmer's wife Fridays! Has a beautiful ring to it.