Out to Pasture and the Patchwork Pumpkin Blocks

Hello, Friends,

and welcome back to the Farm Girl Vintage sew along!

The two blocks I'm showing today were quite a pair!

The first one had just a few pieces and went together

lickety-split, using a partial seam technique.

For my version of Out to Pasture,

I fussy-cut some cherries and berries.

The fabrics in this block are almost all from Lori Holt's Bake Sale line,
but the red floral at the bottom is American Jane' Fresh Air.

So that block was very quick and easy.

However...

the Patchwork Pumpkin block called for 30 different scraps

of ORANGE fabrics.

Hmmm...I don't have orangeaphobia any more, 

but I don't have that many orange prints!

I just used 3 or 4 of each of my orange fabrics.

I highly recommend taking a photo of the layout,

once you've devoted all that time to making it look random.

I only mention that advice because...

mine fell off of the table, and I had to start all over again!

There was a lot of giggling when it happened...

and no bad words flew out of my mouth either.

It was just tooooooooo funny!

{Even my cute mini design board couldn't hang onto all those squares!}

Oh, well...at least it's really kind of fun to arrange all of the squares.

Here's my pumpkin, all made up.

I.Love.This!

I wonder what I can make with this sweet pumpkin.

I think I might make another one, in the 12 1/2" size,

and create a gorgeous pillow for fall.

Stop by again, for more sew along fun!

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Continuing with...Corn and Tomatoes, Country Crossroads, and Crops

I'm having such a great fun sewing from my

Farm Girl Vintage book by Lori Holt.

What a great sew along!

I'm caught up with the blocks but haven't kept up

with corresponding blog posts.

Today I'll share 3 more cute blocks,

starting with Corn and Tomatoes.

This block was near and dear to my heart,

because corn and tomatoes are a great source of

color inspiration!

{These fresh ingredients make a fabulous corn salad!}

I found the Corn and Tomatoes block to be a real treat to stitch.

My "Fresh Air" American Jane fabrics 

give me a few sweet reds to start with.

I tossed in a butter yellow print, too,

from Bake Sale by Lori Holt.

This block had fewer pieces than most, so pretty soon,

my block was finished.

I'm such a fan of pinwheels,

and I love the way the points meet in the middle.

I love using my "design boards" that I made

following this tutorial.

Next up was another simple block:

Country Crossroads.

I went with blue and pink prints this time.

I like making each block a little different,

for my vintage quilt.

Polka dots fit right in!

Snowball blocks and sashing make this easy!

 Next up we have the clever "Crops" block.

I really like the way the leaves

are composed of two fabrics in the same color.

The finished block is cute on its own,

but I plan to pop a flower block onto the stem someday.

Come back often

to watch my Farm Girl Vintage blocks accumulating!

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A Value-able Lesson - Cool Threads

My Farm Girl Vintage book

is really getting a workout these days,

as I try to catch up with the sew along!

I'm learning along the way.

I'm using my pre-pressed technique

for my block corners,

which minimizes distortion from pressing.

Also, I use skinny thread,

(Aurifil 50 wt)

to make my block sizes very close to 

a perfect 6 1/2" square at the end.

Today I'm showing my version of the Cool Threads block.

Now, I have a confession to make...

here are the "spools" I made at first.

When I laid them out for assembly,

I didn't love the way the colors looked together.

They didn't clash, but they didn't excite me.

I really liked that light blue one,

so I whipped up three new spools,

and this time I was satisfied.

I started to think about what made me react

differently to two similar blocks.

The difference was...value!

Here's the first block,

photographed in black and white.

One of the blocks "stands out"

from the others, being too dark.

The others are of similar value.

In the block that I liked,

there are two blocks that are darker,

but they are balanced by placement,

and the four blocks seem to belong together.

I really like those "extra" spools,

especially the navy one, and will save them

for another block to be made someday.

I like the way that teeny stripe looks like twine.

Never mind...in my final block,

I liked the way this spool looks like

variegated thread.

While I've been stitching from this book,

I noticed that a whole lot of blocks need

1 1/2" squares from the background print.

I cut some extra squares, to keep in a pretty bowl.

{I like "pretty" organizing tips, don't you?}

I hope you've enjoyed my value-able tip

and will stop by again soon!

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More Farm Girl Vintage Blocks...Canning Season, Chicken Foot and Churn Dash

I've been busy trying to catch up with the

Farm Girl Vintage sew along...

and I'm starting to accumulate

lots of pretty blocks.

I had really been looking forward to capturing

some sweet strawberries

in the Canning Season block.

I picked my berry fabrics and cut my pieces out ahead of time.

Later, when there was a bit of time for sewing,

the block went together quickly.

I took a glamour shot with my Pyrex bowls

and my mini design board.

{I LOVE my gingham lids.}

Next up was the Chicken Foot block.

I think I've seen this block around,

but I never gave it much credit...

what a charming design,

especially when some favorite fabrics are used!

The "positive/negative" effect was fun, and

I was really pleased with my sharp HST's.

With the stitching method used in this block

there was no need to oversize and trim!

Then it was time for a Churn Dash block...

always one of my most favorite quilt blocks!

I chose a fresh navy, yellow and blue palette for mine.

I think this block is one of the best designs ever...

so simple and pretty...great for a beginner to make.

Soon this pretty block was born.

I love the bright 30's style prints I'm using...

mostly Fresh Air by American Jane,

with some Bake Sale by Lori Holt,

assorted polka dots,

and a dash of 30's Playtime Favorites 

by Chloe's Closet.

{I REALLY LOVE that one in the upper right corner...Betty's Green.}

Stop by again soon, for more Farm Girl Vintage fun!

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Ric Rac...or Is It Ricrac? Maybe Rickrack?

I bet when you see this photo,
you won't even need to know what these things are,
edged in ric rac...you just know you like 'em.

{Am I right?}

It turns out these are little coasters!

See how pretty they are, even one at a time?

{My Cath Kidson mug is such a nice model!}

I spent some quality time with my ric rac collection
and made a whole bunch of these coasters,
for a custom order on my Etsy shop, eamylove.

I love the way the different shades of ric rac look
against the bright fabrics.

Mostly I used prints from Briar Rose
by Heather Ross.
I love the tiny grasshoppers on clover...

the cute bees...

and the bright strawberries.

There are even tinier strawberries on the fabrics
from Bake Sale by Lori Holt.

These colors are a bit less intense,
but still nice and bright.

I want to give credit for my inspiration...
I saw them here on the nanacompany blog.
If you would like to learn to make them,
Amy Sinibaldi has told me that they will be included as a project
in her upcoming book,
Sweetly Stitched Handmades!

{It's available for pre-order now and will be released in May 2015.}

My Etsy client asked me to make some ric rac edged coasters for her,
and they were sew much fun to create!

I love everything about ric rac,
except that there are so many ways to spell it!
Ric rac, ricrac, rickrack...
what a nuisance when I'm adding tags
 to posts and photos.

I'm running out of ric rac...must find more!!!
Anybody know a great place to buy ric rac?

I've picked mine up here and there and everywhere...
sometimes it's even on a clearance shelf.
Please let me know if you've got a good source!
If you do, I'll have more of these to show.

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