She's a Winner!

Tore myself away from  finishing the Farmer's Wife quilt long enough to gin up a giveaway winner via Random.org.

And the winner of this:

Is:

Who is Barb in Michigan, who wrote:

Barb, I'll send you an email in just a minute to ask for your postal address. Congratulations, and thanks for following 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks!

And now, back to the final border on the Farmer's Wife!


From the desk of your

Worth It: Memorial Day Weekend 2014

Younger Son, aka My Little Sailor, is preparing to depart for the USS George Washington's summer patrol.  I received a phone call very (very!) early this morning -- but it's always worth waking up at 2am:

To see this:

Fair winds and following seas, Sailors!



From the desk of your

WIP Wednesday: FW, BaD and a Giveaway

The vote for setting triangles for my Farmer's Wife quilt seems to be to match the cornerstones.

I went out today to do errands -- mail a package to My Little Sailor, buy the new OPI Neon nail polish collection, stop at Ruth's to buy fabric for setting triangles.

But there was a baby brown bear in the tree behind the Air Force Academy post office. I had to stop and look, although I did not get out of my car to take a photo. If there's a baby, I know Mama Bear isn't far away! Then the radio dj announced a "severe thunderstorm warning" for our area -- with golf-ball size hail. So I raced for home, and left the other errands for tomorrow.

Which means I have only a few setting triangles made for the Farmer's Wife quilt. I had to play with my "setting triangles" ruler to get the right size, because with the sashing, the blocks aren't square. I think I've got it right:

The fabric looks really grey in this photo, but it is more a sage green. Just what I wanted.

Here are all the blocks (except the last one, it must still be on the ironing board);

Speaking of ironing boards, look at this beauty custom-made for me by the DH of Chrystal, who owns Cotton Candy Sewing Shop:

It's right in front of my old ironing board, which has one short leg. That's why there's a bread plate under one leg! I'm planning to stain it aqua green, when it's done, I'll show some more photos!

Sunday, May 18th was the 60th day of Spring. How are you doing with the Quilt Block a Day challenge? I was caught up on Sunday, but now I'm two days behind. Distracted by a spectacular quilt pattern to test!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

And WIP Wednesdays with Tami's Amis.

Have you commented on Friday's post for a chance to win this bundle of Kona Cottons?

From the desk of your

Design Wall Monday

Almost half of my "Farmer's Wife" quilt is sashed. Watching it come together is addictive!

One row is missing, it's at the sewing machine waiting for sashing.

When I get all the rows sashed, I will have to decide on a fabric for the setting triangles. The cornerstones are a pale, sage green. So far the vote is for the setting triangles to be the same fabric, but I'll post some choices and ask for input.

Remember the gorgeous yarn My Little Sailor sent for Mother's Day? Here is my current manicure, which compliments the Shawlcowl perfectly!

Linking up to Anything Goes Monday at Stitch by Stitch.

As well as Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

Have you commented yet for a chance to win this bundle of Kona cottons? Go to Friday's post to comment.

From the desk of your

Celebrate! A Giveaway

500 followers! 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks celebrates 500 followers on Bloglovin' -- plus nearly 700 on Google Friend Connect! 

When the number of followers topped 1000 on the two reported "following" methods, I wanted to celebrate. The DH pointed out that there might be many duplicates, as Bloglovin' was launched well after 52 Quilts began. So I decided to wait until there were 500 followers on Bloglovin' to celebrate.

And that day was earlier this week. Thank you!

I think this calls for a major giveaway, don't you? I searched for the perfect "prize" and came up with a fat quarter bundle of Kona's Summer '13 Palette cotton solids.

That's 28 fat quarters -- 7 full yards of Kona cotton goodness. Plus anything else I find to toss in the box for you.

Want it? Here's how to get it:

1. This giveaway is to celebrate followers of 52 Quilts in 52 weeks, so you must be a follower. Either by Bloglovin' or Google Friend Connect, or via email.
2. Make a comment on this post to say you're a follower.
3. For another entry, follow @52Quilts on Instagram. Comment to say you're a follower.
4. For a third entry, "like" 52 Quilts on Facebook. Comment to say you've "liked" 52 Quilts.
5. International entries welcome!
6. No-reply comments will be disregarded unless contact information is included.
7. Giveaway ends at noon MDT (Mountain Daylight Time) next Saturday, May 24.

Thank you for making 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks a success -- you are the reason I am here!

From the desk of your

WIP Wednesday: 111 Farmer's Wife Blocks

All 111 Farmer's Wife blocks are pieced and ready to sash! Thank you, Marti Michell.

Over the four years of 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks, 16 posts have been about this quilt. It's about time to finish it, don't you think?

I started this massive project in the Spring of 2010, when I first saw the book at the Pueblo Quilt Expo. I spied the book and a fat quarter tower of Civil War reproduction fabrics at a booth from Texas. In the next aisle, I saw that my LQS, High Country Quilts, was also selling the book. I asked Jean about it and she said they were doing it as a BOM.  Karen led the group, and also designed foundation piecing patterns for many of the more difficult blocks.

I plugged along for a couple of years, making two or three blocks a month. But not really making a lot of progress.  Then, last year I saw that Marti Michell had written conversion charts for using her From Marti Michell templates to make these complex 6.5" blocks. Yay!

Progress at last.  My only surviving brother and his wife will celebrate 50 years of marriage this June. (I'll try to find the photo of my sister and me wearing dresses made by my mother for the wedding.) So I decided, since he is the only Dyer boy who became a Farmer, they should have this quilt.  And the pressure is on!

A few of the blocks had come out smaller than 6.5" -- rather than try to compensate for that in the sashing strips, I decided to re-sew them using Marti's templates. And last night, I finished the last block.

No sashing yet, I'll decide what fabric to use today when I visit Ruth's Stitchery for Wednesday Block Party. But all the blocks are finished! All the blocks are finished! All the blocks are finished!

Here are some closeups of a few of my favorite blocks.

First, the Red Cross block. This one isn't in the book, it was a special gift design from Karen. I used it to replace a block that was a duplicate.

I'm quite proud of this block, #94, Tall Pine Tree. It is one of about 10 blocks for which Marti did not write a conversion. So I used my Bloc-Loc Half Rectangle Triangle ruler and made my own.

This is one I re-made because it was too small, #99, Women's Christian Temperance Union. I used the colors of the Women's Suffrage Movement, purple, white and green.

On the left is #45, Grape Basket. That's 30 pieces in a 6.5" block. Ahem. On the right is one that would have been impossible without Karen's foundation piecing design, Night and Day.

Linking up to Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts.

And WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

If blog posts are scant the next week, it's because I'm busily sashing this doozy of a quilt!


From the desk of your

On the Design Wall: Last of the Farmer's Wife Blocks

I've finally completed the last four of my Farmer'w Wife bocks!

This isn't the oldest WIP I've ever had, but it's probably the oldest established permanent floating WIP in my history!

I started the Farmer's Wife quilt in the Spring of 2010 after I saw the book at the Pueblo Quilt Expo. Being a Farmer's Daughter, I thought it would be a fun quilt to make. Lucky for me, Karen at High Country Quilts was offering it as a BOM.  She designed foundation-pieced patterns for many of the more difficult blocks. I plugged away at the blocks until early in 2013, when Marti Michell released her From Marti Michell templates conversion chart for the quilt. Using the templates did make the blocks easier to piece at the perfect 6.5" square!

I had only a few blocks left to make when I decided this would be the perfect 50th anniversary gift for my brother and his wife. He is the only of my brothers who became a farmer.

And so, voila -- the last four of the 111 Farmer's Wife blocks:

The blocks, clockwise, are: #42 Fruit Basket; #50 Honey's Choice; #101 Wedding Ring; and #106 Wild Rose & Square.

Sashing and setting this quilt is going to be challenging, as not all of my blocks are exactly 6.5" square! Since the anniversary party is scheduled for June 27, I have less than one month to finish it -- so this will be the only thing I work on for the next few weeks.

I just noticed 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks has 499 followers on Bloglovin'. I'm thinking the 500th follower will call for a major giveaway. Keep watching this space!

From the desk of your