Inspirations

February 2012 Farmer's Wife Blocks

2012-02-09T14:21:00.000-08:00

This month we are working on Block #3 Basket, #7 Birds in the Air,

#27 Darting Birds, #35 Flower Basket & #75 Rosebud

Farmer's Wife January 2012

2012-01-05T14:02:00.000-08:00

This month we'll be working on #11 Broken Dishes, #51 Hovering Birds,

#52 Hovering Hawks, #62 Old Windmill & #64 Peace & Plenty.

The Farmer's Wife December 2011

2011-12-08T09:19:00.000-08:00

This month we will be working on #6 Big Dipper, #19 Checkerboard,

#23 Country Farm, #60 Noon & Night and #109 Windows.

Cutting #60 Noon & Night

2011-12-08T09:12:00.000-08:00

Cut the 45-degree angles using the 45-degree line on your ruler.

Flip and cut the other end.

November Farmer's Wife Blocks

2011-11-10T12:43:00.000-08:00

This month we will be working on #65 Peaceful Hours, #73 Rainbow Flowers,

#77 Seasons, #78 Shooting Star & #79 Silver Lane.

October Farmer's Wife Blocks

2011-10-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

We will be working on #59 Night & Day, #82 Spider Legs, #110 Wood Lily,

#102 Whirlpool, #107 Windblown Square.

Earlier Farmer's Wife Blocks

2011-10-02T18:08:00.000-07:00

October 2010

#2 Autumn Tints, #4 Basket Weave, #10 Bowtie, #34 Flock, #61 Northern Lights

November 2010

#12 Broken Sugar Bowl, #16 Calico Puzzle,#21 Contrary Wife,

#72 Railroad, #98 Water Wheel

December 2010

#9 Box, #41 Friendship Star, #55 Linoleum, #81 Snowball, #84 Spool

January 2011

#31 Evening Star, #54 Kitchen Woodbox, #71 Puss in the Corner,

#93 Swallow, #103 Whirlwind

February 2011

#15 Buzzard's Roost, #39 Friendship, #49 Honeycomb, #74 Ribbons, #108 Windmill

March 2011

#20 Churn Dash, #26 Cut Glass Dish, #80 Single Wedding Star,

#87 Star Gardener, #111 Wrench

April 2011

#48 Homeward Bound, #70 Prairie Queen, #89 Steps to the Altar,

#91 Strawberry Basket, #99 W.C.T.U.

May 2011

#25 Cups & Saucers, #53 Jackknife, #56 Maple Leaf, #69 Practical Orchard,

#105 Wild Goose Chase

June 2011

#29 Economy, #30 End of Day, #40 Friendship Block, #66 Periwinkle,

#97 Waste Not

September Farmer's Wife Blocks

2011-09-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

We will be working on blocks # 5 Bat Wing, #8 Bouquet, #37 Flower Pot, #88 Star of Hope and #96 Tulip.

August Farmer's Wife Blocks

2011-08-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

We will be working on blocks #47 Homemaker, #58 Mother's Dream, #85 Square Dance, #86 Squash Blossom and #92 Streak of Lightning.

Those of you using the shop fabric note that #58 Mother's Dream uses a brown from an earlier block, #98 Waterwheel and #85 Square Dance uses a green from block #91 Strawberry Basket.

Maddie's Favorite Things

2011-08-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! It's been a great summer traveling and visiting friends and relatives. Grandma and I made a laminated changing pad which came in very handy out on the road. You can make one, too. Here's how.

Materials needed:

2 fat quarters of fun fabric

1-1/4 yard fabric laminate

cotton batting

Laminate the right side of the fat quarters following the directions included with the laminate.

Cut the fat quarters and batting to 16-1/2" x 20".

Use a plate to round off the corners of one of the fat quarters.

Place the fat quarters right sides together and place the batting on the bottom.

Secure with paper clips, do not use pins!

Sew, using a 1/2" seam allowance. Leave a 10" opening.

Trim the batting and bottom fat quarter.

Carefully turn right side out. The laminated fabric will wrinkle. Use a pressing cloth and a steam iron to press out the wrinkles.

Topstitch close to the edge, sewing the opening closed. Topstitch 1/4" in from the edge.

Fat Quarter Stash Buster!

2011-07-12T19:03:00.000-07:00

Belle Meade by Bonnie Blue Quilts is a great pattern if you are looking to put a serious dent in your fat quarter stash. It calls for 21 lights and 21 medium/dark fat quarters. You can purchase the 2 yards fabric for setting triangles and binding that we used in our shop model to finish yours. We've also kitted the complete quilt.

Click on the quilt to see Kym Ward's quilting up close.

July Farmer's Wife Blocks

2011-07-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

We continue to march through the blocks that are paper-pieced. Finish this month's blocks and you'll be half done!

The blocks for July are #18 Century of Progress, #33 Farmer's Puzzle, #46 Hill & Valley, #63 Ozark Maple Leaf and #83 Spider Web.

Those of you who are building your stash with Inspirations fat quarters, note that the Farmer's Puzzle background fabric was used earlier in #56 Maple Leaf.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Maddie's Favorite Things

2011-07-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

Taggie Blankets

Taggie blankets are lots of fun for me and my little friends. They're easy to make, too. Ask your grandma (or any grownup who has permission to use scissors) to make one for you!

Supplies Needed:
18" square of flannel
18" square of minkee
28 pieces of ribbon about 6" long

Fold the ribbons in half and pin 7 to each side of the right side of the flannel square. The ribbons should be about 2" apart. Space in 1" at the corners.

Right sides together, pin the flannel square to the minkee square. Sew together using a 1/2" seam allowance and leave a 3" opening. Turn right side out. Make sure all the pins are removed.

Topstitch close to the edge, sewing the opening closed. Topstitch again, 1/4" in from the edge.

Of course you can make your Taggie blanket any size you want. You can use different length ribbons, too.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Desserts

2009-11-28T08:23:00.001-08:00

For Thanksgiving, we made an awesome pumpkin "cake", which was basically pumpkin pie filling with yellow cake mix and butter baked on top. It sounds kind of weird, but it was delicious! And people actually ate it, so I felt better about not making the traditional pie.

Also, we made cake bites as a little extra dessert, which were amazing (we are still enjoying them, since the recipe makes a bunch of little bites!). The cake bites are a crumbled up cake and 3/4 a can of frosting mixed together, then covered with a chocolate coating. We made chocolate mint (with cute chopped up Andes mints on top for decoration), pumpkin (with the orange sprinkles), and carrot spice cake (with the chopped up walnuts).

First Post Ever

2009-11-14T14:26:00.001-08:00

This is the first post! Hooray!!! :)