The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 62 Old Windmill and an English Paper Piecing tutorial

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 62 Old Windmill

I thought I would go back to basics on this post.  If you glance down the side bar you will see that I have been blogging since 2012.  Over that time I have made my Nearly Insane quilt and my Dear Jane quilt, plus a few others along the way.  Just this week I got an email asking questions about my Nearly Insane quilt and how I make my quilts.  

This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 62 Old Windmill.  It is English paper pieced.  Yes, I know it is just squares and triangles and some of you could do it quicker on the sewing machine, but I choose to make most of my quilts by hand and sometimes it is the only time I have to sew.  You will see that I have included a little label of its name today.  I have taken each of the Farmer's Wife blocks and drafted them into Electric Quilt 8.  This enables me to make the block at any size and in the case of this quilt, I am making the blocks at 4" instead of the original 6" - not translated well in a picture on the internet (NB: Sorry, no I can't sell / give you a copy) .  Once drafted I print out an outline drawing of my block an usually it has its name at the top of the page which I snip out to label my prepped bags of sewing.  I have scanned all my Fig Tree fabrics into Electric quilt and it is a really worthwhile task as I can test out colour combinations before I take my rotary cutter to my fabric.  I usually use my iPad to take a screenshot as a record and use it as a reference to cut out the fabric.  Once cut out, it is put  in a bag, in a bag with thread, needle and a thimble, ready for a MOMENT.

This block was done whilst watching television last evening during down time.  These days, down time is down time from quilting other people's quilts as part of my longarm quilting business, where I get to quilt some mega quilts for my customers - do take a look.  

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 62 Old Windmill

Here is a photo of the back - I do this once in a while, just for new Followers.  You will see that I have coded each piece with a letter, so I know what fabric it goes with which piece.  I tack through the paper  for basting and leave all the papers in.  Why? Until the edge pieces have something to be sewn to, they will need the paper in them. Also, I usually put no time limit on my quilts, so I will probably handle the blocks quite a lot  between now and quilting the quilt, so it keeps them square for the years between - yes, years.  When your quilts are English Paper pieced and they are pretty much dead square, it is hard to appreciate why anyone would piece otherwise - but they do.  Once I blog a block, I number it and add it to a pile.  It's slowly getting bigger.

Dear Jane Quilt - 1st Anniversary Edition, August 2016

Dear Jane Block storage

Welcome to the glamorous world of Dear Jane!
Yes, here you see my Dear Jane blocks carefully stacked on a random shelf sharing the space with wadding offcuts and an empty mug.  This is the real world.  I now have just over 200 of these and the thought of laying them out for an Anniversary special was too much.  I asked my new Windows 10 assistant, Cortana, if she wanted to do it, but she seemed to lack enthusiasm also.  However, Electric Quilt 5 - Dear Jane Edition was up for the challenge and has provided me with this update.

Electric Quilt - Dear Jane Edition - August 2016 Update

I think the situation is looking quite healthy for one year of Dear Jane quilt English paper piecing. Electric Quilt has also highlighted that although I thought I had cut all the remaining blocks, there is still one Orange set which I have overlooked. Great work Electric Quilt!

My blogging of my blocks is hopelessly lagging behind the actual completion of the blocks and the data in this table reflects this.

	Blocks	Triangle
Red	25/29	4/8
Purple	10/12	6/8
Blue	20/20	8/8
Green	25/28	8/8
Yellow	34/36	8/12
Orange	44/44	12/12
TOTAL	158/169 (93%)	46/56 (82%)
Sashing	37/312	(11%)
Cornerstones	28/144	(20%)
Triangles	18/56	(32%)

Also the Border triangle extras, sashing and cornerstones are no really going to get me far once I start trying to piece this beauty together.  I need some discipline on working on these.

So, overall, I am pleased with my progress and hope that within weeks (yes, weeks!) I hope to be able to layout all the blocks and triangles to start planning how I will put them together.

Dear Jane Quilt - 6 month Progress Report

Dear Jane Quilt - 6 month Progress Report, Electric Quilt

As promised here is an update on my Dear Jane journey.  I am six months into it and as you can see from the Electric Quilt interpretation, the holes are steadily being filled up. 

Dear Jane Quilt - Fabadashery 6 month Progress Report

Here are all the actual Dear Jane quilt blocks which are completed, still with all the papers in them.  No purple yet. None are sewn together yet, as I don't have a full row complete, but come back in the next six months and see whether I have managed to get any of it together.

 

	Blocks	Triangle
Red	5/29	0/8
Purple	0/12	0/8
Blue	8/20	4/8
Green	8/28	4/8
Yellow	8/36	0/12
Orange	28/44	8/12
TOTAL	57/169 (33%)	16/56 (28%)

 

Here are the statistics.  The numbers show that I am only about a third of the way through ... so still a way to go.   If you have been a dedicated Follower, it might feel like this has been going on a bit longer, thanks for sticking with it.  An average of about 12 blocks a month, which now puts back the completion to this time next year (February 2017).  I think I could do with a Dear Jane retreat.


Dear Jane Quilt - Fabadashery 6 month Progress Report

It is fun to pull out all the blocks and remember where and when you were stitching them, which is perhaps something special about hand piecing quilts.  I usually prepare the blocks for sewing in batches and it is time I spent some time at the cutting board, especially since I have a few trips coming up in the next few weeks. 


Dear Jane Quilt Exhibition, Nantes, France 2013

And finally, here is a bit of Dear Jane inspiration.  This is another photo from the Dear Jane Quilt Exhibition held in Nantes, France in April 2013.  I can't believe it is nearly three years ago that it was on display.  What a show! It is a reminder that everyone interprets the quilt in their own way - on this note, check out the Dear Jane cutie Susan has made. Over at That Quilt, a new Dear Jane quiltalong is starting - just if you are interested.

Joining up with Design Wall Monday
 

Dear Jane Update, November 2015 - 3rd Anniverary Edition

Dear Jane Quilt blocks - November 2015

This week marks the 3rd Anniversary of my Fabadashery blog.  It all started when I joined in the Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery Quilt and three years on I hope to be doing the 2015 Mystery Quilt, Allietare! Thank you to all my Followers who have joined the journey.  I had hoped to do something spectacular to celebrate, but it is a busy time at work for me and so I have opted for a Dear Jane update.  Since starting in 2012, I have also started another quilting blog which shares my longarm quilting adventures.  Please feel free to Follow along on that one too if you are interested.


Dear Jane Quilt blocks - November 2015

So back to Dear Jane. Here are all the blocks I have done so far and you can now see some pops of colour in the sea of orange compared to the last update.

43 blocks (25%)

4 triangles (7%)

 



Dear Jane Quilt - EQ Software - November 2015 update

In the pictures above you might spot some blocks that have yet to have their '15 minutes of fame'.  All I can say is that my stitching is more productive than my blogging - they will have their moment.  Also this update has reminded me that I need to keep up with the sashing, cornerstones and the blank triangles.

All this special blogging activity was encouraged by the monthly 'Help for Hexi- aholics' over at Sarah Did It!  Please visit. If you sew by hand, if you sew with paper, this is a safe haven to visit.  There are no hexagons in the stitching above, but if you look closely there is an octagon.

(PS: Sarah - Suzi says Hi!)

Dear Jane Quilt Update - October 2015

Dear Jane Quilt Update - October 2015

It is my birthday this week, so keeping up with tradition, I am doing an review of my progress on my Dear Jane quilt so far.  As you can see it is a sea of orange, with one lone red block.  In the past two months I have completed

21 blocks 21/169 (12%)

4 Border Triangles 4/56 (7%)

This works out about 10 blocks a month, so an estimated finish date would be about December 2016, unless I win the lottery and my revised schedule allows me to sew all day long...


Dear Jane block preparation

With so many little blocks, a lot of time is taken in preparing them in packs ready for sewing.  I think the cutting out for some blocks has taken longer than actually sewing them together.

Dear Jane Electric Quilt software - October 2015

To monitor my overall progress here is the image of the progress so far taken in my Dear Jane Electric Quilt software.  I am enjoying using Electric Quilt for this project as I did with the last sampler quilt.  This image is updated an on the sidebar regularly.

Nearly Insane Quilt - Update #5 June 2015



Nearly Insane Quilt - Electric Quilt image

It is a while since I mentioned anything about my Nearly Insane quilt progress, so I thought a post on the blog would set me into action.  I have taken this image from my Electric Quilt software to show the final layout, and this image is now on my sidebar.

Nearly Insane Quilt - Zig Zag border

I am pleased to say that I have pieced together all the zig zags required in the border.  From my last post you will have read about the false starts I had with this.  I think they contributed to a lack of motivation I had for the border, which is why they have taken such a long time.  Do you ever suffer from lack of interest in your quilt borders?  I had hoped to keep up with this whilst I was completing the blocks, which I did until there was a change of plan. Anyway, they are together, I just need to insert a cream border and either side of the zig zag and then the top is truly finished. That is all I need to do ...


English Paper Piecing - removing the paper

I am still removing the paper from the English Paper Piecing and there are large areas of the quilt which are looking revitalised without the tacking stitches showing through. At the final count there were 6032 pieces in the quilt - all those 6032 templates are in the process of coming out.

Suzi the cat helping with the quilt borders

With all the supportive help I get from Suzi the cat, I expect there are 6032 cat hairs to remove as well....

Miniature Block of the Month April 2015 - The Quilt Room

Miniature Block of the Month April 2015 - The Quilt Room

We are a few weeks into April and I have only just remembered to do my Miniature Block of the Month, currently offered FREE by the Quilt Room.The blocks are turning out to be a collection of stars and on this occasion I merged some of the pieces to get a more satisfying shape.  I am still struggling with foundation piecing - I managed to cut all the pieces backwards and still had to unpick some .... I will keep trying.


Layout Paper - foundation paper alternative?

So far I have been using regular A4 computer paper for my foundation paper, as I print out the patterns in my Electric Quilt software, but was struggling with its heavy  80gsm weight.  I went on a tour of the aisles at our local stationery store to see if there was an alternative I could put through a printer.  The best I could find was layout paper which is slightly lighter at 50gsm.  This works fine through the inkjet printer, but was not so happy in the laser printer.  Have you found any alternatives?

Joining up with Design Wall Monday

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 51

Block 51 - Nearly Insane Quilt

This is Block 51.  Does anyone know its proper name?  I think I saw it called something related to anvils or hammers, but seem to have lost the reference.


Block 51 - Nearly Insane Quilt construction

For those of you who are doing (or thinking of doing the Nearly Insane quilt), you need to be a bit careful when putting this one together.  There is in an inner border, and the pieces on the corner are not symmetrical, with one having a 1/8" edge which needs to be accommodated.  I wondered why the bits weren't fitting ....

Red and white patchwork fabrics - Nearly Insane Quilt

It has seven different fabrics in it.  It has some 'neutral' calico, which flows through most of the blocks, some medium tones and some solid reds.  It pretty much has it all, and each fabric plays its role to make this block look balanced.

Electric Quilt 5 Software

More and more, I am spending a lot more time on choosing the fabrics for my blocks, and playing around with ideas in Electric Quilt.  Not all of my earlier blocks are pleasing me and I am determined to get the remaining ones spot on first time.  I must say that my Electric Quilt software has been a perfect partner for this project.  With each new block I have needed to return to the software to audition fabric combinations, and through this repetition, I have really become comfortable with it.  My previous experience of using it had been designing a quilt over a few hours, printing out the details, and then not returning to the software until I had finished hand piecing the quilt, months (or even years!) later.  It was because of this irregular use that I never chose to upgrade to Electric Quilt 7.

Also, I have just spent a bit of time tidying up my Inbox, and I was taken back by all the kind and supportive comments that many of you have made about my Nearly Insane quilt blocks since I started my journey over a year ago.  From this end the creative juices don't always flow when I am writing about 'another' red and white, English paper pieced, hand sewn quilt block.  Thanks for sticking with me - we are heading for the home straight!

Joining up with Slow Stitching Sunday and EPP Link Party.

NUMBER OF PIECES:  41
DIFFICULTY: 3/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Rectangle 1" (25mm) x 7/16" (12mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square 1 3/8" (35mm) x 1 3/8" (35mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Bear Essentials by P & B Textiles
Christmas Past  (#14547) by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson for Moda
Hearts on Red (567-R5) Makower
Little Spots Red, Pierres Famous Travelling Circus, Michael Miller
Red pindot on cream (unidentified)
Calico

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 25

Block 25 (revised) - Nearly Insane Quilt

In the Nearly Insane pattern book by Liz Lois, each block is presented 'square', but in the actual quilt, the blocks are 'on point'.  Sometimes, what looks OK in the book, sometimes gets tipped off balance once it is transferred. 

Original Block 25 - Nearly Insane Quilt

The original Block 25 is one of the more 'individual' patterns of the Nearly Insane quilt, with points going here and there, which I quite liked, but once 'on point' not as much.  Therefore it has undergone a bit of makeover in my Electric Quilt software - you can compare the changes below (.... you will need to tip your head to understand what I mean!)

Revised Block 25 - Nearly Insane Quilt

I think overall it has added more pieces to the block, but I quite enjoy making the blocks my own.


Block 25 in progress - Nearly Insane Quilt

I completed this Nearly Insane block whilst enjoying International Quilt Day with the Quilt Show. Here is a photo of my little work station I use whilst I sew watching the television.  At the top you can see a pile of 'light' cream corner squares which I abandoned midway for a 'midtone' red ... this block really was a work in progress, going through many changes on its journey.

I have also had the assistance of Suzi the cat whilst completing this block.  She is perhaps a bit more interested in the plastic bag than the sewing ... I think she is trying to tell me it is dinner time.


Block 25 - Nearly Insane Quilt

Lots of blocks finished lately - surely it deserves a Whoop Whoop?

NUMBER OF PIECES:  101
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle  3/4" (18mm) x 1/2" (13mm) x 1/2" (13mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square  1 1/16" (27mm) x 1 1/16" (27mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
"Friendship" (Tonal Red) by Howard Marcus for MODA (Collections For a Cause) # 46130
Ivory on Red Cameo Bud Yardage # 14764 Midwinter Reds by Minick and Simpson, Moda
Cream Heart Paisley # 14766-15, Midwinter Reds by Minick & Simpson, Moda
Red pindot (unidentified)
Kona Red solid
Calico