Leaders, Enders and Half Square Triangles!

I love teaching quilt classes. I'm always learning something new and getting great tips on how to be more efficient (thanks Barbara for today's tip!)

Cut a bunch of 3" squares in half and use these for your Leaders and Enders when sewing.

Hens on Parade...

My obsession with chickens has brought about a new pattern...

Sweet little hens on parade! It's got balloons! Who doesn't love balloons!!! 

Hope you like it ❤️🐓

The Sewing Bowl

I have this wooden bowl in my sewing room that holds some of my favorite things. 

And old pair of scissors, red and white ribbon, an old heart that I cross stitched when I was 16, greenery of course and some other odds and ends. These are the things that inspire creativity. Looking at this today, inspired this...

The pattern will be available soon. Gotta get the stitching done ✂️. That's what I'm going to do right now. Good night & happy stitching !

Farm Girl & Laverne

I follow a wonderful lady on Instagram. Her account is called finally a Farmgirl. She lives in Florida with her sweet family and many farm animals, including a sassy hen named Laverne. I ❤️ Laverne. I really want my own 🐓s but that has to wait. So in the meantime, I designed this little mini quilt. 

Now I have my own Laverne.  

Isn't she sweet!!! And her farm girl is patiently looking after her.

The pattern is available here...

https://www.etsy.com/shop/FarmhouseCottons?ref=search_shop_redirect

Enjoy your week 😀

Lucky

Back in February I released this pattern for St. Patrick's Day. It's available in my etsy shop. www.etsy.com/shop/farmhousecottons

The clovers are tiny. Each measuring 2 1/2". Sooo cute! Right. 

Well. Yes. While I think they are adorable, some may find the size a tad daunting. If you happen to find yourself leaning toward the daunting side, I have good news! I am going to give you the measurements for a 4" clover! Yay!

Ok, so...cut:

(3) 2 1/2" green sq
(9) 1 1/4" corner squares

3" light square (cut once on diagonal) for the stem piece and a 1" x 3 1/4" green stem. 

Here's some helpful tidbits.

When sewing corners, I never sew it down the center. I ALWAYS sew just a needle width or two off the center mark.

I do this so that my fold line is on the center and by doing this I don't come up short when I iron it back. Also, you can see that my foot holds the edge of the little square and my machine is less likely to suck it up when I start sewing.

I trim like this, leaving the original piece in place so that I have a "true" mark.

 If you worry about bulk then trim once you've made sure your square matches up with the original cut.

Now for the stem piece. This is how I aligned it...sew a 1/4" seam allowance, press to the light and repeat for the other side. Trim this unit to 2 1/2" square.

I pressed my seams open. 

Trim block to 4 1/2". If you are following the pattern, increase your strips to 1 1/2". 

Have a fantastic day!!!

Summer Pickings and hello again...

Well hello. Good to be back. I've been super busy. Between homeschooling three kiddos and endless housework, I decided to start a new business! Yep. I've been designing quilts and selling some fun stuff on etsy. You will be seeing some changes to the blog, but it's all good stuff!

I've recently designed Summer Pickings. A sweet & simple quilt with wool applique. It measures approx. 40" square. I'm personally in love with it. 

Here's a close up of the strawberry basket

I wanted to share with you the fabrics I used, in case you like them & are wondering...

Here are the red & pinks...

And the lights...

And the borders...

Hope you like it! You can find the pattern in my etsy shop.

www.etsy.com/shop/farmhousecottons

Take care!!!

Folk art Christmas Sew-Along

Many of you who follow me on Instagram or Facebook will have seen this quilt of my step moms. We took this class from Cheri this last year. My quilt is no where near completion and quilting this made me really want to get mine done.  This is Janice's version. She is Jewish and my dad is Christian, so Cheri designed a menorah and bird of peace so that will quilt represents them both. I love that! 

I decided to start a see-along to encourage myself and others who would like to have it up for next Christmas. 

Here is my post about it. It details how we will do it and what hashtag to use. If you don't already follow me on Instagram, please do. 

I look forward to seeing everyone's posts. ✂️ 

Happy quilting!

Fall has Arrived

Here in California, Fall has been battling it out with Summer. And I'm so happy to announce that Fall has finally won!!!

And what better way to welcome Its arrival, 
than with a chicken pot pie.

And a mini fall quilt! 

I've got the borders on it and hope to quilt it tomorrow!  The recipe for the pot pie is on my blog. 
click here to take you to the post.

The quilt is a tutorial available at temecula quilt co's blog. 

Happy fall y'all!!!

Frosty's Tree Farm

The making of a new quilt...

Here in Southern California we are experiencing

a lovely HEAT wave! Ugh!!!

Designing a Christmas Quilt makes me long for winter! 

The only way to build a snowman in this heat is with wool. In Frosty's world it's snowing and wonderful!

Happy Quilting!!!

Half Square Triangles

In the 15, or so, years I have been quilting, I have tried every method there is to make half square triangles or HST to those in the quilting world...

I thought I would share with you my method. 

Rather than cutting (for instance) 2 7/8" squares, I cut 3" squares. I always round up to the nearest 1/2" or 1". Then I cut them in half on the diagonal and sew the pieces back together. 

Cutting them in half is something I never wanted to do because I use so many wovens and the bias thing just irritated me. After taking classes from Cheri, I gave in. I will say it's so much faster and because I've cut my original squares a tad bigger, I can square them up perfectly...

Happy Quilting!!!

A Trip Around The World. twice!

I made a trip around the world. But then I thought...hmmm. With a little cutting I had two!

This one just needs a border.

Have you made a trip around the world?

Sarah's Wedding...

I was fortunate enough to decorate 

for a the wedding of these two fabulous people!

Shawn and I went to school with Sarah's parents and my kids went to school with her. I was thrilled when her mom asked me to decorate for the wedding. It was a PLEASURE for sure! 

The only bummer was that Nolan really thought 

Sarah would one day be HIS bride!!!

You can see why. 

She's everything Nolan would want in a wife! 

But alas, she is Isaac's. And he is a lucky guy!!!

Congratulations to you two! 

May God always bless your marriage!

P.S. Photography by Ben Christensen

My First "Real" Pattern!

I'm so excited! 

I designed my first pattern! 

I just had to share. 

Hopefully it will be the first of many!

if you are interested in purchasing a pattern, 

click here for the link to fat quarters quilt shop.

A New School Year

These cute kids started a new school year!

Masyn is in 7th grade

Nolan is in 2nd grade

And Evyn Rose is in kindergarten!!!

I love them so much!