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!