Friday, December 26, 2014

Agri-Spouse Friday - Week 21

Welcome back to our Agri-Spouse Quilt Along. This is my last Farmer's Wife post for 2014! I may get something else written up but I may not too. We'll see how this week goes. The kids are home from school of course so I'm not holding my breath.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I know that we sure did. I don't have any block photos to share this week. I didn't expect to have any either since this is such a busy time for most people. Likely many of us will get caught up in the upcoming weeks but in the meantime I will show a couple shots of our Christmas. We went to visit Santa:




And Quinn read the children their usual Christmas Eve story:




He is reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas". I suspect many children get that story on Christmas Eve. I know that I always did growing up and we have done it for these two every single year they have been around. They were both very excited that night and I think they may have slept a bit. The next morning they were ready to go downstairs but they have to wait for us:




For some reason our boy doesn't want to smile in photos for the past six months or so. 
I don't know why but as long as he is happy, we are good.

Other than that, the two of them are happy with the gifts they got. I am happy with what my wonderful husband got me too. He got me a small crockpot that I have been wanting in order to make overnight steel cut oats. The kids love oatmeal in the winter, particularly when it is steel cut but they are a pain to get made on school mornings. This makes it so much easier. He also got me a new iron, specialized for quilting. He needed to use the one that I have been using last week and realized how it was in pretty rough shape. We have been in our current house for almost three years and I know that it got knocked off the ironing board onto the concrete floor of the basement in our old house. He had to order it to be shipped so it isn't here yet. We also got each other a scuba vacation in the Dominican Republic for later on and Mom is going to come here to stay with the kids.

All in all, a great Christmas for our household! I hope that yours was just as wonderful.

Now we will get back to our Farmer's Wife blocks. We have two blocks to sew up this week. 

Our first block this week will be Block #76 - Sawtooth.


Cut five 2" x 2" light pink squares.
Cut five 2" x 2" raspberry squares.
Cut two 2" x 3" light pink rectangles.
Cut one 5" x 5" raspberry square.
Cut one 7" x 7" light pink square.











Place one light pink square RST with one raspberry square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the lighter fabric. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn an then sew a seam on the other side of the line you drew. Then place your ruler along the line you drew and slice the two HSTs apart. Set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other four raspberry/light pink square. Trim your HSTs to 1 1/2" squares. You should now have ten raspberry/light pink HSTs that measure 1 1/2". One of these HSTs is extra so you can set it aside and maybe it will get used later.



Sew together one light pink rectangle and five of the HSTs. Then sew together one light pink rectangle and the remaining four HSTs.











Line up the HST end of the shorter strip with the raspberry square and place the pieces RST. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. 












Line up the other HST strip and place it RST. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side.











Place the largest light pink square RST with the piece you have sewn together. Draw a line on the diagonal of the wrong side of the lighter fabric. Sew directly on the line you drew. Place your ruler on the seam and cut 1/4" away from the line. Set the seam and press to one side and your first block for this week is finished!





The second block for this week is Block # 51 - Hovering Birds.


Cut three 2 1/2"  x 2 1/2" purple squares.
Cut three 2 1/2"  x 2 1/2" raspberry squares.
Cut four 2" x 2" raspberry squares.
Cut two 2 3/8" x 2 3/8" purple squares. Cut both of these squares on the diagonal.
Cut one 3 3/4" x 3 3/4" raspberry square. Cut this square on the diagonal.





Place one 2 1/2" purple square RST with one 2 1/2" raspberry square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the lighter fabric. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn an then sew a seam on the other side of the line you drew. Then place your ruler along the line you drew and slice the two HSTs apart. Set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other two raspberry/purple squares. Trim your HSTs to 2" square. You should now have six raspberry/purple HSTs that measure 2".




Organize your pieces the way you want them to look.














Place the purple triangle RST with an HST, lining up the bottom of the triangle with the bottom of the HST. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Sew together the pieces to make strips making sure to press the seams in one strip the same direction with the strip below going the opposite direction.







Sew together the top two strips and the bottom two strips with a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press to one side.













Place the large raspberry triangle RST with the long side of the triangle lined up with the purple triangles. The long side of the triangles are all cut on the bias so be careful that you don't stretch the seams. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side.








Place your two pieces RST, sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. This finishes up your second patch and final patch for this week!






These two sewed up pretty quickly for me. Have a fun week and we will see you next year!

Tara

Friday, December 19, 2014

Agri-Spouse Friday - Week 19 and Week 20

Welcome back to our Agri-Spouse Quilt Along.

I don't have any photos to share of blocks that everyone else has sewn. Honestly, that's not surprising considering that it was only a couple of days ago that I put up the last post and on top of that taking into consideration the time of year it is.

We have had Christmas shopping and Brianna's Christmas Concert. Quinn has been working hard and hasn't even had much travelling this month but we did have St. Barb's to go to as well as hosting a party for a large group of people that he works with part time. We have other stuff going on at the school, as well as getting to Tae Kwon Do three times a week. Rhylee doesn't have a Christmas Concert. There are so many kids in his school that they have to break the concerts down into just a couple of grades and the upper grades have a Winter Concert after the holidays. That is actually kind of nice though since it isn't something else piled on top of a busy time.

What else caused me to fall behind? See the thing is, while I love for my family to have wonderful home cooked meals every night, if I spend all day cooking intricate meals then I don't have any time to quilt and that would suck! Also, when the cold hits, I get an urge to fill up the freezer with yummy food. I figured out a long time ago that I can double or triple a dish, freeze in small portions and I have some quick, convenient "freezer meals" that are homemade for other days.

So, for a quick image, this is what I have been doing that caused me to fall behind. Here is a quick shot of a part of one of my freezers:




The problem with this? Each of those bags represent a meal or partial meal. The bag that looks all orange is a Cheese-Chicken sauce that all I have to do is cook up some egg noodles and warm up the sauce and put them together. One bag is enough for two so if Quinn is away, I can thaw one bag, feed the kids quickly and easily. If all of us are home then I just thaw two bags. There is Beef Vegetable Soup, Broccoli Cheddar Soup and Buffalo Chicken Soup. There is a little bit of Spaghetti Sauce and there is Sloppy Joe Sauce. There is Beef Stew, Taco Pasta, Chicken Pot Pie filling and I don't know what else. The I don't know is the real problem here. I don't know what else there is, where much of it is and I don't know how many of each thing I have

Over the holidays I am going to have to empty out the freezers, organize and inventory in order to be able to utilize this better. I will get the kids to help me though. I also still have more Spaghetti Sauce to make since we tend to go through quite a bit of it. The kids also want me to make meatballs so I have that on the list as well as some Peppermint Candy Cane bars. And some other things that I can't remember right now but filling that up is part of what caused me to fall behind.

This post has us will have us all caught up. I am posting the instructions that I should have posted a week ago as well as the blocks that I scheduled for this week. I even have the sewing done for the post for NEXT week completed so, even though next Friday is Boxing Day, I am still hoping to get that post up on time too!

First up for week 19 is Block #6 - Big Dipper.


Cut two 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" orange squares.
Cut two 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" purple squares.















Place one orange square RST with one purple square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the lighter fabric. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn an then sew a seam on the other side of the line you drew. Then place your ruler along the line you drew and slice the two HSTs apart. Set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other orange/purple pair. You should now have four orange/purple HSTs.


















Lay your ruler along the diagonal, perpendicular to the seam you sewed. Slice the HSTs into two pieces so that each piece is half orange and half purple. Match your cut pieces so that your pieces are opposite colours. Place the pieces RST, sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat this for all of the other pieces so that you end up with four orange/purple QSTs with alternating colours.





Organize your QSTs the way you want them to look.











Flip one QST RST with another QST. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat with the other QST pair.











Flip one QST pair RST with the other QST pair. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side and the first block for week 19 is finished!




Our second block for week 19 is Block #50 - Honey's Choice.

Cut eight 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" yellow squares.
Cut eight 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" blue squares.
Cut four 3" x 1 1/2" blue rectangles.
Cut one 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" yellow square.












Place one 2 1/4" blue square RST with one 2 1/4" yellow square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the lighter fabric. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn an then sew a seam on the other side of the line you drew. Then place your ruler along the line you drew and slice the two HSTs apart. Set the seam and press to one side. Repeat with the other seven blue/yellow squares. You should now have sixteen blue/yellow HSTs.


















Organize your pieces the way you want them to look.














Flip one HST RST with another HST. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other seven HST pairs. Flip the little yellow square RST with the blue rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side.











Flip one HST pair RST with another HST pair. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other three HST sets to make four pinwheels. Flip a blue rectangle RST on the opposite side of the little yellow square as previously. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side.







Flip another of the blue rectangles RST with one of the pinwheels. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Flip another pinwheel RST on the opposite side of the blue rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other two pinwheels and the remaining blue rectangle. Flip the long thin rectangle RST with the pinwheel rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Flip the last pinwheel pair RST with the larger piece along the narrow blue/yellow strip. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. That finishes the second block for week 19!




The first block for week 20 is Block #55 - Linoleum.

Cut one 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" blue square.
Cut four 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" dark green square.
Cut four 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" light green rectangles.
Cut four 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" blue rectangles.
Cut eight 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" blue squares.









Place a small blue square RST in the corner of a large dark green square. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the blue fabric. Sew directly on the line you have drawn. Repeat for the other dark green squares. Lay your ruler along the seam you have just sewn and cut the corner off 1/4" away from the seam. Set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other three green squares.




Place another blue square RST in the opposite corner of the dark green square. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the blue fabric. Sew directly on the line you have drawn. Repeat for the other dark green squares. Lay your ruler along the seam you have just sewn and cut the corner off 1/4" away from the seam. Set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other three green squares. Place one blue rectangle RST with a light green rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam along the long side of the rectangle, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other three blue/light green rectangle sets.



Organize your pieces the way you want them to look. Once again you have a standard nine-patch to put together.












Flip square 2 RST onto square 3 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 3. Flip square 5 RST onto square 6 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 5. Flip square 8 RST onto square 9 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 9. Flip square 1 RST onto square 4 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 4.






Now flip square 7 RST onto square 4 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 4. Flip the 2/3 set RST onto the 5/6 set, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 2/3 set. Flip the 8/9 set RST onto the 5/6 set, nest the seams nearly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 8/9 set. Flip the 1/4/7 set RST on the 2/5/8 piece, nest eh seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press to one side and the first block for week 20 is finished.





The second block for week 20 is Block #63 - Ozark Maple Leaf.


Cut two 3 1/2" x 1 1/2" yellow rectangles.
Cut two 3 1/2" x 1 1/2" red rectangles.
Cut two 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" yellow rectangles.
Cut two 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" red rectangles.
Cut two 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" yellow squares.
Cut two 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" red squares.
Cut four 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" yellow squares.
Cut four 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" red squares.








This part is the same as the corner pieces in Linoleum. I just chain pieced them. Place one little red square RST in opposite corners of a bigger yellow square. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of both red squares. Sew directly on the lines you drew. Cut the corners off 1/4" from the seam. Set the seam and press the seams to one side. Repeat for the other big yellow square and then repeat for the two larger red squares.





Organize your pieces the way you want them to look. Flip one of the small rectangles RST onto your 2 1/2" square, sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat with the other small rectangles. Next flip your bigger rectangle RST onto the previous piece, sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. At this point the four big squares will look like four arrows. Flip one red "arrow" RST with one yellow "arrow", sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat with the other two pieces. Lastly, flip one "arrow" pair RST onto the other "arrow" pair, sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side and your second block for week 20 is complete!




The third and last block for week 20 is Block #56 - Maple Leaf.


Cut two 3" x 3" grey squares.
Cut two 3" x 3" orange squares.
Cut one 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" grey squares.
Cut three 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" orange squares.
Cut one 4" x 1 1/4" orange rectangle.
Cut one 3" x 3" grey square. Cut this square on the diagonal.



Place one 3" grey square RST with one 3" orange square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the lighter fabric. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn an then sew a seam on the other side of the line you drew. Then place your ruler along the line you drew and slice the two HSTs apart. Set the seam and press to one side. Repeat with the other orange/grey square. You should now have four orange/grey HSTs. Trim each of your HSTs to 2 1/2" x 2 1/2".

















Place the long side of the grey triangle RST with the long side of the orange rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Be careful when sewing the triangles since the long side of the triangle has been cut on the bias and so will be prone to stretching. Place the long side of the other triangle on the other side of the orange rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Trim the piece you have made to 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" square.



Organize your pieces the way you want them to look. Once again you have a nine patch to put together.












Flip square 2 RST onto square 3 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 3. Flip square 5 RST onto square 6 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 5. Flip square 8 RST onto square 9 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 9. Flip square 1 RST onto square 4 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 4.





Now flip square 7 RST onto square 4 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 4. Flip the 2/3 set RST onto the 5/6 set, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 2/3 set. Flip the 8/9 set RST onto the 5/6 set, nest the seams nearly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 8/9 set. Flip the 1/4/7 set RST on the 2/5/8 piece, nest eh seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press to one side and your last block for week 20 is finished.




Wow! That finally has us all caught up to where we should be at this point! I know that we all have a busy holiday season ahead of us but I figured that I would just keep posting this so that we could all keep going if we have a bit of time here and there to get some sewing in. Even if we don't, well then we can all get caught up later. I have next week's sewing done but the post isn't written yet of course. We'll see what I get done after that until school goes back in after the new year!

I know that both of my children are super excited. Today is their last day of school before the break and they have a party today. We have a Christmas Party tomorrow as well as Tae Kwon Do and we still need to go visit Santa and get pictures taken. It feels like we have a whole lot to get done but it sure is a happy time of year. 

So with that, I will wish everyone the Happiest of Holidays, no matter what holiday it is you celebrate!

Tara