the farm quilt: some farm building and a tractor!

I have been hard at work on my new farm quilt,
and today I am sharing 10 new blocks!

While there are many 6 inch blocks in the book "farm girl vintage",
there are a few much larger ones, like the silo barn
that are quite larger (14 x 14 inches),
so I tried to scale them down to 6 inch block.

So here is my mini version of the silo:

it is not a perfect representation, 

but it keeps the same vibe,

with a dog in the attic,

and a simple quilt as the door.

I did the same thing with the quilty barn block,

also a 14 x 14 inches,

into a 6 inch block to match all my other blocks.

It is also slightly different, but recognizable!

There is also a dog in the door and a mouse in the attic,

and of course a little quilt on the side.

The last one I revisited is the tractor block, the original size is 16 x 20 inches, so a lot harder to downgrade to 6 inch square. Luckily Lori (of bee in my bonnet) has just written a new book "farm girl vintage 2", and in it she has a small tractor block. So between the pattern for the large tractor and the picture of the small one, I was able to make a tractor block:

it is not perfect and still need some hand embroidery

for the steering wheel, but it kind of looks like a John Deer tractor!

(and I know my niece will recognize it has there is a dealer near my parents.)

And here there are together:

quite cute, even imperfect, I like the "I spy" aspect of this quilt  with all the dogs and mice hidden in the barns!
I made 4 gingham blocks:

just perfect for the 4 corners of the quilt.
And I made 3 "kitchen" blocks, nice and easy just following the directions:

the canning jars block,

the tea pot or kettle block, 

with cherries, we do live in DC, a big symbol!

the bowls and mixing spool block.

And here there are altogether:

you can check here for the first row,

here for the second row,

and here for the third row.

25 blocks, just 10 more to go!
Happy sewing!

the farm quilt: some fruit blocks

Here are the 5 new blocks for my farm quilt:

all the patterns are from the "farm quilt vintage" book

by Lori Holt.

the cherries,

the pumpkin,

the strawberry,

the pears,

and the acorn.

And here are the first 15 blocks:

Still 20 more to go....

Happy sewing!

the farm quilt: some animal blocks

I am up to a really good start on my farm quilt:

On top of my five blocks from last time,

 I have now 5 more blocks of animals!

First, we have a blue bunny,

that one is paper pieced and not from the farm girl vintage book.

Blue might seems like an unusual color for a bunny (except for ice cream...)

it comes from one of my favorite childhood musical: Emilie Jolie.

And of course, we need a dog in this farm!

I was very inspired by Bosco (our latest puppy),

and the pattern is from Ellis and Higgs.

Now we are back to 3 blocks from the book:

the hen,

the chick,

(I think the addition of the heart is perfect!)

and the sheep.

I still need to add all the hand stitch details, 

like the eyes and legs....

But first, I must make more blocks...

Here are the first ten:

Happy sewing!

the farm quilt: the beginning

I started a new quilt, a farm quilt:

for my niece E.

Last time I made her a quilt,

it was before her birth in 2017:

While she is little (just 16 months old), she "needs" a bigger girl quilt!

I remembered making a Noah's ark quilt for Brick Master

at that same age (who is now 18!) so a few year ago ;)

Well this quilt will be quite different as it is a farm quilt,

so no wild animal, but still some animals!

And some buildings because the people need to live somewhere:

like those cute children!

I love adding people/things in the windows,

like in the barn;

2 dogs and a little mouse!

The patterns for most of the blocks will come from "Farm Girl Vintage"

from Lori Holt of Bee In my Bonnet.

I received that book a couple of years ago

and only made one block:

I am quickly catching up quickly,

and I am planning on making the quilt 5 by 7,

(5 blocks per row, 7 rows)

so I need to make 35 blocks.

They are all 6 inches x 6 inches, perfect size.

There will be 1 inch sash between all the blocks,

which is why I already sewed one band  on the left side of each block.

And because it is an American quilt,

it needs a mini American flag:

I am making blocks without real order,

just making the ones that I like,

just like this milk can.

I am trying to make everything very scrapy,

and it is quite a challenge for me!

I am also adding some blocks that are not in the book,

like this cake stand,

the pattern is also from Lori,

and can be found on her blog.

My cake is birthday cake flavor,

which is cute and tasty (at least according to kids)

but the dots are so far apart,

it does not look at good at the base of the cake...

Five down,

thirty more to go!

Happy sewing!

a sunny lunch bog

I love sewing little presents for friends and family,

and this little lunch bag was a present for a friend

who was quite envious of my lunch box:

(we eat lunch most days together!)

So of course I made her one for her birthday:

And since she works part time at a preschool,

I choose this cool print "Five and Dime" from Fabric Mutt.

It is just as whimsical as my other lunch bags:

first lunch box,

second lunch bag.

The pattern for this lunch bag is from Pink Penguin, 

it is a easy sew,

and the perfect place to play with various print:

I like to use some iron-on fleece for the interfacing,

and some water resistant fabric for the lining,

just like in the macaron lunch bag.

Happy sewing!