WIP's and Farmer's Wife

I'm soldiering away on the border of my William Morris Strawberry Thief.  It is easy to stitch and I can manage almost an inch in a good afternoon. I'm using the magnetic board and bars to keep me on track and wish I'd had them in the beginning. 

Similarly my Granny Stripe Blanket is inching along.  The Stylecraft Special DK wool is really lovely. That red, named Lipstick, is so pretty; the picture isn't doing it justice.  I loved crocheting it and kept wondering what other project it could be used in.  It is like a Christmas red, no orange in it at all.

And that's a very pretty yellow sticking out ready for the next 2 rows.  The folks at Stylecraft named it Saffron. 

About my Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt

  I think I mentioned to you that I was starting at the beginning of the book with the "A"s  rather than with the easiest blocks.  So I have the first two traced onto freezer paper, cut, ironed onto my fabric, trimmed and the edges all glued under. Some of the pieces are tiny and really didn't suit basting so I chose to glue.
 That doesn't sound like much but it took most of three Sunday mornings to get to that point. Addie, Block #1, has 25 pieces and Aimee, Block #2, has 28 pieces.

  Then I came across some news about this project.  I read about the Farmer's Wife 1930's Sew-Along Angie Wilson at Gnome Angel  began yesterday September 28.  Her group has put a lot of time into sorting out the blocks and have divided them into 4 groups and are making tutorials available for the making of each block.  The first group of blocks consists of the easiest and that is where they are starting.  I've made the decision to join this group and sew along with the blocks as they have arranged them.




I've never joined a SAL before so this will be a new experience for me.  I registered with the Sew Along Facebook group they have started and the numbers are amazing...almost 4000 have signed up but not all are going to be sewing.  Some are chiming in to read the stories and pick up quilting tips and information.

I've checked out their Facebook page a number of times and enjoyed reading what everyone has to say about this project.  What a lot of excitement people seem to be feeling. Are all sew alongs like that?  Many were posting photos of their fabrics they've chosen and as usual it is fascinating to see the variety of prints and colours.  Some people noted they intend to make two of every block; they couldn't settle on just one colour scheme.   I do have the book but I don't have the templates which are recommended to complete certain blocks.  Because of the massive interest in this SAL, both the book and templates have been sold out everywhere.

 I do think I will benefit from the expertise and experiences of so many of the fine stitchers taking part in this group activity.  I've already picked up a few interesting tidbits.

So this post has been a projects update. Oops forgot to show you my Block 5 of Hazel's Summer Wildflowers; presently embroidering Block 6.
 My projects are still WIP's but my interest and enjoyment in them has not waned, happily. Fingers crossed that won't happen!

 How are your projects coming along?  Anyone else interested in the Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt SAL?