hard at work on the farm.

The city farm, that is :o)

So far I've either cut and/or pieced (…mostly the former) blocks 1-70.  A few favorites in this leaning tower of paper plates?

I'm pretty smitten with the oversized {utilitarian} text on these things!  And those red+white flowers?  Très AMH, n'est-ce pas? ;)
Another plus to these feedsacks? Uncovering lots of potential #economyblockalong fussy cuts!

Sara of Sew Sweetness's sew-along finale link-up is open until the 31st, so here's to crossing all fingers and toes for a finish by that time next week.  If you haven't seen the completed tops over there, you definitely need to change that.  Those blanketfuls of color are certainly cause for a teensy bit of envy from this rustic, feedsack-clad concept.  But I'm hopeful that I'll be pleased with my design choice once the rest all of it, er, comes together :o)

And in that spirit, let the cutting continue and the sowing begin!

Linking up with Lee, because, y'know, it's Wednesday :)

city blocks: 1-10

The other week I started a little "feed sack city," my take on Tula Pink's city sampler series.

So far I've completed blocks 1-10, 11, and 21 (i.e. I'm caught up with Sara's sew-along but behind on Julie's quilt along).  Argh!  Lots of -1s and -2s in my near future... Add 'em to the tab ;)

Layout-wise, I like the designs in Tula's book, don't get me wrong.  And if I had opted for a more modern palette I would totally go with her rainbow grid (it's the beautifully bright burst of color on the cover).  It's just that none of them jump off the page for this old-timey country vibe I've got on my hands.  Instead, I keep going back to some sort of diagonal sashing à la Jen Kingwell's steam punk... But that's still stuck in the brainstorming phase until I figure out (1) how wide the sashing should be; and (2) how many blocks total? {Call me crazy, but I was thinking of making multiples? Haven't exactly worked through the math (or calendared a timeline, for that matter), so I very well may just stop at 100 and call it a day!}

What do you think I should do?  Skinny sashes with an abundance of city blocks?  A more ample set of alleys among the original 100 squares?  ...Or jump ship and stick with one of Tula's proposed layouts?  Decisions, decisions!  Help wanted ;)

city sampler, country twist

After an exhilarating week of SMS Giveaway Day, I was stunned when Jessica emailed me Friday night to say *I* had won a copy of Tula Pink's City Sampler!  Whaaa?! The cherry on top?  Getting this little package in Monday's mail ;)  Fabric, too?!  You da best, Jessica!!

She was also kind enough to mention that The Intrepid Thread is doing a quilt along on flickr.  C'mon, quilting along > quilting alone, right?  And as luck would have it, May is month #1 ;)  They're (well, we're) doing blocks that end in "1" for May, "2" for June, and so on in case you want to join in.

Edited to add:  Thank you Jess (!) for also letting me in on the Sew Sweetness Tula Pink sew-along.  Sara's group is tackling the blocks in order and it looks like weekly link-ups will be starting next Monday!

As I was flipping through the book, I couldn't quite figure out what fabric to use.  Rainbow palettes are fun, but I've got quite a splash of color in this selvage quilt to tide me over for the time being:

While perusing my stash, I happened upon some feedsacks I'd picked up a while back and thought, "Why not?"  I have a decent variety on hand, so old farm fabric—and perhaps some new additions from my bid list (hey, ebay habits die hard)—it will be.

I guess I can also appreciate the irony of using traditional country cloth for a city sampler of modern blocks.  And I have to say I'm liking the look!  Of course the varying fabric weights make ironing a little more taxing than normal, but at least it keeps things interesting ;)

In other news, I'm at a standstill with my BBP quilt because I am absolutely determined to find a way to incorporate these lovely leftover fabric strips:

I thought about trying to make some sort of a skinny double border for the quilt top, or a giant outlined hat for the back... help?!  Please please let me know if anything jumps out at you when you see these ;)

Also, earlier today I uploaded a free pattern to craftsy for BB #2726 ("Boston Pavement") in case you're interested!  (Think steam punk, but without any curved piecing or applique).

Linking up with Lee!