Sewing with Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts

I got to spend the day at Prairie Point quilt shop in Shawnee Kansas taking a class from Joanna Figueroa! I had a great time working on a quilt using her Jelly Girl pattern. Here is a picture of us, her Jelly Girl quilt is in the background.


I decided to use her Strawberry Fields line of fabric. This is what I got accomplished so far.


I bought several more Fig Tree patterns while I was there. Looking forward to working on these patterns too! Oh how I wish the start of the school year wasn't so close, then I would have more time to work on projects like these.

It was so fun to see Joanna's quilts in person, she brought piles of them. I love her soft, vintagey (I know that is not a word) colors, and no-template designs. It was a great day, but I am pooped! I am off to bed to read the new issue of American Patchwork and Quilting, a nice surprise that was waiting for me in my mailbox when I got home.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt

It is HOOOTTTT in Topeka! This is the 8th day in a row we have had three digit temperatures! We are expecting at least two more days this hot. Those of you from the mid-west know we have a lot of humidity here, so 100 degrees can actually feel much more hot than that! There is not too much else to do other than hide in the basement during the day and sew.

I have been reading a lot on other blogs about The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt, and I just had to join the fun. So far I have made three of the blocks. I am using all of my Fig Tree scraps on this project. I do like how the blocks have turned out but I must say I have had a hard time getting excited about using templates to make the blocks. There is something about my rotary cutter that I am really missing on this project!

This is block #2, Autumn Tints.

Block #41, Friendship Star

Block #4 Basket Weave

Upcoming events for the Fangman's include celebrating Darren's 40th birthday at a Royal's baseball game, shopping in KC, and I get to take a class from Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree quilts!!! For now, I am going to the basement to do more sewing!

Thrifting

One of my favorite things to do this summer has been to go to thrift stores and garage sales. I want to show you a few of my favorite finds.

Below is a divided pyrex casserole dish, a vintage dishtowel in pinks and browns, and a beautiful bright table cloth that will fit the large table on my deck.

I also found a fire king loaf pan, a couple of jadite fire king plates, a cute creamer and sugar container and a piece of green depression glass.

Today I ran across these quilting and cross-stitch books by Needl Love and Blackbird Designs. Most were $1 each. I found a few projects in them that I am anxious to start!

Finishes!!!! Finally!!!

I have a little less than a month left before I go back to school. I am starting to feel a lot of pressure to get things accomplished around here! I have been working hard towards crossing projects off of my list, lots of house and yard projects and a few sewing projects. Below you will find a few of my latest finishes.


The cat pillow was for a friend. Kind of an inside joke, I am not going to explain... All I can say is Dan liked it!



This is a pillow I made on our retreat for the 4th of July! I can't wait to make it in black and orange for Halloween!


This is a simple quilt made of 5" squares of all of my Amy Butler fabrics. I like all of the soft colors. When I pieced the top last summer I thought it would be a great quilt to use on the white beaches at Seagrove Beach Florida, the place we vacationed last summer.



I am almost finished with a few other projects. Stay tuned for pics of those finishes.

Retreat pictures!

We had soooo much fun with our creativity retreat!!! We did lots of sewing, eating, and talking. The girls also worked on a newspaper. I thought they would get bored after a while, but they didn't. They were sad when our last night was over. This will now be an annual event for us!

Below are some pictures of the girls working on their projects.




Here are some pics of what we got accomplished.

I had a stack of blocks finished for about a year now, I was able to assemble them into a king-sized quilt top for my bed. Sammie wanted to be in the picture, so I let her. I also made a cute table-topper that still needs quilted and a pillow for the 4th. Stay tuned for pics of those project.

Tristan went wild sewing animal print blocks into a pillow for herself, one for her stuffed animal Wolfie, and made a cute little pencil bag for school.

Summer did not want to be in the picture, but made a little quilt for a friend's stuffed animal, and a pillow (that still needs stuffed) for her favorite babysitter.