Farmer's old girlfriend?

If you move in any quilty blog circles at all, you will no doubt know all about the Farmer's Wife.  The book, the quilt along, the Flickr group, the blog, the film...  Okay, maybe not a film.  Everything else though relating to this quilting phenomenon is all over this crafty community of ours in the ether.

It is the best part of a year since I first mentioned my thinking of joining in with the farming fun and, as is my way, only now have actually gotten around to doing anything practical about it.

I've had a charm pack of the 'Ruby' collection by Bonnie and Camille for Moda for a equally lengthy amount of time that I grabbed in a rush of excitement on a shopping trip one day.  Since then I've been wondering quite what I might use it for.  Then last week, just as whimsically, I decided to make some FW blocks with it.

I'm not planning to make a whole quilt full though.  I'm only planning a little decorative piece to hang in my hall.  What I wonder is, if they say that those who are making the whole quilt are the 'Farmer's Wives' and those making queen or twin sized quilts are 'Farmer's Mistresses', what on earth am I?  A 'Farmer's old girlfriend'?  A 'Farmer's blind date but they didn't really hit it off''?  A 'Farmer's nodding acquaintance' perhaps?  I dread to think.  Instead, I'm going to think of this as the 'Farmer's Baby'.  As it will only be a wee, baby sized little thing.

I decided to keep to the tiny 6" block size.  Partly because I only had my little charm square pieces of fabric and partly because I only have so much wall space for this little decorative do-dad to hang in.

I started off with 'Northern Lights' and then 'Churn Dash'.  I wasn't completely happy with my piecing on Northern Lights...

And the colour combinations for 'Churn Dash' are a little dubious, in my opinion.  It wouldn't have been so bad if I'd arranged them better.  I should have stuck more to the colour layout in the book but I went a bit 'off-piste' and now it doesn't really look like a dashing churn at all.  Ah well, you live and learn.

Next, I made up 'Evening Star' and I like the colour arrangement of this one better but again my piecing wasn't really up to par.  Look, I've lost all but one of my points...

Now, this annoyed me a bit.  I mean when I made my first quilt I cut off a far few points along the way but in all honesty I really couldn't have given a fig at the time.  It was my first quilt and I was so startled and pleased that I'd gotten so far, that a missed point here or there really didn't bother me.

But that was then, I thought.  I've moved on, I thought.  Surely I'd been practising this sewing malarkey enough since then for my precision to be a bit more, well, precise?  I felt that it should be.

For my next three blocks, I put a little more thought in....

....but I'm afraid this is a story that will need to be continued in another thrilling instalment later, as time is short and I must away.

Don't worry, I won't keep you waiting too long Dear Readers!

Till next time...


S x