720, that's the number.

 I'm  a day late on getting my Monday "What am I working on" blog written. It seems here lately that as each new Monday comes I've gotten farther along on this batik quilt. That's a good thing though I do wish I could get more done in my days. Here's my box of 2 patches

I was curious just how many 4 patches I could make out of this box. I personally think, a lot! I started matching up pairs yesterday & I've gotten 230 4 patches matched up so far. 

(My kiddo has dumped out a 5 gallon container full of buttons looking for a specific one.)

According to the pattern I need 280 4 patches. I'm almost there & it looks like I've taken nothing out of the box

So since it apears that there are plenty of 4 patches let's make this quilt bigger! I did some math & it comes out that I'll need 144 blocks for a 12X12 setting. 144 blocks X five 4 patches per block = 720 4 patches. I think that I'll be able to get all that I need from this little box.😀

I hope y'all are having a great day. I've got the windows open & I'm loving this weather. More later on,

Vicky

p.s. check out patchworktimes.com to see what other quilters are working on

What am I working on today? A new quilt!

It's been a busy week here though I think I always  say that on Monday mornings. I've been doing my best to get things ready to go for my next guild presentation. I head out tomorrow for Rose Hill KS. I'm looking forward to. It should be great time. I'll be packing up the car later this afternoon after I've run some errands. 

I was able to get bindings on both the Orphan quilt & the Apple Core quilt. I'm especially excited about the Apple Core quilt being done. I had never done bias binding & to be honest I was intimidated by it. I Googled how to make bias binding & a great simple YouTube video came up & I was in business. I realized that the intimidation was all in my head & making/putting bias binding on a quilt isn't so bad. It does take longer than regular binding though. I raided my fat quarters & pulled out a few that had been in there way to long

Some of these go back to 2005. I only know that because of the date on the selvage. Here's a pic of part of the binding. I'm really glad that I kept the curves & did the bias binding. It really makes the quilt. 

I really learned a lot from this quilt. I'm no longer intimidated by curved piecing or bias binding. I think I'm ready to tackle a Double Wedding Ring!! Though that might have to wait for a bit. There are a few quilts ahead of a DWR. 

I think that it was last Monday when I showed a pic of the bags of batik scraps that I had cut up. 

Well I have taken the 2" bag & matched up all of the strips & now they are ready to sew together. 

I think I'm ready to put some fabric under the needle. I'm going to find the time to make that happen today! I'm hoping that some coffee will help keep the energy up. It's just a little after 9 & I'm yawning not good. I hope that y'all have a great day. It's simply gorgeous here in the middle of the USA. More later on,

Vicky

The Scrappy Farmer is on Facebook!

I'm so excited to announce that The Scrappy Farmer is on Facebook, finally! Please check the page out. It'll be a lot of fun connecting with with all of you on facebook. Just search for The Scrappy Farmer. If you have any trouble finding me let me know. More later on

Vicky

What I'm working on: Finishing up cutting the pile of possibilities

In the last week I've worked my way through the large pile of batik scraps. I've ironed them & cut them into the best sizes to maximize what I had & not to through very much away. I've got 4 bags/piles: 2.5", 2", 1.5" & strings! 

The 1.5" bag is by far the largest bag. I've got this small pile of scraps left to cut & then I'll be done & then I can sew!

I also sorted out some of the blues & purples for an additional project. 

I will add these to this stack of blue/purple batik yardage.I did buy yardage a long time ago & fellow quilters have given me yardage to get it out of their stash. 

I'd better wrap this up. I'm waiting on the feed man & trying to see how much I can get done before he gets here. I hope y'all are having a great day. The sun is shining here so maybe we'll start to dry out a bit from all of the rain. More later on,

Vicky

What I'm working on: A quilt finish, another string quilt & working on a pile of possibilities

Good morning y'all! 

It's been a fun jam packed weekend. I did find time to finish my orphan quilt, woo hoo!

I really like it! Though I think that I always say that. It's a fun history of my my quilting journey.  I do need to come up with a new name for it. I'm not a big fan of "Orphan quilt". If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them. I'm hoping to get it to my LAQ this week & pick up my Apple Core quilt. Drop one off , pick one up its kind of fun😄.

Check out my previous post about the pile of possibilities. I haven't had enough time to work on cutting the scraps down to get enough to start making my next quilts. Knowing this I was kind of in a lurch on Friday night. I get together with some quilty friends & sew on Friday nights & I needed a project. I went looking in the sewing room & found this string project. It will be done in Civil War reproduction scraps. I was able to get this block done on Friday night!

I don't have many quilts in progress at one time. That was a request that my husband made when I first started quilting. "Don't start another quilt until you've got the one you're working on done". For the most part I've been able to do that. 

I'd better keep this short as ther is lots to do today. I hope y'all have a great day! More later on,

Vicky

A pile of possibilities

I finished my orphan quilt yesterday. They are orphans no more! They are one large quilt! I would show a picture but my house is to small to lay it out flat & it's been raining so the front yard is not an option. I'll share one soon when things dry up. Once I was finished with the Orphan Quilt ( I've got to come up with a better name for it. I don't like Orphan for the name of a quilt) I started looking through my patterns looking for my next quilt to make. Actually I needed to find 2 quilts. I needed a Leeder/Ender quilt besides my main project.  So I think I found my patterns, my main project will be "Four Patch X" by Bonnie Hunter

My L/E project will be "Crabapples" by Bonnie Hunter

The next decision was color palette. I decided on bright  batiks, shocking right? 

I just love those bright colors. I've got 2 tubs full of batiks. One holds the yardage & the other holds my scraps. I dumped the scraps on my living room floor  & started sorting. This is all of the bright colors

I put all of the muted colors &  browns back into the tub. 

It'll be a lot harder for me to use these colors up. I'm not drawn to them at all. I will some day though. 

I take out a handful, iron them & then cut them into the best use of their size. I've got four piles going; 2.5", 2", 1.5" & strings. 

It'll take me a little bit of time but that's ok. At least this pile of scraps will be put into a useful purpose. 

A little farm news. Things are going to start getting busy again. The fall baby calves are starting to arrive & they are just too darn cute. Also it's time to pick pears. Where my house sits use to be an orchard. There were pears, peaches, apples & cherries. The tornado of '53 took them all out except one pear tree. 

It's a an unbelievable producing tree. We've picked 27 5 gallon buckets from it in one season & that doesn't count the buckets of bad pears that the cows got. 

We are expecting our first freeze tomorrow am so I need to pic the tree clean. This is one of the pears that we picked the other night

I'd better get my clothes changed & head outside. My mom & cousin Wanda are coming up later this afternoon. Wanda wants to see some quilts. I'll see what I can do to help with that. Have a great day y'all.  More later on,

Vicky