Friendship And The Farmer's Wife...

  I received another surprise Friendship Block in the mail!

This one was from QAL participant, Cyn of Cyn :-)'s Quilted Travels.

She included a card that features a signature quilt for a design. It really was a perfect card to use for her sweet note to me. She (also) thanked me for leading the Farmer's Wife Quiltalong. (It's taken me a while, but could there be a pattern here?)

Cyn chose a beautiful red reproduction fabric with a pretty ivory as the background color. I love seeing her signature on it, too. I'll always remember that this pretty block was created by her.

Please be sure to click on her blog name above so you can visit her. I'm sure you'd enjoy seeing what she's working on now.

Thanks so much, Cyn! I really love receiving this gift of friendship created by you. I'll treasure it always. xoxo

#12 Broken Sugar Bowl

I've been working on my Farmer's Wife blocks, too. I had been busy uploading foundations for the group so they were available for anyone who preferred paper piecing. Doing that took quite a while, and I still have more to do, but I needed to make a few blocks for myself so I didn't feel like a slacker in the group!

I completed the #12 Broken Sugar Bowl block on Tuesday, and then immediately started working on a second one. I might have completed it if I'd stayed home from Paneras (and the knitting group), but I missed my local, creative girlfriends - and Paneras lattes, which I love!

FW #25 Cups & Saucers

 So, I'm still working on this block and will finish it later today.

These are the tools I always have ready when I'm working on my paper pieced blocks. If you're a quilter, you'll immediately recognize the 45mm rotary cutter, and probably the Add-An-Eight and Add-A-Quarter 6" rulers below it. The tool I really want to share with you is the bottom one.

It's a Gingher seam ripper. See the really sharp blade? It's retractable, so I don't have to worry about hurting myself by accident. This one happens to be have a floral finish, but there are other designs available, too.

I have found this an invaluable tool for cutting the paper seams to make it easier to remove from my finished blocks. Just be sure you don't cut through the fabric, too or you'll have to make your block all over again! (Thankfully, I haven't made that mistake.) It also has a nice curvey shape so that it fits comfortably in your hand.

If you're looking for one of your own, start at Joann's Fabrics. I found mine on sale a couple of years ago, and it's finally getting good use.

I really enjoy getting back to the Farmer's Wife blocks and hopeto share more finished blocks in the near future...as I juggle my time between the quiltalong, the Wisconsin guild block and an odd project thrown in here and there for good measure! I don't usually like to have more than one project going at a time, but hey, I'm flexible, and a gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do!