Ever feel like giving up?

Let me tell you I've felt a lot like that lately!

My sewing just isn't happening, I barely have time to keep on top of my day job at the shop and the usual boring housekeeping stuff, exercise has completely disappeared from my life and my eating habits are not good!

I've been really stretched by recent sewing projects for reasons I cannot even explain! Is it just me that makes the same mistake over  and over until the penny drops? My first few Farmers Wife 1930's blocks all too often looked like this:

I'm also finding that as the blocks are sooo time consuming I've already fallen behind schedule! Grrr!

My poor My Small World QAL is still at Stage One (oh it's just laughable isn't it?!!)

On the plus though I've finished quilting a long overdue quilt for a friend and started piecing another quilt!!!

Does anyone else struggle with this? Any tips to get me through? I feel like everyone gets lots of sewing in and I'm just a disaster!!!

Answers on a postcard please.......

Farmer's Wife 1930's Quilt-Along: Block 8 Aunt

When Kerry first announced she was going to be organising the Quilt-Along for this gorgeous book, I jumped at the chance to be a guest blogger.

I've had the original Farmer's Wife book on my shelf for what seems like forever but I've never dared jump in, the blocks just seemed too small and fiddly to me! This time around and with a couple more years sewing experience under my belt, I felt a real urge to make a commitment to this Quilt-Along!

Block number 8 is Aunt and it's a real easy block! This was a huge relief to me as I've found the last couple of blocks really hard. (I'll be blogging about that later in the week if you're interested!)

For my block I decided to go for a deep purple from Tula Pink's True Color's collection paired with a gorgeous peachy pink solid that I got in a bundle from Westwood Acres. 

 

I love the colours in this bundle and am using it as a starting point for the fabrics in my quilt, which will be mainly from my stash but sticking closely to this pretty colour scheme!

  

For the Quilt-Along I've decided to paper piece all the blocks. I'm no paper-piecing expert but I figured I will be by the end of the year! For this block the only key point to remember is the orientation of your chosen fabrics, especially if you are using any that are directional like I did. 

To secure my first fabric I always use a little glue from my Sewline Glue Pen and I've also started to pin on the sewing line between fabrics, just so that I can check my fabric covers the required area when I flip it right side over. I made some repetitive mistakes on the earlier blocks and this trick seems to have stopped that!

I also make full use of my add a quarter ruler when I'm paper piecing. This ruler has a quarter inch lip down one side that can butt up to your pattern, allowing you to trim all your over-hangs and seam allowance to a quarter inch! It's so quick and easy!

So there you have it, I'll post my other blocks as they're completed over the next few days and weeks and I'll be guest posting again in a few weeks time!

Why not head over to Kerry's blog and catch up on all the weekly Farmer's Wife 1930's Quilt-Along posts and see the gorgeous blocks everyone is making? You can also check out the #fw1930sqal on Instagram to be really inspired by all the gorgeous blocks!