Cheating on the Farmer’s Wife, Part Deux
Finished quilt measures : 72″ X 72″
Designed, Pieced and Quilted by: Grey Cat Quilts
Best Category : Scrap Quilt
I’d been working on the Farmer’s Wife Sampler for almost a year, when I felt the need to take another break from it. So I did, and I started work on a project I called ‘Fun with Free Piecing’ for a little while. I just wanted a break from the very precise work I’d been doing with the Farmer’s Wife.
I had a spark of inspiration when looking over my scrap baskets, and decided to use some of them in an a series of free piecing sessions. I set about using snippets of things that had ended up in my scrap basket, grimacing at some fabrics, smiling at the memories produced by others.
So I sewed, snipped and trimmed, eventually realizing that I was sewing scrappy little bars of free piecing goodness that measured 2.5″ X 6.5″. The challenge then came in using what I had on hand to make a full top. I quickly decided to set the bars into a square of Kona Charcoal – it’s hands down my favorite Kona solid when in color doubt, as it has a lovely warm undertone to it that makes color positively dance against it.
Then I turned to another favorite, EQ7, and set about playing with the blocks, trying to decide on a layout. I very quickly decided on alternating the orientation of the blocks, but felt that it was very ‘blah’ without a border. Thanks to EQ7, I was able to decide on a board fairly quickly, so I went into another frenzy of scrap piecing, producing the border blocks over the course of two or three days.
I went from the germ of an idea to a finished top in two weeks, practically a miracle for me. I think my poor sewing machine was smoking at the end of it! Then, of course, came the question of how to quilt it. I knew immediately that I wanted to use multiple colors of thread on the top. I digitally auditioned three possibilities, before figuring out just what I wanted:
That settled, I spent about twenty-four hours quilting the top on my domestic machine, after piecing together a backing out of what I had on hand. Two weeks later, I had a completed quilt!
I changed my quilting plan a little, after I’d done all those blasted rectangles… I quilted diamonds around the edges. I also experimented, and used two shades of gray and black in my bobbin as I quilted. It’s a decision that I’m extremely happy with, as the three different neutrals help give movement to the backing.
I love cuddling up in this quilt. I think my only regret is that I didn’t make it bigger – Right now, it’s a generous lap quilt. I’d be much happier if this was big enough for my queen-sized bed. Still, it’s in daily use, which is even better. I’m thrilled to have some quilts on hand to curl up on the couch with.
![Rhonda's [Quilt] Ramblings](https://i2.wp.com/www.rhondasramblings.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2016-button-250-best.jpg)
Love your quilt. What a great way to use up your scraps.
Thank you! I’m actually looking forward to playing with free-piecing more in the future – I’ve way too many scraps to stop now!
Great use of scraps! It’s gorgeous!
Thank you! I had a lot of fun playing with this design.
Hi there. Greetings from your bee member ; ) your quilt is a fabulous use of fabric!
Thank you very much! I’m very much in love with this particular quilt.
OHHH I love the back! So I just got EQ7 and I am a pro in Photoshop and pretty good in Illustrator, but am having a bit of trouble picking up EQ7 do you know of any good tutorials to help me learn? I design really custom layouts so im having trouble with that.
Unfortunately, I’m not a whiz with EQ7. I would suggest contacting Sandi at Piecemeal Quilts for some tips – she’s amazing at the program.
Love love love your free-piecing scrappiness and the lovely sense of calm that comes with nicely ordered blocks – great combo!
You love exactly the same things that I love about this quilt as well! As much as I enjoyed the free piecing, I needed to do something to provide order.
LOVE how scrappy this is!
Me too! Sadly, though, this didn’t use nearly as much in the way of scraps as I kept thinking I just must have been using!
What a fun way to use up those little scraps! I love the setting you chose – it really highlights the scraps, and the grey is so soothing at the same time. That border! Wow, that looks like some marathon piecing! You made a great quilt!
It was marathon piecing, but fun. This is one of those projects that I really got to turn my brain off for, and just let the project happen. It was awesome!
Beautiful! Your technique looks similar to what I did. I love the gray background, and all the thought you put into quilting, too!
I love your Color Challenge quilt. The khaki really makes the colors sing!
Just beautiful.
Thank you!