How did it get to be December!

Wow, time sure seems to fly when your having fun or busy with college classes and kids! The holiday season is upon us, we've had our first snowfall here in the land of beer and cheese. I have fallen a bit behind in my Farmer's Wife 1930's blocks...I think I have 8 to make to catch up. I know it's not a race but I would like to stay on track or I'm worried it will become one of my UFOs in a tote in the corner of the closest. I did get a chance to make two of the blocks up and Margaret and Milly. 

I had a great time in November going to a quilt retreat. Bought some fabric, okay quite a bit of fabric and some Marti Mitchell template sets. I used them on the Margaret block with the strawberries and really liked how the block went together. The engineered corners really make it easy to match the pieces up.

Speaking of the quilt retreat, I was able to get quite a bit sewed up. Of course most of the stuff is for gifts so no pictures, but I am really happy with how it is all turning out and can't wait to give them to the lucky recipients. I do have one cute quilt to share, I have fallen in love with the Twister Tool after watching a video tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company. I really wanted the templates but really didn't want to spend the money on them, but to my surprise I walked into my local quilt shop and then had them on sale for half price! I bought the medium size and the mini size. I went back tonight to get some sashing fabric and show the lady working my quilt and she brought out the large size one (the last one they had) and said it was on sale for 10 bucks. I was almost jumping up and down, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face when I got that great deal!

 

I love how the quilt looks like it would be complicated, but it really isn't! Plus in the tutorial it said that the scraps can be sewn together and used with the next size down ruler. I'm thinking a doll quilt, wall hanging or table topper is in my near future. I love this quilt, do you see those little whales, I mean how can you not love those little whales.

I'm off to make sure the kids are asleep and then maybe do a little sewing. The kids love to try and convince me it's not a school night, really it's a Wednesday...it's a school night! 

Have a good one!

-Amanda

What a couple of weeks it's been!

I don't know how almost two weeks have flown by and I haven't had a chance to sit down and work on a post! I've been busy making costumes for my coworkers, we were CareBears.

Works in progress - felt is so fun to work with.

 Turned out pretty cute!














This year the kids wanted costumes they saw in the store, Power Rangers Dino Charge to be exact. So I myself and the farm boy throw back hoodies. I thought they turned out pretty cool and I will actually wear it again just because. I am a self proclaimed sci-fi, comic book, fantasy loving lady! I just found a Star Trek Hot Wheel car at a local store and did a little happy dance in the aisle! I also have a stash of Dr Who fabric just waiting for the right pattern inspiration.


Ok, onto the reason you're here...quilting. I fell behind a bit on the Farmers Wife 1930's sew along, I have two more blocks to sew to be caught up. I've been working on some side projects, gifts galore to finish. Instead of the regular link up this week it is a bingo link up, there was a list of 5 blocks that we needed to take a picture of. Here is mine:

BINGO! Block 1, 8, 16, 24 and 94

I finally finished the blocks from the previous week and I had fun fussy cutting a bit and used some of my favorite fabrics from my stash.



Do you see those little antique furniture pieces, one of my favorite fabrics. So fun! Farther down there are teeny tiny elephants, I just can't get enough of them.
           
     



           

This week is going to be exciting, I am leaving the farm boy in charge of the kids and the house and the cats and going to a quilting retreat. I can't wait, I have so many projects I want to work on and most likely won't get a single one completely done. But, I don't really care about that as it is just so much fun to be around like minded people. In my last post I mentioned we are asked to bring quilt blocks for a quilt that is auctioned off to raise money. I finished my blocks and they are so pretty, the pattern was super simple. I may do some more to make a quick quilt for a gift.

I am realizing that I really need to get a decent camera, bear with me with the not so great pics :) Any suggestions on great cameras? I'm off to start packing up for the retreat! Have a great week.

What a fun weekend!

It's been a busy week and all I could think about was hurry up and get here Saturday! I made plans with one of my best quilting buddies to meet up and go on a shop hop. We all need more fabric...don't we? We made it to three shops (why do they have to be so far apart?) we stopped here, here and last stop was here! I actually had a list of fabrics I needed for various projects, I did pretty good. I didn't buy too much that wasn't on my list. I was completely taken with the patterns in the book I bought, seriously there is milk cans and barns! I married a farmers son, need I say more, I cannot wait to start that project!

All of my treasures from Saturday's shop hop.

 I was on a mission to get fabrics for quilts I plan on working on during the retreat I will be going to in November (with my same quilting buddy who loves to go shopping too!) I have all my fabrics now and the retreat will be here before I know it. One thing we are asked to do is make blocks for a quilt that is auctioned off at a fundraiser that supports the camp that hosts the retreats. They are supposed to be made in batiks in colors found in nature. I found some Bali Snaps that I fell in love with, there is one that has a wood grain pattern, perfect!

I also caught up on my quilt along blocks. This week there were three blocks to make, Susannah, Katherine and Old Maid. All of the blocks had triangles in them, I do not have the plastic templates, I have just been using the print outs from the book and the corners are already trimmed. I have tried both ways and discovered that by trimming those points it really makes a difference.

I found the Marti Michell corner trimmer on my shop hop this weekend and I love it! Most of my blocks have perfect points! I think I may start to invest in the template sets as well now.

I am making the blocks in two different themes, 1930's and Downton Abbey fabrics. I have an abundance of 1930's fabric and reproduction fabrics so for those blocks I am not too worried. But I was not as convinced that my second theme will have enough variation, I picked up a couple of extra fat quarters and may find a few more to round it out. That being said I really love the color and fabric combos I am putting together. At some point I plan to put each set up on the design wall and take a look to make sure I like them all together.

Cutest little bear like critters on the 1930's block!

 




My plan is that whatever I pick is it, I am not ripping out seams, I really dislike doing that, I mean who doesn't? I've had a few seams that just would not cooperate..uhem, cough...belle..cough. I am still dreading those y-seams on future blocks!


Well that was my quilting week in a few pictures. How was yours, I would love to hear what everyone is working on. I've finally figured out how to add all the social media buttons! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook and Flickr. If you use Bloglovin' I have added that as well.

The kids are in bed, laundry is going, my homework is done and I should really work on picking up the house a bit, but Halloween is coming up really quickly. So I'm off to work on costumes for the farmers son and myself, plus I am making some simple patches (hopefully they will be unBEARably cute, hint hint) for my coworkers. We try to dress up each year, nothing complicated, just having a little fun! Housework can wait, got to get my craft on!

Stay crafty!
-Amanda

Farmers Wife 1930's Quilt along and a little card making

Well it's been a busy week! Between College classes, my boy's school activities and work I am surprised I got my blocks done this week. I may have did a little sewing instead of working on a paper that is due next week. 

I've been sewing for quite a few years, but y-seams are not one of my strong sewing skills to say the least. I really struggled with one of the blocks...Belle. I rotary cut the first one which is in the 1930's fabrics, I was not pleased with the results, but I really hate ripping out seams so I am going to leave it and hope the quilting will help this one look okay in the end. Since I am doing two of each block I had one more chance to make it right. I used one of the tutorials (Ms Midge) for paper piecing this block and boy what a difference it made you can find the Tutorial I used here. I was very pleased with my second attempt.

The second block was a beauty named Coral, I could make these blocks all day long. I love the little square of fabric that is off center. I will be linking up over at Gnome Angel who is hosting this quilt along, come join in the fun!

I mentioned above that I had a busy weekend, I also did a little bit of playing with paper. Had to make a couple of gifts and a card for a baby shower (forgot to take pics!) I also made a card for my nephew for this confirmation. For being 16 years old, he was pretty sweet and said he really liked how the card turned out, such a great kid. I do have to agree though I love the colors.

Thanks for stopping by and check out my new features I finally figured our how to add. You can now follow me on Instagram and Flickr. Hopefully I will get Facebook set up soon!

Make some time to get creative!

-Amanda

Farmer's Wife 1930's Sew Along

I am always working on one project or another, but recently I came across a sew along that I just had to participate in. The Farmer's Wife 1930's sew along hosted by Angie of Gnome Angel, it is taking place over the next year, sewing two blocks a week. If you are interested in joining we just finished week two so there is plenty of time to join and catch up! Follow the link to find all of the information you need to join up.  Farmers Wife 1930s Sampler

My 1930's fabric stash

So far we have completed 5 blocks and they are turning out fantastic. I can not wait to make next weeks blocks.

Downton Fabrics and Modern Backgrounds Paper

Because it is only two blocks per week I decided to be ambitious and make two of each block in different colorways/themes. My first is in 1930's fabrics from my fabric stash, using vintage fabric and new reproduction fabrics.

The second set is in fabrics from some of the various Downton Abbey fabrics from Andover  mixed with Modern Backgrounds Paper by Moda.

 So far doing good keeping up, I think it takes longer to pick out which fabrics I am going to use rather then the actual sewing! I have rotary cut and machine pieced all of the blocks so far except for 20 Caroline. Those ones I paper pieced, I wanted to try to get perfect points. They are not perfect, but I am quite pleased with them. Now to go work on some other projects that are just begging to be finished.

Happy Quilting!
-Amanda

Welcome, a little bit of my story

Hi everyone, first I would like to thank you for giving my page a look. Let me introduce myself. I'm Amanda...aka Amanda Panda Bear...aka Bear...aka...Quilting Panda...aka Mom...aka the crafty one. Maybe you're like me, when a friend or co-worker needs something made or needs an idea, they know where to go! I have a passion for all things artsy and crafty. I particularly love to sew, especially quilting.

I was a very lucky little girl growing up, my grandmother was a seamstress for many years and in her retirement became known as the Barbie Doll Grandma at the local craft show circuit. I still have and treasure many of the outfits she made for my dolls. She was always happy to teach me how to work the machine...she used an old Singer Treadle Machine...one of my most prized treasures in my home now.

My grandma Edith with her trusty Singer Treadle machine.

I remember being about 5 years old and sitting on her lap, cutting, pinning and learning to use that machine. Sadly, she passed away in 2001, but the memories and skills she passed on to me have not been forgotten, but are in my life everyday. I am working on passing those skills down to my own two little boys. You might just see a few of their projects featured here in the future...

That's me fixing a button on a dress.

It all started with that first sewing lesson so long ago. I made my first quilt when I was 16, I had no idea what I was doing and didn't want to ask for help so I just read a few books and dove in feet first. That first quilt was sewn on that old treadle and given to my boyfriend at the time (now my husband) sister, and she still has it to this day. I can't believe it has stayed together all these years, must be about 16 years old now! I was hooked and now I have a sewing room filled to the brim with fabric, trims, notions, stamps, papers, paints and threads to make enough projects and not have to go to the fabric or craft shop, at least that's what my husband tells me. He's only joking, well most of the time.

I can't wait to get to know everyone and share my creative journey with you. I do ask for your patience, give me a sewing machine and I can conquer the world (that might be a bit overstated!) but I am just learning all of the intricacies of this amazing blogging world. This will be a learning curve for sure so bear with me while I learn all these new tricks. Thanks for your follow and Happy Creating!

-Amanda