Posted on by agilejack

A Good Sunday and More Wensleydale Blocks

Today was a great day. It started with my alarm clock going off at 4:00 am. I had given myself a bit of a runway and set a second alarm for 4:15 and got moving. We were on the road for Rico’s sheep herding trial at 5:30, headed north on Interstate 5. We reached the sheep herding venue at around 7:35. Which left us just enough time to get our rubber boots on, get all our gear, and take the walk, with Rico in tow, to the trial field.

Rico did an amazing job! Here’s a video of his last run, which was his best of the four he had today. There were a couple that were, ummm, interesting.

It’s not the best video. I hooked my phone to a fence post and hit the button before I took Rico in the ring. You might enjoy all the conversation with the sheep herding ladies!

We were done by around 10 am. I wanted to hit a fabric store that opened at noon on the way home so we had a little time to kill. So I took the boys to a field at the trial site to let them have a good run before we headed south.

And running…

Before we got in the car and headed out, we took advantage of a photo op.

We made it to the fabric store at five minutes after noon. It’s a really nice little store with a good selection of KFC fabrics and a great selection of batiks.

I knew I’d find a good selection of the lighter blue batiks that I want for my Wensleydale quilt. And I wasn’t disappointed. Here’s what I came home with.

Just what I was looking for and just what this quilt needs!

We were home by a little after 2:00. I took a little bit of time to just chill out since I was up so early and had spent several hours on the road. Then I hit my sewing room and sewed a new block for my Wensleydale quilt.

I love how each of these blocks is different.

After our early evening walk, in which we got drenched in a steady rain and came home pretty cold, we grabbed some dinner then hit the sewing room to finish up two more blocks. So that makes three blocks made today.

I really love that one in the middle.

And look at this close up detail. These points make me so happy!

Thank you paper piecing! I would NEVER get that point with traditional piecing.

I now have nine blocks done and on the design wall. I just love how the secondary pattern Is showing more and more.

That means I’ve used up all the kits I made. So tomorrow night will be spent cutting fabrics and putting them into kits. I’m thinking I’ll need 48 blocks for this quilt. That should make a nice throw size quilt.

Here’s a bonus Bender since he was such a good sport today when Rico was getting all the action.

78 Replies to “A Good Sunday and More Wensleydale Blocks”

  1. The Wensleydale blocks are looking really good, Anne.
    Well done to Rico for his sterling effort and Bender for just being adorable.
    I’m on the final straight of my ‘ final’ quilt and will get it finished today. V pleased about that and I’ll endeavour to get a photo to you.
    Have a great day.
    Lindy x

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  3. Great combos in your blocks! The KFC fabric looks so good with the batiks. Looked like a fun trial with Rico. He doesn’t like to lie down, does he. I’ve been to many sheep & wool shows and the trials are always fun to watch.

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    1. I’ve made quilts before that combine batiks with KFC fabrics and it’s a great combination.

      His lie downs were better than they have been! We’ve really been working on it. He’s doing much better than he was in the past!

      Anne

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  6. Good morning,

    <

    div>Your blocks are looking great, I just love the colours.  The other day you talked about how much you hate tearing out the paper when doing foundati

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      3. Hello again, I’m not sure what is going on with my email lol. I was just trying to suggest you try foundation piecing with freezer paper. It is pretty straight forward, there are a lot of you tube videos explaining how. I like it much better because the templates are reusable and you don’t have to kill your fingertips tearing out all the paper. You should give it a try. As for my email skills….hopefully this one goes through. I was just hitting the reply button on my email, but this time I’m replying through your site. If it screws up again I will give up. Sorry to be a pain.

        Have a great day. Your quilt blocks look awesome!

        Angie

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      4. this comment came through fine.

        several people have suggested the freezer paper method. I’ll have to try it some day but I’ll continue with how I’m doing it for this quilt for the sake of consistency.

        Thanks for trying again!

        Anne

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  7. gotta love the work ethic That pup shows. Add that to the fact that both boys are so cute, and you have a heartful of love. Levi is with us presently, and his idea of a good workout is chasing the squirrels around the back yard, (really the woods since we are mid forest).
    A question about the blocks. I may have missed the post on the origin of the block, but is it one that I might find online? I have some high colour batik scraps, and still a basket of various blues that I would like to try making just one. These blues are eventually going into a blue log cabin scrappy, but i think they might make an interesting Wensleydale block. I really love paper piecing.

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    1. Rico absolutely LOVES sheep herding! I think it’s the thing in his life that truly brings him the most happiness. It’s good physical exercise and great brain exercise! Rico also works hard to keep our yard free of squirrels!

      The block is from Jen Kingwell’s book called Quilt Recipes. I don’t have the book, but bought her paper templates on Amazon. There are 60 sheets in the package. I don’t know if it’s available anywhere else.

      Anne

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  8. Love those blocks! The icy blues and sparks of orange remind me of fire and ice. I’ve been collecting blue batiks for years and your quilt has me thinking I need to get going and use them! And, “Good job, Rico”. You show those sheep who’s boss.

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  9. I always love pictures of dogs and your boys are so dang cute. I love your fabrics and I’m impressed with those points too. I hate to say this about a character defect I have, but at quilt shows, I look at points. My own quilts generally have quite a few points sewed over unfortunately. I tried paper piecing but it’s not something I enjoyed or was good at either. Your new blue fabrics are soooo pretty.

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    1. I’m usually pretty tolerant of points that aren’t perfect, but I do like perfect points when I can achieve them. I will never be someone who enters quilts in competitions where they care a lot about stuff like that. I know I’ll only ever get points like that with paper piecing. I know my strengths!

      Anne

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  10. Wa who Rico good going !!!!!! What a fun day you had . I’ve been working with my boy ( leash reactive) and am finally seeing some improvement. What a challenge he is but I love him so . Beautiful quilt pattern good choice of colors

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  11. Your blocks are beautiful! I love the pop of bright colors in the center. 48 blocks is really ambitious. I’m thinking a tablerunner, bag, etc. Your quilt will be fabulous!

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  12. Your dogs are so cute. My brother had a Sheltie who was not trained to herd, but she thought she was a herder and liked to herd their kids and friends into a corner of the backyard!

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  13. This quilt is going to be gorgeous! The colors and fabrics together are incredible! Bender and Rico are beautiful. I look forward to your blog every morning! Thanks for sharing!

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      1. I love to quilt and you are a daily inspiration. Recently, I have discovered a new passion, barn quilts! 

        Sent from my iPad

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  14. Good afternoon from sunny South Africa.

    I love, love your wensleydale blocks. I also love paper piecing and have been looking for a pdf pattern for it.. No luck.

    Please would you advise me where I can get a downloadable pdf pattern

    Thanks in advance

    Kind regards

    Arleen

    Floral Signature May 2021

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    1. I don’t know if this is available as a pdf. I’m guessing it’s not. I bought the paper templates on Amazon. I have no idea if you can get them in South Africa.

      Good luck!

      Anne

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      1. Hi Anne

        To order from Amazon is very expensive and would take ages.

        Would you mind giving me the finished size of the square

        Thanks

        Arleen

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  15. I love your precise new blocks. You have such an eye for color. When you are buying fabric for a project like this, what amount do you buy? I was amazed that you had so many options for backing your last quilt just in your sewing room. Do you routinely buy large pieces? I often just buy fat quarters and then am frustrated that I don’t have enough to do what I want to do.

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    1. If I’m buying fabric for my stash I usually buy half yards. Because of the random way I combine fabrics that cut works really well for me. I like using a lot of different fabrics in each quilt… sort of that scrappy approach.

      If it’s a fabric I really love, something out of print, or something I know I’ll use often, I will buy more of it. I typically don’t buy large pieces that work for a backing unless it’s on a really good sale. I rarely purchase full price fabric for quilt backs.

      I purchased some pre-cuts when I first started making quilts. I never buy them now. I like putting my own fabric combos together.

      Anne

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    1. Rico was a very good dog! It’s fun to see all that training come together.

      I’m loving this new project. it will be fun to see more blocks up on the design wall.

      Anne

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    1. Me too! It’s different… not something you see often. And there are so many different things you could do with it. I might have to make another one some day.

      Anne

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  19. I LOVE your posts!!! I hardly ever read blogs (my mind wanders haha) but I always read yours 💗

    <

    div>It’s so interesting when you show your quilting process and you’re so darn speedy! I’m a very slow quilter…too many life distractions

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    1. I started this blog as a way for me to keep track of what I was making and notes on how I put things together, what fabric I used, etc… It’s been really fun to meet people from all over the world through his blog!

      Anner

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    1. I had noticed the Wensleydale quilts as they started appearing on Facebook and Instagram. I liked the pattern when I saw it, but really fell in love with the blue quilt that inspired me to dig in. I’m pretty happy with how it’s coming along!

      If I inspired you to try a project… my job here is done!

      Anne

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    1. It was Sisters quilt Shop in Chehalis. It’s a nice little store. Wouldn’t be too far for you to get there. I think it took around 40 minutes from. Olympia. It’s worth at least one visit.

      Anne

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  22. Looks like a great day for all 3 of you! I don’t have much patience for errors I make in paper piecing but Wanda’s tip of cutting templates 1/2” larger makes sense. Less waste 😻

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    1. Yes, Wanda’s explanation sounded like a good one. Some of this is tough because the pieces in the middle are pretty small. It goes much faster when you get to the three outer rows.

      I can tolerate a little bit of waste if it makes the piecing easier.

      Anne

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    1. hahaha! I love it! I just have to remember that the first piece of fabric goes on the back with the right side up. If I can get that right, the rest comes together pretty easily.

      Anne

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  24. When I first paper pieced it was frustrating. Now I find it so gratifying to end up with PERFECT points. Love how the colors are going together. Yay blue. Good job Rico and extra points for adorable Bender.

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    1. My friend gave me a really good foundation in paper piecing. Yet I still manage to mess it up every now and again! But I’m lining where this blue quilt is going. I would hate to be using traditional piecing to make these blocks. I can just imagine how wonky they’d be!

      Anne

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  26. Thank you for sharing paper piecing tuts & your stunning blue fabrics for, this quilt. You get so much accomplished! Rico still looked “on point” in the cute photo op & fun to see him work so well! Bender, does pose happily and so healthy for them to get out in country side working n running. Your progress is beautiful! Most enjoyable posts of all you are doing,
    ardine

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  28. LOVE LOVE LOVE all your postings!!! From quilting to shopping at various quilt stores to hearing about Bender and Rico’s activities..what a life you have…(and your dogs have a great life too)… Fascinating to watch your video of Rico herding those sheep..never in my life have I seen that in person and I can image both you and HE are mentally exhausted afterwards..their breeds really love to run, don’t they? I also forgot to mention I wanted to “vote” on your background selection of your previous quilt and I forgot to..darn it. I was leaning towards the orange colored fabric but I think you went with another color? Have a great week (at work..LOL)…retirement is SO great..you’ll LOVE it once you get there…

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    1. The sheep herding can really wear Rico out. Some times he’s doing such hard brain work that he’s exhausted afterward. Luckily, it doesn’t last long!

      I actually ordered a completely different piece of fabric on sale for backing that jumble quilt. It should arrive tomorrow then I’ll share what it is. I’m excited to see it with the quilt top.

      I can’t wait to retire!!! A few more years…

      Anne

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  31. I love your Wesleydale blocks. Your controlled scrap look is perfect. I have also started this quilt – but with a more free for all look. We will see. I’m new to your blog, but have signed up!!! Love your style!

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