Brilliant Idea!

I was blog browsing this morning and on Kristen's blog So Happy I noticed something I hadn't seen before. The smart woman has a tab that links to a page of her current WIPs! (all of which are awesome, by the by)

That is "Works in Progress" for any of you non-quilty peeps out there.

I made one of my own of course. I like the idea of having an ongoing page to display what I'm working on. I have 2 tops, one basted sandwich, and one project that is still in the block stage --- and I'd like at least two of them finished quilts before the 'Sentimental Reasons" Quilt Show in May. Yup, someone is a little nuts.

At least if I don't finish anything else, my Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt is ready to go!

Farmer's Wife Quilt

Farmer's Wife Quilt, originally uploaded by sailbit.

I finished it!!!

Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt - Top Done!

Original quilt by the author in period appropriate fabrics:

My version of the quilt, done in scraps and with colour changes (and layout) here and there:

Finished! Well ... The blocks, anyway

A lot of blocks. A lot of improvement in my piecing skills. I went 1 day over my goal of finishing all my blocks in 2010. Can't wait for the sashing fabric to arrive in the mail!!!

 

1. #01 - Attic Window, 2. #02 - Autumn Tints, 3. #03 - Basket, 4. #04 - Basket Weave, 5. #05 - Bat Wing, 6. #06 - Big Dipper, 7. #07 - Birds In The Air, 8. #08 - Bouquet, 9. #09 - Box, 10. #10 - Bowtie, 11. #11 - Broken Dishes, 12. #12 - Broken Sugar Bowl, 13. #13 - Buckwheat, 14. #14 - Butterfly at the Crossroads, 15. #15 - Buzzard's Roost., 16. #16 - Calico Puzzle, 17. #17 - Cats & Mice, 18. #18 - Century of Progress, 19. #19 - Checkerboard, 20. #20 - Churn Dash, 21. #21 - Contrary Wife, 22. #22 - Corn & Beans, 23. #23 - Country Farm, 24. #24 - Country Path, 25. #25 - Cups & Saucers, 26. #26 - Cut glass dish., 27. #27 - Darting Birds, 28. #28 - Duck & Ducklings, 29. #29 - Economy, 30. #30 - End of Day, 31. #31 - Evening Star, 32. #32 - Farmer's Daughter, 33. #33 - Farmer's Puzzle, 34. #34 - Flock, 35. #35 - Flower Basket, 36. #36 - Flower Garden Path 37. #37 - Flower Pot, 38. #38 - Four Winds, 39. #39 - Friendship, 40. #40 - Friendship Block, 41. #41 - Friendship Star, 42. #42 - Fruit Basket, 43. #43- Garden Path, 44. #44 - Gentleman's Fancy, 45. #45 - Grape Basket, 46. #46 - Hill & Valley, 47. #47 - Homemaker, 48. #48 - Homeward Bound, 49. #49 - Honeycomb, 50. #50 - Honey's Choice, 51. #51 - Hovering Birds, 52. #52 - Hovering Hawks, 53. #53 - Jackknife, 54. #54 - Kitchen Woodbox, 55. #55 - Linoleum, 56. #56 - Maple Leaf, 57. #57 - Morning, 58. #58 - Mother's Dream, 59. #59 - Night & Day, 60. #60 - Noon & Light, 61. #61 - Northern Lights, 62. #62 - Old Windmill, 63. #63 - Ozark Maple Leaf, 64. #64- Peace & Plenty, 65. #65 Peaceful Hours, 66. #66 - Periwinkle, 67. #67 - Pine Tree, 68. #68 - Postage Stamp, 69. #69 - Practical Orchard, 70. #70 - Prairie Queen, 71. #71 - Puss in the Corner, 72. #72 - Railroad

 

40 Through 48

Another handful done!

1. #30 - End of Day, 2. #29 - Economy, 3. #28 - Duck & Ducklings, 4. #08 - Bouquet, 5. #27 - Darting Birds, 6. #25 - Cups & Saucers, 7. #24 - Country Path, 8. #22 - Corn & Beans, 9. #23 - Country Farm


Still having a lot of fun making these blocks! I'm getting much better at the technical aspect of piecing (I think?) and I'm also beginning to really enjoy picking fabrics and colours for each block -- Digging through my stash of scraps, yardage, charm packs, and other pre-cuts has become like a miniature treasure hunt each time I turn a page!

Progress

1. #1 - Attic Window, 2. #2 - Autumn Tints, 3. #3 - Basket, 4. #4 - Basket Weave, 5. #5 - Bat Wing, 6. #6 - Big Dipper, 7. #7 - Birds In The Air, 8. #9 - Box, 9. #10 - Bowtie, 10. #11 - Broken Dishes, 11. #12 - Broken Sugar Bowl, 12. #13 - Buckwheat, 13. #14 - Butterfly at the Crossroads, 14. #15 - Buzzard's Roost., 15. #16 - Calico Puzzle, 16. #17 - Cats & Mice, 17. #18 - Century of Progress, 18. #19 - Checkerboard, 19. #20 - Churn Dash, 20. #21 - Contrary Wife, 21. #26 - Cut glass dish.

Farmer's Wife Quilt - A few blocks finished!

Working my way through the blocks in Laurie Aaron Hird's book "The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt" seems to be as close to taking a quilting class as I can get and still wear pajamas! So for the last few days that is exactly what I have been doing.

Let's try this one ..

The book comes with a disk that includes PDF files for each of the 107 templates used in the blocks -- a separate PDF for each?! Now I'm no publisher but you would think that someone in the disk-making-department would use a bit more common sense. Because no quilter in her right mind is going to want to print 107 pages, especially when some of the templates are 2 1/2 inch blocks or 3 inch triangles. I think they really let the author down on that aspect. I'd scream bloody murder if I put all that time and energy into writing a book and the disk included looked like a 7th grader's geometry project.
 
{Of course, the publishers & EQ seem to be angling for some extra cash since there is an EQ companion CD you can buy separately. No wonder they put no effort into the free disk!}

Luckily the ones who have gone before me in making this quilt were of like minds, and they rearranged all the templates into a single PDF file of 14 pages. I thought "Woohoo, this I can live with!" and downloaded that baby right away.Then I set to work with my ruler and worked out measurements for quite a few of the simple shapes - even down to 16ths in some cases. Cause there is nooooooo way I am cutting & piecing twenty or more one-inch HSTs the hard way just for one block:

Tiny HSTs .. no problem! Chain em up

The project is definitely helping with my piecing skills (as intended!) I'm primarily working from scraps/stash fabric, so right now the blocks I have made don't look like they will play nice together in a quilt ... But I'll figure something out at the end!

Day 1 Blocks - Err, nice effort but I will remake some of these!

Day 2 Blocks - Now we are getting somewhere!

*Marking the name and number of each of the blocks on a square of masking tape might be a little over-organized, but ... I like it that way :)

New Books Are Yummy!

Currently being shipped via Barnes&Noble :)

Synopsis

Be Inspired by the Stories
In 1922, The Farmer's Wife magazine posed this question to their readers: "If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you, in light of your own experience, have her marry a farmer?" The magazine at that time had 750,000 subscribers, and received over 7,000 letters. The best answers to this question are included in this book, along with the traditional quilt blocks they inspired.

Laurie Aaron Hird provides everything you need to be inspired and create your own sampler quilt:

• 111 six-inch quilt blocks, with construction diagrams for piecing the blocks and template cutting directions
• Complete instruction for making a sampler quilt in any traditional size: lap, twin, queen or king
• CD with easy-to-print, full-sized templates for all 111 blocks, and printable quilt construction diagrams
• 42 letters from the 1922 Farmer's Wife contest to give you a priceless glimpse into our country's past