2018 Finishes - Farmer's Wife #52

Going back to July 2011, another blogger started a quilt along doing the Farmer's Wife sampler quilt.  This was really popular around that time,  and several bloggers and local quilt shops were doing it either as a quilt along or a BOM.  I had already purchased the book several months earlier (you can purchase one here on Amazon, or anywhere else you want to get a copy.  The local library might have one too.  This sampler is by Laurie Aaron Hird, and has a total of 111 sampler blocks.  The book comes with an accompanying CD rom with all of the templates.  Marti Michell also has most of the templates in acrylic to use with this sampler.

In the book, the first half of the book shows a completed block along with a letter from 1920's wives that inspired each block.  The second half of the book has a page for each block, showing cutting instructions and construction diagrams.  

I jumped all in, really excited.  I printed all the templated out on card stock, cut them out, and started cutting out each block. I blogged about each block I made.  I was so into this sampler, that I opted to do it in two separate color ways.  One in civil war reproductions and the other with a fabric line called Breath of Avignon by American Jane from Moda fabrics.

I used both the acrylic templates and the card stock templates to get each block, then placing the cut pieces in an individual zip lot sandwich baggie for construction at a later date.   Little did I know, until I was in too deep of construction, that the card stock templates were copied at normal printing (which is at about 98%) instead of setting my printer to print them at 100%.   So, many of my blocks were off up to a quarter of an inch.

Some of my blocks came out 6.5 inches and some came out at 6.0 inches.  Panic time!!!  I gave it some serious thought.  One, do I trash the whole project and move on, wasting all that fabric, or two figure out how to make it all work together. 

I took option 2.  I took the framing fabric and added an additional 1/2" to the blocks that were too small, and then framed all the blocks according to the directions.  Anyone looking at it would not see the correction.  It takes only me to know what happened and the fix.  Especially after it was quilted, there is no glaring or even an easily noticeable fix to the error.

I am still working on how to fix the other color way to get that quilt done.  I am guessing this one will fall under my 2019 Finishes.  

To read about my finished quilt on the blogger who started the quilt along, please go here.

Here are some up close pictures of the different blocks and the finished framing and cornerstones, and you can't tell.  

I opted not to add any borders other than the offsetting triangles and bound it with the same fabric I used in framing the blocks.

I tried to get a picture of all the blocks used in the sampler.  Just a note about the blocks done in this sampler.  Remember they are only 6.5" square, and some of them had up to 65 pieces per block.  Sometimes it would take about 2 to 3 hours per block to make.  

This quilt requires lots of time and planning.  

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Size: 72" x 84"

Fabric Lines Used:  Civil War Reproductions

Colors:  Black Gold, Orange, Green, red, blue, purple, yellow

Pattern:  The Farmer's Wife

Designer:  Laurie Arron Hird

Long Arm Quilter:  Carol Nelson

Year Began: 2011

Year Completed: 2018

Trying to keep up

I think I might have overextended what's on my plate.  I mean as far as taking on tow online projects, one sew along and the mystery quilt.  These are the next two blocks I have finished for the Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt.  I am currently 3 blocks behind, but hoping to get caught up this week.  I want to get them done before this Friday as the next part comes out for the Mystery Quilt.

When this block was assigned, I could not for the life of me, see a daffodil.  Really a daffodil?  I made it anyway and will always look at it and wonder.  A Daffodil????

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A Little of This and A Lot of That

First up is a lot of that, yes, more of those pesky little Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks.  Remember the sew-a-long is releasing two blocks a week, but I am trying to do more than that, so I can be done with this project.

The biggest reason for wanting to get done with this project is I have become to really dislike the technique of making them.  I swear and promise, I have done everything in my power to like this Paper Piecing way of making blocks, but it is just not coming to attrition.  I still have all the same complaints that I have written about before, the waste of fabric, the time it takes to make a block, and the difficulty I am having making the paper pricing to work.  The learning curve should be over by now, as I am a fifth of the way done with the project, and it still is difficult.  Blocks are taking three to four hours to complete, I spend more time ripping out the pieces over and over again, and thinking opposite and backwards in laying down the fabric before sewing is not how my brain works.

I enjoy quilting too much to be spending this torturous time and effort on this project, or paper piecing ever again.  But, if anything, I will see this project through to the end and to do so, I will have to do several blocks a week.  

The weather has been so overcast here, so much so, that I haven't been able to take pics of the other projects I have completed.  I have done an apron, another completion of a UFO BOM that I started back in 2009, and quilt block Christmas ornaments for a charity.  Hopefully in the next few days I can get pictures of these and get them posted.

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Leftovers and More

I had lots of leftover fabric from the basket quilt from my last post.  I decided to stitch it up into a nine patch scrappy.  It is under my needle getting quilted this week.  

I have also kept up on the weekly blocks from the Farmer's Wife 30's Sampler quilt along.

Not sure if any of you remember last year when I participated in Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, Grand Illusion, but it was so much fun, that I decided to participate in this year's mystery quilt.

This year's mystery quilt is called Allietare, based on her tour she went on in Italy earlier this year. if interested, click on the highlighted Allietare and it will take you to her blog and you can find out all the details.

Again, this year, I am determined to use up fabric found in my stash.  But looking into my stash,  I found that I didn't have some of the colors Bonnie recommended (see the paint cards in the picture).  So, I pulled full yardage pieces (as opposed to scraps or fat quarters) and ended up pulling some Moda Fig Tree pieces from various collections.  What is nice with Moda's lines of fabric, that even if it is from several collections, the colors and patterns will generally match and go together just fine.  So this will be more of a matched mystery quilt instead of a scrappy one.  If interested in viewing what other quilters are pulling from their stash and their scraps, you can see lots of pictures on Bonnie's Quiltville Face Book page. The actual clues and sewing doesn't begin until the day after Thanksgiving, and the revel on New Year's day.  I will be posting the progress when the fun begins.

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Hectic Life This Week

Life really has been busy this week.  Here is a recap:

I did manage to get these blocks for the Farmer's Wife 30's Sampler Sew Along.

This is so far, one of my favorites.

This one looks a bit confusing to me, probably my choice of fabrics.  The pink/red flower print was too big to use in such a small block.  I think overall though, it will blend in when the quilt is put together.

This had "Y" seams.  Doing it paper piecing.  "Y" paper piecing seams should be a four letter word!!!

This one reminds me of summer.  

Then I spent a couple of days getting my garden area ready for winter.  I spread two bales of hay along the paths between the raised beds, and covered my carrot and onions.  When I posted this on Facebook, I had a friend tell me to roll my hoses and drain the pipes.  It usually doesn't freeze until late December or January, and I still need water on for the chickens.  

Then towards the end of the week I had cataract surgery.  Yep, at age 55 I had to get this surgery.  It comes as a result of getting cobalt radiation when I was a child.  I am doing fine, and can see much better.  I am going to get the other eye done, as it won't be possible to do a prescription for glasses, and the other eye has the normal start of a cataract, so they will just go ahead and get it done in about 3 weeks. Definitely not my best photo, but wanted to capture the look right after surgery that day.  Smile!

Since moving my parents up here to live with us, I have been having my dad work on this sewing cabinet.  Remember when I posted about my Sister In Law gifting me the Singer Rocketeer?  And remember the old dingy varnish looking desk it came with, including the water rings and cigarette scars?  Well, Dad spent hours sanding off the old varnish, priming it, and then painting it a very light blush  rose color.  I also had him change out the drawer hardware with knobs and handles with pretty rose motifs.  What a transformation!!! I couldn't be more excited.  He did such a good job.

Well, onto another week of busyness and working on all kinds of projects.  

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More Paper Piecing

Ya know, I am now on the fence about this paper piecing way of putting a block together.  I am not sure I like the process of getting to the finished block, but I know I like the finished end result.  Here are some conclusions (at least in my mind) of what I think about the paper piecing gig:


These three are some of the simple blocks they are starting with in this sew along.  This type of block is a easy rotary cut, pieces sewn together, and bam, you're done.  Not so with paper piecing. It is very time consuming.  Maybe it is part of the learning curve for me, but I still would imagine it will take longer than a more traditional way.  It also takes more fabric.  You have to have almost double the size piece of fabric to stitch and ensures it over covers the portion of the block you are piecing.  Believe me I tried using an exact shaped piece (with seam allowances included) and somehow it didn't work well.  So I over cut a piece of fabric sew it onto the paper and then I have to cut it down after each seam and when the block is finished.

Now, here is where the paper piecing leans towards the good side of things.  These blocks are a few that I have done on my own, outside of the sew along.  I feel two blocks a week is too slow of a pace, so I went ahead and started at the beginning and made several this week.  

This block gets a little more detailed, but I gotta tell you, no way would by "flying geese" pieces ever look this good doing a block the traditional way!  

This block has some acute isoseceles triangles and trapezoids, which are harder types of pieces to normally sew together, but paper piecing makes them come together and fit perfectly.

Now the real charm of paper piecing happens with this block.  Third one in, of doing them on my own, and wow.  This is a block with a lot of tiny pieces.  And when I sat a lot of pieces, I mean 53 pieces to be exact!  Think about that for a minute, 53 pieces in a 6 1/2 inch block!!  When I said earlier that paper piecing takes longer, well this block took me two evenings to complete, or about 4 hours.  That's is an investment of time to be spending on one block, but the pieces are so small, that I would't be able to get it sewn, much less with this kind of accuracy.  

I have only done 7 blocks in the two week since the start of this sew along, and have 92 more to go, making it kinda of daunting to think of the time that will be spent in getting this project across the finish line.  

So in review, while I have some cons about paper piecing, there are more important pros that want to keep me plowing ahead and through this sew along.

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The Start

The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sew Along kicked off September 28th.  There has been more drama over this sew along than I have ever experienced.  Their Facebook page blew up, and women were going just crazy, to the point of obtaining the leader's personal phone number and sending a text to her in the middle of the night demanding an answer.  First, privacy was invaded, second, who does this kind of thing over a sew along?  I almost had decided to quit, as I don't need that kind of drama to have fun.  But, I went ahead and did the first two blocks (the sew along is to do two blocks a week, and then have all 99 blocks done by the end of the year), and decided that I will stay in for a few more weeks to see if things calm down some.

Here is the first block they had us do, #12 called Becky.

This is a picture of the back of the block, showing the paper piecing that I did to get it to look so crisp in it's seams.  

Just for kicks, I put my 61/2" ruler on top of the quilt block to show that the block came out exactly to the 6 1/2" square it is supposed to be when it get all sewn up.  I think I am going to like this paper piecing as it turns out so precise!

This is the second block, #16 Bonnie.

If you are interested, click on the red banner in the upper right hand corner of my blog, and it will take you directly to the page to get all the information and to sign up.  It's free.

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Home Again

I'm back home with my parents.  We have spent the first few days unpacking and settling in to the spaces I have made available for them.

My garden over flowed and I had to can tomatoes one day, while unpacking boxes.   I ended up canning seven batches for a total of 35 quarts.  I am glad summer is coming to and end and the tomato crop is slowing down.

I finally unpacked the last box today, and things will get back to some normalcy and I hope to be sewing again shortly.  Especially since I have joined the Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt Sew-Along that begins September 28th, 2015 and lasts for a year.  If you want to participate, click on the button at the top right of my blog and join in the fun.  There is weekly newsletters to sign up for with this group, they have their own FB page, and several guest bloggers involved.  Once you click on the button, you will be directed to all the places to sign up and like and join.

It has been all the rage over the FB page to have the book hole punched and wire bound, so for the first time, I had this one done.  What a difference it makes!  Hubby had them add frosted plastic front and back to help protect the book, and it makes it really nice.  I also picked out my fabric from my stash.  If you remember, I have a rather large stash of 30's reproduction fabric, so I pulled from it as I want to stay true to the book of the 1930's era.  

Stay tuned!

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