Farmer's Wife Friday--The Best of All Good Things

Friday has rolled around again and it's time to reveal the blocks I've been working on this week to illustrate the next letter in the 1922 Farmer's Wife Contest. I found "The Best of All Good Things", by Mrs. S. O from Mille Lacs County, Minnesota,  a delightful, convincing, and articulate letter conjuring up mental pictures of an idyllic life on the farm. The first block, aptly named, Mother's Dream, is simple to look at, but a bit tougher to create....

The math involved in making this block come out perfect evaded me for some reason, so don't look too closely at the edges of the block! Fortunately, once it is pieced into the quilt no one will notice, I have assured myself. It's a cute block, don't you think?


My next little block went a bit better. Called Seasons, I found myself thinking that my fabric choices certainly spell summer. I like this block so much, that I'm thinking it would make a lovely quilt of more blocks set side by side in bright pretty colors. (For some reason it makes me think of a Band-aide!)

To create the block, I decided to cut rectangles a bit longer than the templates measured, and piece them onto the background triangles.

 Then, using my Easy Square ruler, I simply trimmed it to size! To quote the farmer's wife, "Is there any greater joy, I wonder, than that of a hard task well done?"

Besides the happiness which comes of service, Mrs. S.O. reminds the reader of the beauty of family life on the farm where "we'll be spending our evenings together with our music, books or mutual friends, or going to some amusement together". I doubt she could have even imagined late night TV or Facebook! Let's pretend this farm family spent some time together enjoying the moon through the attic window, shall we.... Ah, the next block accompanying the letter is called just that: Attic Windows!

Again, I used the trick of making two of the pieces in this block longer in an effort to simplify it's creation...

 The trick worked pretty slick, I thought...

 A couple of slices with my rotary cutter, and it was trimmed to exact size!

"And last, but not least, of the good things I desire for this daughter-o'-mine, are peace, a love of nature and time for quiet, happy thoughts." These words are reflective of the last block, called End of Day. I used the same lengthen- the- piece- sew -it- together- and -cut- it- off technique to sew up this modern looking (I think) block in happy colors. It's not perfect, but I think it will work!

The author lovingly sums up her attitude about being a farmer's wife this way: "And so, folks, I want my daughter to marry a farmer, a good man, upright, steadfast and true, with visions of the farm-life-to-be in his heart. Then, hand and hand, they can work to make their dreams come true, and she will know the happiness I have known. I could not ask for more."

Now this lady is someone I wish that I could have known, don't you!  I know that Cindy has some pretty blocks to show you on her Farmer's Wife Friday post. Don't miss it!