Farmer's Wife Friday---'Round the Circle

I've been on vacation. I took a little reading and sewing with me.....

 When Cindy and I started making the blocks for the Farmer's Wife Sampler and posting about them on Fridays we didn't give ourselves any room for taking time off...sheesh! Oh, and of course, this week there would be not just two blocks, but four, AND they would have many, many pieces! See that little block on the bottom...the grey one...64 pieces!! ACK!!

 The Four Winds block took quite a bit of time and effort, but in the end it came out pretty well, I think. The author of this week's letter, from Hutchinson County, S.D., would agree, I think, that everything worthwhile takes time. She says,"experience--well, in that I have been about 'round the circle." Her life as a young wife was not easy and took several turns along the way.

 A weather vane probably perched on top of the farmer's barn signaling which way the four winds were blowing. The Weather Vane block went together without too much whining on my part.....

 I made the Corn and Beans block with the predictable colors of yellow and green. Mrs. W.R. writes about her daughter marrying a farmer--"And if she should be poor? Hoeing in the sun, dipping for chicken lice or milking in fly time are better than washing for strangers in a dark, ugly part of a city with children always underfoot, saving heat, saving light and eating cheap food. I'd rather she had corn cob heat and real food even if she had to produce it." Growing up on a farm, I spent my fair share of time hoeing in the garden and can attest that it's not a lot of fun....but what worthwhile results!

 The fourth block accompanying this week's letter is called W.C.T.U. This stands for the Women's Christian Temperance Union, founded in 1874, which led the crusade for prohibition. The author says there is "no excuse for arrested development"in her area with W.C.T.U. offering "citizenship, domestic science and child-welfare classes; oratorical essay, musical and poster contests, programs on the hundred and one other interests of this amazingly diversified organization." I had no idea of the varied interests this organization was involved with and it's importance in rural America.

Here are my four 6 inch blocks for this week with all their little triangles. Whew! That was a workout! I wonder how Cindy did with her blocks.....we better check out her blog and make sure she got them all made!

There are four blocks with next week's letter too. I better get started early! I'll be grinding my teeth in frustration if I don't!