Final Farmer's Wife Friday

Today marks the final post featuring my marathon project called, The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt! I'm so in love with this quilt and happier with the final product than I've probably ever been with any quilt that I've made in the 30+ years that I've been quilting.

Cindy Weins (Live a Colorful Life) and I began making the Farmer's Wife blocks together and featuring them on our blogs almost every Friday beginning in June 2011. If you missed it, you  can follow along with our comments on the various blocks as well as the letters that accompany each in the book beginning here.

I am fairly certain that without my commitment to Cindy and my blog followers, this quilt would have joined many others in my UFO pile within a few short months. The accountabilility served as a sure motivation over the year that it took to piece all 111 six- inch blocks.

In the front of my book, by Laurie Aaron Hird, I have written, "Last block finished: July 2012". Early on, I decided to use a different setting for my quilt than the one suggested in the book. I'd seen another Farmer's Wife quilt that used a more modern setting that seemed to give the blocks more "breathing room". Finding it was an instant "BINGO" for me!

I also decided that with all of the time I'd spent on these little blocks (many have, what seemed like, 1000 tiny pieces!) I wanted the quilting to be extra-special...something that my utilitarian style couldn't give me. I found a talented machine quilter named, Lynne Harbour, who did a fabulous job! It took some waiting and some "frog stitching" to get it just right, but in the end the result was worth the wait!

From the back, the quilting on the white sateen gives the look of a whole cloth quilt and makes my quilt almost reversible if you ignore the label. (I've had the scripture fabric for several years and with the joy that I felt at finishing this project, it seemed the perfect way to sign the quilt! I added my name,city and dates to the script piece.)

Quite a few of the small blocks became my favored ones while working on this quilt. I have a list of blocks that I hope to enlarge and, perhaps, make again as more modern versions and then stitch more quilts featuring them.

The whimsical effect of using colorful scraps and white sashing make me smile almost every time I look at the Farmer's Wife. I also think of the happy result of meeting Cindy  in person shortly before we finished the piecing. We had so much fun working on this project together! 

Photographing the quilt on the antique hay wagon at the country home of my good friend, Vicki, made for a happy conclusion. (Vicki's daughter-in-law and grandson were good sports to help with the quilt holding!)

Cindy is working on getting her quilt finished up before long and I'll be sure to point you in her direction when it's ready to shine! (Right, Cindy!?)
A big THANK YOU to all who have offered me encouragement over the last two years...you will never know how much it helped to make this a FINISH!

Farmer's Wife Friday--Militia of Arguments

Last Friday, I asked for your input on my color selections so far with the sampler blocks in the FWQAL. Several of you gave me a thumbs up on what I've got so far but thought a bit more yellow might be good, along with maybe more blue. I listened and produced Honey's Choice with that color combo in mind. I want yellow to be an accent color so will continue to use restraint, however. I like this block and can see a whole scrappy quilt of pinwheels.

 Another suggestion that I've taken to heart is adding some black and white prints. I already had used a white/black dot and was surprised that I hadn't thought of this good idea on my own. Thanks, Sujata, for coming to my rescue. Someone liked my reds, but warned to be careful of letting them get too overpowering....so, no red today!! Thanks, everyone for your nice remarks and help with this project. Here's Temperance Tree without red, but using pink instead....lots of little triangles to line up in this baby!! I like the black and white.

The Wisconsin farmer's wife who authored this week's letter offered eight "shots" at why she would want her daughter to marry a farmer. I'm going to try to turn her bullets into B B's: One: Farmlands are safe investments. Two: Farms offer unparalleled enterprise. Three: Many farm families enjoy the latest conveniences, maybe even the newspaper! Four: No need to spend money on fresh produce and fresh air. Five: Daily exertion is good for the mind and body. Six: No need to be a walking fashion-plate. Seven: A farm wife can be her own money manager. And last but not least, Eight: Freedom from the entrapments of "vicious allurements" ..."the necessity of birth control is not so apparent". 
And there you have it!: Eight good reasons for rural living in the 1920's.

 My recent mention of autumn visiting us here in the Midwest has led to more than a few comments from readers who miss the change of seasons in their local, so I thought I might help bring a little color to you each Farmer's Wife Friday. This maple tree stands tall in my yard and is just beginning to turn orange at its top. Watch each Friday as the Creator does His magic!

 My orange mums are beginning to open too!

I hope that you have been watching Cindy's blocks grow each week. Her use of solids makes them look so different and, dare I say it, contemporary, than mine. Here, take a look!