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! 

Leap Frog Explorer Carrying Case and Tutorial

Two of my grand children have Leap Frog Explorers. (They call them their IPads! ) Recently, when Ezra spent several days with me, we decided to  create a little carrying case to protect the "IPad" and hold his games. It's a quick and easy project.

I let him pick out two 5" charms from my recent I Spy  charm exchange to use in crafting the carrying case. Not surprising, he chose footballs and baseballs plus black for the fabrics.

In case anyone else has a kiddo in need of a carrying case for his Leap Frog Explorer, I thought I would do a little tutorial of how I made this one for Ezra (and his cousin, Haven).
You will need:   2 charm squares--5"x5" each
                            4 background strips--5"x 2"
                            4 background strips--8"x 3"
                            2 lining rectangles--8" x 10"
                            2 strips for inside pockets--4"x 8"
                            1 strip for handle--2.5" x 8"
                            2 scraps of batting--8" x 10"
                            1/4 yd. sew-in velcro
                          

Step one: Create a square in a square block for both the front and back of the bag by sewing the 2"x 5" strips to the top and bottom of of the charm square. Then sew the 3"x 8" strips to the sides to form the front/back.

Step two: Layer with batting and lining and quilt as desired. Trim the quilted front and back pieces down to 7"x 9" rectangles.

Step three: To make the handle, fold the sides of the handle strip to the center, then in half. Topstitch. 

Step four: Fold pocket fabrics in half lengthwise and stitch a 1/4 inch seam along the edge. 
Turn and press.

Step five: Fold in the pocket ends. Place the pockets on the lining, 2.5 inches from the bottom. Stitch along the sides and bottom of the pockets. You can make 3 little sections in each pocket for holding games, by stitching 2.5 inch from each end. (Use bobbin thread that will blend in with the quilting on the front of the bag.) 

Step six: Attach the handle from step three onto one side of one bag part as shown. Be sure that you are sewing it onto the front side rather than the lining side of the bag.

Step seven: With right sides together, sew around the sides and bottom with 1/4 inch seams. Finish the seam with a zigzag stitch. 

Step eight:  Now make a mitered corner on each end of your bag by folding the bottom seam to the center of the side seam and stitching across the end about 1.5 inch from the corner, as shown below.

You are almost finished.....turn your bag right side out!

Step nine: Fold down 3/8 in. along the upper edge of the bag. Sew velcro along both inside edges of the carrying case. 

Look! You did it!!

Be prepared for requests for more games to fill those little pockets!

Awesome!

Sunday Something

"Taste and see that the Lord is good;

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."

Psalm 34:8

Farmer's Wife Friday--The Very Breath of Life

I found myself identifying with this week's farmer's wife in the FWQAL Sampler. This city girl, from New York, married a farmer "to whom the country is the very breath of life". She, like me, recalls how lonely her first years were in the country..."The long solitary days when for hours no sound broke the silence, save the hum of bees, the song of a bird, or the low of the cattle."

The 'Railroad' block reminds her of "town, bred in my very bones--to whom the sound of the locomotive,  the tread of passing feet, was music to me..."

And yet, to her "has come a love of country which surpasses all." Like my life in the country today, this farmer's wife says, "The country life is no longer the solitary place of ten years ago. The motor-horn is heard in the quietest places and the noise of machinery is on every hand." No doubt, a wrench was as handy a tool in the 1920's as it is today. This block is called 'Wrench'....

Now, I was a bit confused when I started making the Wrench block because it seemed so familiar. I dug through the blocks I had already made and look what I found....Hmm...That red one was called Churn Dash. If I was playing the Memory Game with my grand daughter, we would call that a match!" Same. Same." as Lula and Haven like to say. Since it is Block #111 (the last one in the book) maybe the author just ran out of ideas! ....probably not...

Oh, well! Sprinkle some powdered sugar on this, and it looks good enough to eat!

Cindy has some great blocks and comments on her Farmer's Wife Friday post today. Don't miss them, y'all.

See you next week!

How I Almost Won a Harley!

Rrrrring!
"Hello." 
"Hello. This is the 7-up Bottling Co. calling for Carla to tell her that she is a finalist in a drawing with the Harley Davidson Company."
"Well, uhhhh. I don't remember ever entering a contest like that."
"The drawing is connected to your Price Chopper Shopper card."
"Oh. Okay. What's the prize?"
"(laughter) It's a motorcycle!" She may have said stupid silly under her breath, I'm not sure.
My husband googled the cycle later and found out that it was worth a bunch of $$$! I wondered how many finalist there would be when I showed up at the grocery store parking lot on a recent Saturday morning. Hmm....not very many cars really. Maybe I had a chance! A shiny new quilting machine Harley could be in my future!

 It turned out that there were only 19 finalists. Oh, boy! This was definitely better odds than I had expected. Shiny new quilting machine, I mean motorcycle, here I come. I drew the first chance to start up the cycle. I just had to pick the right key out of that cute little green lunch box....

 "You guys are all going to be sad when I start this baby up", I bragged. The biker guy from Harley Davidson even told me how to put the key in urged me on!

 Why is he laughing? Bummer, it didn't start! I can't believe it. No Nolting Harley in my near future. ( I even had a nice name picked out for her that started with an H!)

 The ninth lady in line (a cute little soccer mom) started that puppy right up! Her husband and two little kids cheered. I wondered what she was going to do with a Harley. About as much as I was, I expect! The other 18 of us losers went home with $100 gift card from Price Chopper. Yeah! I can drown my sorrows in ice cream!

  I guess I'll just have to send this quilt top that I found lurking in my sewing closet off to someone who really has a nice quilting machine named Harley. Maybe they will know what to do with it!

Oh well, it sure made for an exciting Saturday morning!

Sunday Something

You make beautiful thing

You make beautiful things out of the dust.

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of us.

All around

Hope is springing up from this old ground.

Out of chaos life is being found in you.

lyrics by Gungor

Farmer's Wife Friday--An Orchard in Bloom

"Can you think of anything in city life that compares with an orchard in bloom? I haven't time to sit down and gaze very often, but just a glance out of doors now and then while I'm about my work, makes me feel all chirpy inside, like a robin sounds! On our limited income, in the city, we'd have to take our outings in a park, but here we have more houseroom than we know what to do with and park scenery to enjoy as far as we can see." Mrs G.W.N. from Ingham County, Michigan paints a beautiful picture with her words, doesn't she?

 I used one of my favorite green Anthology fabrics to make the Maple Leaf block. Love it!

 Practical Orchard is a simple block that I think would be fun to play around with in a modern quilt. Add that to my "Someday List"!

 Here's a peek at all of my blocks together. I could quit now and have a cute quilt!

Just kidding, Cindy. Don't worry!