Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt-along: Guest Bloggers and Quilt Along Details

I hope everyone's has a copy of The Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt book or has one on it's way.  There is more than one quilt along so they are out of stock in some of the more familiar online stores, good luck!  It should look like this:

The blocks from this book are a different selection from the 1920s Farmer's Wife book with the brown cover.  You could mix the two together but this quilt is for this book.  Some of the blocks are hard:  have a flick through the book to prepare yourself!  It is a great way to build skills but it would be a mighty challenge for a beginner.  Guest bloggers have chosen their blocks and we will be working through the book in alphabetical and numerical order which will give a total mix of skills and challenge levels.  Here are the lovely guest bloggers, many of whom I have known for years, with their blogs and Instagram account links, I feel very lucky to have them all contributing.

Wynn  Zakka Art   @zakkaart 

Charise   Charise Creates  @charisecreates 

Jo Greene  A Life in Lists  @lifeinlists 

Justine  Sew Justine Sew  @sewjustinesew

Erin  Why Not Sew  @whynotsewquilts

Fiona  Poppy Makes  @fionapoppymakes

Tiffany  East Dakota Quilter  @tiffanytravels 

Jo Avery  My Bear Paw  @mybearpaw

Jessie  Messy Jesse Crafts  @messyjesse1

Sarah  A Little Happy Place  @sarahedgarprettyfabrics

Ayumi  Pink Penguin  @ayumills 

Hannah  Quirky Hannah  @quirkyhannah 

Melinda  Quirky Granola Girl  @quirkygranolagirl 

Erica  Crafty Blossom  @cbhandmade 

Chase  Quarter Inch Mark  @quarterinchmark

They are a multi talented bunch and are going to be able to cover many techniques from foundation paper piecing to English paper piecing, hand piecing, templates, fussy cutting and more.  Some are going to post several times, others are doing just one or two posts and they all have a plethora of tips to share.  So you know what to expect, here are some of the things that will or will not be happening in the quilt-along:

We will...

• share tips e.g. how big to cut some of your fabric pieces for foundation paper piecing.
• share techniques e.g. the guest bloggers include expert quilters, hand piecers, English paper piecers and foundation piecing wizards!
• share ideas e.g.simplifying a block by reducing the number of pieces.
• share fabric and colour ideas.
• share thoughts on the book and the letters.
• note any errors and welcome you to do the same.  There will be an errata page here so if spot a mistake, please leave a comment there to flag it up.  Laurie Aaron Hird has already been in touch to tell me about one error and I've spotted the odd mislabelling.
• respect the author and the book copyright.

We will not...

• cover every construction method each week which means that we won't pick up every pitfall, errata etc.  The book offers three main methods of piecing: templates, foundation piecing and some rotary cutting.  The rotary cutting is few and far between so don't rely on that as a sole method.   I intend to foundation paper piece all the blocks so my tips will relate to that.
• Break copyright and give measurements of particular pieces, e.g. for rotary cutting, even when those instructions have not been given in the book.  I can give cutting details for foundation paper piecing as these are approximations.
• be teaching the basics of how to foundation paper piece each block.  If you want to use this technique and have no experience of it, many of these blocks are very challenging so start with something easier!  Find many  tutorial links here.  The same applies to the other construction methods.  Tips and tricks yes but step-by-step descriptions for each block could start to threaten author copyright.

On the first post of each month,  I'll post a four week schedule so you know what's coming up for the month ahead.  I have a couple of introductory posts planned:

• Wednesday 2nd September: Fabrics: colours, ideas and shops plus and extra guest post from Melinda of Quirky Granola Girl.
• Wednesday 9th September: Equipment ideas and recommendations

This is an unsponsored quilt along so the shops and recommendations are just personal recommendations and the emphasis is on using fabrics of your choice - you don't have to use 1930s prints-  and keeping your equipment simple.

All go with the blocks from Monday 14th September.   Each Monday I will write a blog post about one block and link to the guest blogger who will write about the other block.   I will use inlinkz at the end of a post so there will be an option for you to add a text link to your block.  I am also going to try a little vlogging to introduce the week's blocks with Periscope.  I plan to do this on Monday afternoon, around 2.30pm GMT each week. Persicope broadcasts are only available for 24 hours after going live.  Read more about Periscope here and here. I am @verykb on Periscope.  If you follow my twitter feed of the same name you will see when a Periscope is going live or download the Periscope app for free and follow me there!

If you are new to quilt-alongs,  the level of participation is up to you. Quilt-alongs are all about providing encouragement to all those taking part and spur each other on.  It gives us a sense of community to a pursuit that most of us do alone.  Sharing your progress is a popular part of a quilt along so this could be on Instagram with the hashtag #fw1930sqal, in the Flickr group or on your own blog.   Find the blog buttons here.  You might make all the blocks, or maybe just a few but we'll be here every Monday until next September with our thoughts on the two blocks from the book!