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!

The Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt-Along is on!

After some discussion and some very supportive emails, I have decided to go ahead with The Farmer's Wife Quilt-along.  It will be run in a similar spirit to the My Small World QAL, community based, no sponsors but with weekly posts and guest blogger.   There will of course be lots of action on Instagram, hashtag #fw1930sqal.   I've allocated a page here to act as anchor and I'll be blogging every Monday from September for around a year along with a guest blogger hopefully each week so that the pace will be two blocks per week working numerically through the blocks.  

For the blog button, I chose a block from the book called 'Anne.'  I liked the block but I liked the letter even more.  The writer, Ruth, quotes Malcom J McLeod who wrote 'The Culture of Simplicity' and the words resonated with me.

'Live Simply; exact little; give much; sing often; pray always.'

 I am not religious, 'prayer' translates to 'hope' for me but as a maxim for life, these words are hard to beat.  The button in available couple of sizes and you are welcome to grab the larger image above  too.  Here is the 200px size.  To use, copy the html code in the grey box and paste into the gadget option on your blog - chose the html gadget option.  This will give you a picture that when clicked, links to the quilt along page.

<div align="center">
<a href="http://verykerryberry.blogspot.co.uk/p/farmers-wife-1930s-quilt-along.html" rel="nofollow" title="verykerryberry"><img src="http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz244/verykerryberry/FWbutton200.jpg" alt="verykerryberry" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

This is the 125 px size.  

<div align="center">
<a href="http://verykerryberry.blogspot.co.uk/p/farmers-wife-1930s-quilt-along.html" rel="nofollow" title="verykerryberry"><img src="http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz244/verykerryberry/FWbutton125.jpg" alt="verykerryberry" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

You can find the images on Flickr too: 400px, 200px and 125 px.  

As mentioned in my review of Laurie's book, there is another sew-along being organised by Gnome Angel (Angie) Marti Mitchell and The Fat Quarter Shop, plus 25 blogger contributors.  This is not an either/or situation, you can take part in one, the other or both.   Angie will be announcing hers formally on 3rd August.

My plan is for this quilt-along to grow organically.  I already have some guest bloggers lined up and I am contacting all who have been in touch so far.  If you are interested, drop me a line- my email is in the right menu bar and I'll send you the info!  I am feeling much happier now I know I am going ahead with my original plan!  

Care to join me?  You'll need a copy of the book- it should look like this.  It was released in June 2015.

 and some fabric- I'm guessing you've got the last one licked already!

Farmers Wife 1930s by Laurie Aaron Hird : Book Review

Do you remember the Farmer's Wife Sampler book of a few year's back?  It was one of the first online quilt-alongs that I took part in and it certainly introduced me to the delights of a sampler quilt block and the beauty of traditional quilt blocks.  when I heard that Laurie Aaron Hird had written a 1930s version,   The Farmer's Wide 1930s Sampler Quilt with 99 blocks not included in her previous books, I leapt at the chance to review it.

I liked the original Farmer's Wife book but I love this version.  Each traditional block has been renamed as either a woman's name or a noun that relates to a woman- like 'Granny'.  The blocks vary from relatively simple to complex with a fiendish number of pieces to sew together but they are all beautifully presented in a mix of reproduction fabrics and solids.   A range of construction methods are offered.  All the blocks have templates and foundation paper piecing options and there are rotary cut options for pieces that can be easily measured.   Here's a taster selection of some of my favourites from the book. 

The presentation is breathtaking.  I kept this book in the kitchen for the first few days so that every time I sat at the table I could leaf through it with every cup of tea.  The letters from farm women written during the Great Depression of the 1930s are collated from the original 'The Farmer's Wife' magazine - hugely popular in USA at the time - and considering the immense strain on people's lives at that time, they tone is generally optimistic and highlights the positive aspects of life.  Some made me laugh, one in particular from  'Little Irish Annie' recalls how she was born "an ugly duckling" and despite shaking her fists at her 'homely little face' she later learnt that although she was 'short on assets that you can "Cash in on your liabilities"'.  There are a lot more letters than the previous book - one for each of the 99 blocks- which makes for a thicker book and some very interesting reading.  I haven't read Laurie's Pony Club Sampler book but I wonder if this is more like that with it's more complex blocks and extended letter selection?

The layout of the book largely follows the previous Farmer's Wife book.  The letter excerpts and the block photos are presented side by side - each block is numbered for the construction pages that follow later and are they are not in numerical order in this section.  The photos show the blocks on point. I was very taken with 'Jewel',  it's quick to make and it was the first one I sewed up.  All the blocks I sewed for this post were foundation paper pieced using templates from the book CD.  

This block is 'Priscilla' and I did simplify it slightly- you can see extra seam lines in the book photo on the yellow triangles at the centre of the block and they were easy to omit.  It is a more challenging block  than would first appear as it involves Y seams around the centre propellor shape.

'Granny' is a straightforward block and I couldn't resist using a very similar floral to the picture, it's from Lori Holt's Flower Patch range.  You can find some at Pretty Fabrics and Trims as part of an orange repro style bundle. 

The letter excerpts and quilt block photos are followed by the assembly details with the blocks now arranged in alphabetical and numerical order- this also relates to the CD.  In the book you can see the block photos are now shown square on with the construction diagram and template numbers and quantities needed on the left.  Final quilt layouts and instructions are at the back of the book with fabric requirements for Lap Size (32 blocks), Twin Size (84 blocks), Queen Size (99 blocks) and King Size (126 blocks including some repeats).  The setting triangles for the suggested layouts are based on a two triangle templates but I am hoping I can work out rotary cutting measurements for these- she said optimistically.

The big difference with The Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt as compared to the original book is that all the designs are available as foundation paper pieced pattern on the CD- I believe this was the same for the Pony Club book.  All the blocks I printed off took two sheets of paper and I found it easier not to trim the corners off as it can sometimes short-change the seam allowances on the long acute angled pieces (you can see this on my Jewel block).  For those who prefer to hand piece, you can find all the templates on the CD as with the original.  Laurie Aaron Hird hand pieced all the blocks in the book and it is certainly a method to be recommended for dealing with the more complex blocks with many pieces although it does require patience and a long term outlook onwards completion!

I was totally enchanted with this book.   You can see all my torn up envelope bookmarks in it below!   Having enjoyed the My Small World Quilt-Along so much I thought this could be the perfect project to move on to when that completes.  I got in touch with Laurie to check that she was happy with that and she graciously gave me her blessing so I will be starting a Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt-Along #fw1930sqal beginning mid September which gives you time to buy a copy and start planning your fabrics!   I have a lot of floral prints in my stash and I deliberately stayed away from them for #mysmallworldqal but for this quilt I am going to indulge my love of a pretty print to the max!  I found a great selection at Pretty Fabrics and Trims which was a new-to-me shop and you can see my first order below.  Sarah was so helpful and I love the selection bundles she and her mother put together Sarah selects and Penny Picks and I am very happy to have them as blog sponsors, particularly for this project. 

The quilt along will be a long project running over a year.  The blocks are small- finished size 6" square  - and the piecing can be challenging with very small pieces and Y seams.  It will start mid September, just before the My Small Quilt-Along finishes.  To take part, you will need to buy a copy of the book.  I will post here every Monday and my aim is that it will be a collaborative quilt along:  I will share one block a week and a guest bloggers posting either on their blogs or here will share the other.  There will be occasional breaks for big holiday periods e.g. late December.   Posts will involve sharing techniques, fabric choices, the usual stuff and as with My Small Quilt-Along, being respectful to the original text.  It will be on Instagram and other social media using the hashtag #fw1930sqal.     I already know some people are planning to mix blocks from the first book with this book which sounds like a great idea and how far you commit and how many blocks you make are up to you: quilt-alongs are about the fun of sewing together, not compulsion!  The quilt-along will be running alongside a separate yet-to-be-announced Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew-Along which I can only hint at  but  the two projects provide support for Farmer's Wife block makers everywhere!   More info to follow soon, meanwhile, you can find all the publisher's info on the book here:

The Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 Quilt Blocks That Honor Them

By Laurie Aaron Hind

Fons & Porter/F+W; $28.99

http://bit.ly/1PNO0hz

 Copies are available at the usual online sources depending on where you live.  Book Depository sells worldwide.  I also recommend checking out Laurie Aaron Hird's blog where she writes in more details about the original The Farmer's Wife magazine.