Farmer's Wife QAL Blocks 15 & 16: Blossom and Bonnie

We're a couple of months into the Farmer's Wife 1930s QAL now- you can still join, all the previous posts can be found here.  Erica of Crafty Blossom/CB Handmade is guest posting for/ block 15, Blossom (p. 174, letter p.32) and I can't wait to see her fabric choices, she has such a great eye for delicate prints and colours.  Here's mine:

Fabric credits:

Kona Citrus

Brown 1930s repro- maybe Darlene Zimmermann?   It was from Sew and Quilt but now sold out. If you know leave a comment!

Purple 1930s repro- from Pretty Fabrics & Trims but now sold out.

Block 18 is Bonnie (p.175, letter p.136) or you might also know it as Scot's Plaid.  I remember including this block in 500 Quilt Blocks.  There is something rather satisfying about such a simple but effective block and it definitely suits being on point.  I followed the rotary cutting measurements for this block and pieced it in the standard way.  Like Becky, it is another opportunity for an exercise in colour and pattern composition.

  

Fabric credits:

Pink and Green florals- gift from Chase, neither of us know the manufacturer, such pretty 1930s colours though!

Kokka Lighthearted Plaid in Mustard by Ayumi Mills

The accompanying letter is rather stirring stuff.  I am not religious but I do heed the advice to "...look for the good side...".  My default setting can be 'glass half-empty' rather than 'half-full' and I talk myself out of negative thought patterns on a daily basis.  As I walk to work, I ignore the rubbish falling out of the bins or the grey weather and instead I deliberately listen out for something pleasant- often there are a lot of birds amongst the grumble of buses driving past.- or try to find colours to admire along the way.  It sounds so corny but positive thinking, even if you are forcing yourself to do so, is good for you .  I avoid negativity too- films, books, excessive news coverage- I shut them all out.  Sometimes that's hard, I love politics and I can be a news junkie, but some days it's better not to know everything that's going on in the world or be following the rather skewed agenda of news' organisations.  UK people might be familiar with Russell Howard's Good News, he ends his irreverent programme with a feel-good story, 'It's not all Doom and Gloom', stories designed to make you cry and smile, like these, more of that please.

• Use the hashtags  Don't forget to use #fw1930sqal on Instagram and the Flickr group if you like to share there.  
• For individual blocks, you can use #blossomblock and #bonnieblock on Instagram. You can also use the Fat Quarter shop hash tags, #fw15blossom,  #fw16bonnie.   I'm using both hashtag systems.
• You can copy and paste links to any blog posts you do on these blocks in the comments and I love to visit and take a look. 
• See you on Periscope broadcast at 2.30pm today UK time.  Lots of people joined last week and made it all great fun.  Find me at periscope.tv/@verykb and it'll be available for 24 hours to replay before it disappears! Link will be in my twitter feed @verykb and I'll post on Instagram and twitter about 15 minutes before it does out.  I think I'll talk about fabrics and colour, I feel like my quilt colours are starting to define themselves now.

Please note:  I have linked to my sponsors on items bought through them and elsewhere for anything that has come from other shops.

You can join the quilt-along at any time, all the posts are here for you to catch up with.  Back next Monday with Tiffany from East Dakota Quilter and blocks 17 and 18.   

Farmer's Wife 1930s Fabric Ideas: Melinda from Quirky Granola Girl shares her quilt

When I was preparing the post about fabric for the 1930s Farmer's Wife quilt along, I knew I wanted to ask Melinda of Quirky Granola Girl to share a few of her pictures from the first Farmer's Wife 1920s Sampler quilt and the Pony Club book.  She has a super eye for colour and puts together lively combinations.  I remember her rejecting blocks and remaking them in different fabrics and totally understood that attention to detail.  You can find Melinda's blog here, on Instagram here and on Flickr here.  She is also a guest blogger for the 1930s quilt- along.  Enjoy, you are in for a treat!

Hi All!

Kerry asked me to share a few pictures and talk about my Farmer's Wife Sampler obsession passion.
Here is a picture of my first Farmer's Wife Sampler as a quilt top.

I had never made a sampler before and once I started, I was addicted.  I love how each block is it's own challenge, how a single block feels like a finished project and how I never get bored making them.

For my first Farmer's Wife Sampler, I used my favorite fabrics in my stash (it has 354 different fabrics in it).  When designing fabric combinations, I strived for color contrast, value contrast, different print scales and differing design styles.  My theory is when I put all of the work into piecing these blocks, I want each little triangle and square to shine.  I even went so far as to remake 14 blocks that looked muddy to my eye and I don't regret it a bit. 

This block has 30's repros, low volume background and a bright, modern graphic print to make the square in the block stand out.

Here is a block with a Japanese sewing print paired with a crosshatch.

This block shows two florals but vastly different colors, tones and scales.

When I looked at my fabrics, I also chose the largest scale fabrics that I *had* to include and then looked through the blocks to match them up to the right pattern.  This one combines a novelty print with a graphic print.

I'm hand quilting that sampler so I can enjoy each block all over again.

For my Farmer's Wife Pony Club Sampler, I decided to use all Anna Maria Horner fabrics plus solids.  That has been an all new challenge since AMH uses a lot of bright colors, many florals, often large scale and very few low volume prints.  Here is a picture of four of my blocks.  I hope they show ways to achieve contrast in color, tone, scale and print style even with one designer's fabrics.

I don't know what my fabric theme will be for my Farmer's Wife 1930's sampler.  I'm considering a focus on more modern graphic prints and stripes.  What fabrics are you thinking of?

Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt-along: Fabric Ideas

Choosing the fabrics for a project has to be one of my favourite tasks and when it's for a large sampler quilt made of single blocks, each block as a potential canvas, I get very excited!  For the Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt-along the obvious choice is vintage fabrics or repros.  I do have some very old vintage from around this period but only in the form of these fan blades that a kind flickr swapper traded with me several years back. 

So instead I'm turning to a mix of my stash and buying in some extra fat quarters.  I did originally think I would use some of my vintage collection but the reality is that in a well used quilt, which I hope this one will one day become, they don't wear as well as new fabrics. 

As I start to pull fabrics for a quilt, sometimes little groupings emerge like this one.  Great colour match but maybe more suited for another project: the navy is very intense as is the deep orange, the flowers are also rather spread out and this would need to be considered when cutting out small pieces.

Pattern scale is an important factor for these 6 inch blocks.  Some of the blocks can involve 50, 60, 70 and more pattern pieces.  Some large designs or spaced out prints can get lost when cut so small.   Larger designs could still work and provide a good sense of contrast but I think I will only use these occasionally.  Many 1930s reproduction prints have the advantage of being small scale designs and either, non-directional with tossed designs that work in any direction or four-way so they can rotate in 90 degree increments and look the same.  These are great for foundation paper piecing, especially the tossed prints as you won't have to worry about directional placement and there's less wastage. 

I have a mix of modern prints influenced by vintage designed in my stash that I think will work in this quilt.  I find just 1930s repro can be a little too sweet for my taste and these balance that out.  Contrast is key when choosing fabrics for a block: there needs to be a sufficient harmony between the colours and prints but also a point of difference, something that creates a little tension, only then does a block shine!

I did pull a few small scale geometric prints too- too many floras can lack contrast and look busy;  geometrics give extra dimension to a block and lead the eye in particular directions.   I don't intend to break new ground with my fabric choices, like the book, I'll be adding a lot of solids too. Many repro prints are rather dense and solids create space and heighten colour choices. 

Heather Ross's new Tiger Lily collection has a great mix of prints and colours that would combine with 1930s repros.    These were a recent purchase from Eternal Maker, the top print is Hand Picked in Ecru by Anna Maria Horner.  I'm planning to add this in too!

You could make this quilt in any fabric combination- solids, modern prints, monochrome but I know many of you are inspired by the 1930s repro fabrics in the book,  so where to buy?  Here are some ideas:

UK/EU:
Sarah and Penny at Pretty Fabrics and Trims have a big selection of repro and vintage inspired prints.  They also specialise in putting mini selections together in bundles and these come in different cuts, fat quarters and smaller.   They are one of my blog sponsors so many of the 1930s repro fabrics in these pics are from their shop.

Jessie at Sew and Quilt is passionate about 1930s fabrics.  She has a great selection of 1930s repros and has been putting a Farmer's Wife 1930s quilt kit together for those who prefer that approach.  She also stocks hand sewing equipment for those who want to hand piece or English Paper Piece their blocks.

Tiina at Tikki Patchwork stocks a wonderful selection of repro prints both as yardage and bundles online and at her shop in Kew, London.

USA:
I don't buy much fabrics from USA these days so many of you may have ideas you'd like to add in the comments to these suggestions.

Connecting Threads have their own range of in house repro fabrics like 'Line Dried' as well as stocking other well known quilting brands- Michael Miller, Cotton+Steel etc.

WestwoodAcres 
I saw a lovely bundle on Instagram that Amanda had put together with the Farmer's Wife 1930s sampler quilt in mind and she kindly sent me a photo to include:

Here's the link to this bundle as fat quarters or fat eighths as well as the Farmer's Wife 1930s book.

You may be lucky enough to have a local quilt shop with a great repro selection.  Otherwise, ebay or Etsy and searching under 1930s repro/reproduction or Aunt Grace fabrics will give you a huge number to choose from.  Please add suggestions from your country in the comments.

Lots of people got in touch with me when I first announced the quilt along including many who had made a quilt from the Earlier 1920s book.  Patty of A Stitch in Time used a limited colour palette to great effect- red/aqua/grey/white- see the results here, stunning!  I know a few people have mentioned to me that they'd like to make the 1930s blocks in just a few colours and Patty's quilt shows how effective that can be.   Melinda of Quirky Granola girl has magic touch when it comes to combining  fabrics.  She is thoughtful in her choices and the results are often unexpected and all the more exciting for it.  When I asked if she would like to share a few of her original Farmer's Wife and Pony club blocks, she wrote a wonderful post that I am privileged to host here, I will post it after this for you to drool over!  She discusses how she puts different fabrics together and in particular how she uses contrast in colour, tone, scale and print.  It is an informative read.

I'll be back next Wednesday with a few suggestions for tools and equipment for different construction methods.  Basic tools are all you really need but there are a few other inexpensive bits and pieces that may make life easier.  Don't forget the hashtag #fw1930sqal and you are welcome to tag me on Instagram for your Farmer's Wife pictures!  I'm @verykerryberry on there.

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!

Cataloguing Kona Solids

I plan to use a lot of Kona solid fabrics in my Farmers Wife 1930s quilt-along blocks and when I looked at the piles of fat quarters and half yard I had piled in to a drawer I realised I needed a system.  I do have an old Kona card from years back - many new colours have been introduced since then - they are a bit of an investment but there's no denying they are also very useful.  Plush Addict currently have one on offer if you are looking...

Many fabric shops will add an identifying sticker label to solid fabrics which is a great help.   I don't like to leave these on the fabric though for fear of a sticky mark so I write the colour name on the selvedge at both ends using a Pigma Micron fine permanent maker.  When I use the fabric, I try and keep this bit of selvedge attached.

To stop myself buying duplicates, I started a spreadsheet in XL with the official colour name, my own description if needed, how much I had, plus a column at the end to tick if I wanted more.

It makes me feel organised in an otherwise slightly chaotic crafty space!  

Thank you for the amazing response to the #fw1930sqal announcement.  I have a lovely group of guest bloggers who will inspire you with their blocks and share their different skills, techniques and fabric choices.  You do not need to use 1930s style fabrics -  you can use whatever you like!  If you have an a  system for cataloguing your solid fabrics, please share!

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!