Farmer's Wife Quilt; The Basket Blocks

Ok, so far, so good.   Blocks 3 & 4 are completed and I love the way they are turning out.    Each block for the quilt has different templates that need to be traced and then cut out of template plastic.  After that, choosing the perfect fabric for each block is so much fun for me.   These blocks take a bit of time to put together, despite the fact that they are only 6-1/2" square.

Here are blocks number 3 & 4:

The block on the left is simply called a Basket block, and the one on the right is called Basket Weave.  The handle on the Basket needed to be hand appliqued in place using a narrow bias strip of fabric, which was actually fun to do.   Sometimes it's nice to sit still and do a little hand sewing.

Stay tuned for more,
Debbie

The Farmer's Wife Quilt

Sometimes I am waaaay behind the curve when it comes to current trends.   Apparently, I have been hiding in a hole because every quilter I talk to knows about The Farmer's Wife Quilt book.   About a year ago, I saw the book in my favorite quilt store....but it had already been out in the stores for several years. 

An interesting part of the book is a compilation of letters written by farm wives who entered a contest back in 1922.   The popular magazine, The Farmer's Wife, offered several cash prizes for the best answers to this question:  "If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you, in light of your own experience, want her to marry a farmer?".   Over seven thousand readers responded and 94 percent of farm wives stated that they would, indeed, want their daughter to marry a farmer.

The Farmer's Wife Quilt book not only has included the best answers to this question but it also has 111 six-inch quilt blocks with instructions  for piecing the blocks on an accompanying CD.   The blocks in the book are a treasure trove of quilting history and aptly capture the time period of the 1920's.    Originally, when the book caught my eye I bought it for my friend, Barb, a fellow quilter who lives on 22 acres in northern Alabama and is "farming" her little slice of heaven on earth.   It wasn't until 4 months ago that I broke down and bought a copy of the book for myself.

The colors of the blocks in the book are more primitive and darker in tone, ie: browns, greyed blues and creams.   My color choices tend to be more vibrant so I decided to break into my stash of 1930's fabrics with the reds, pinks, teals and soft greens.    I'm so glad I choose those fabrics to make my quilt.   Because there are so many different blocks, my goal is to try and make 2 blocks per week for the next year so that maybe I will have all the blocks necessary to complete a quilt by next Spring.  

So for the next year, my challenge to myself is to try and sew and then post on this blog the 2 blocks I've made for that week.   Here goes:
Block 1 is called Attic Windows and is on the left and block 2 is Autumn Tints and is on the right.

As you can see, these are not your Grandma's browns and blues......these are happy colors!!!   I hope you'll enjoy following along as I attempt to make all 111 blocks.

See you next week,
Debbie