Farmer's Wife & October finishes

An even dozen... these are the Farmer's Wife sew along blocks that were assigned for the month of October. Here were this weeks blocks....

GRANNY - her DIL passed away leaving her with 6 small grandchildren to care for. In the book, the block is created with 4 split seams. I decided to make mine like the traditional "grannies choice" block.

JENNY - her children loved to help her with the garden and chickens so she could spend time each evening playing with them.

My final project for October was completing the 2nd block for my guild's Block of the Month Sampler. October's block was Card Trick.

Still playing around with setting options for this quilt, but so far I like the scrappy feel of these blocks.

Wishing everyone a festive end to October!

Farmer's Wife - week 4

It was a bonus week with 3 block assignments instead of 2.
All of these blocks were rotary cut and machine stitched.

KATHERINE - from iron clad shoes to roses, working hard for later rewards.

OLD MAID - being a Happy Homemaker.

SUSANNAH - teaching her children to earn what they buy.

Wishing you all a beautiful October weekend.

every quilt tells a story...

Farmer's Wife week 3

I barely eeked out my 2nd block assignment before the close of this week.
The first assigned block required templates and Y seam construction.
I could have found a simpler way to sew it, but I chose to stick with traditional block assembly. (this time).

BELLE, here is my interpretation of Belle with her families basket lunch.
I really enjoyed her story of Family fellowship.

Next was CORAL. Her story made me smile as I envisioned her picking wildflowers around the farm with her 2 little toddlers.

2 more wonderful letters to read this week!
I'm finding them all so endearing and love connecting them with the blocks I'm sewing.

every quilt tells a story......

October Treat blocks

It feels wonderful to have these little blocks completed a bit early!
The purple block was so quick to stitch, definitely the easiest of all the blocks so far.

Though tempted to sew another, more projects are piling up waiting their turn.

every quilt tells a story....

Farmer's Wife week 2

I've made 3 blocks this week for the Farmer's Wife sew along.

AUNT - (approaching life one day at a time)
I chose a print of sun & stars for my conversation fabric.

BETTY (and her love of music)

CAROLINE (appreciating everyday miracles from heaven)
I chose snowflakes for my conversation fabric

I find the stories written by these Farm Wives SO heartfelt and inspiring.
For me, they provide a greater purpose to sewing these blocks and I'm very pleased I decided to join this sew along.

every quilt tells a story...

October Previews...

It's the 2nd of October, the start to a new month of activities.
Here is a preview of my first Dutch Treat block for October.
The block is called Cottage and as you can see it's still under construction.
I've had numerous requests to show /explain how I am making these little blocks.
I trace the design on the background fabric, lay it on top of my print fabric and baste the 2 layers together with thread.

Next, I will cut away the background to reveal the image/print fabric.
I needle turn the edges under along my drawn lines. Lately I prefer marking the fabric lightly with a mechanical pencil, but the lines don't show up well in pictures. So here I'm using a wash away pen.

My 2nd activity for the month is of course the Botanical Album Sew Along.
Here is a preview of my 3 Pineapple blocks.

Only 1 block is posted each month, but there are 3 pineapple blocks in the quilt.
Because I'm working on 2 quilts, I've decided to get all of my French Vintage version completed now. You can see the full versions of these over at the SVBAQ Sew Along blog.

every quilt tells a story...