The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt - October 2016

Can you believe that it has now been 12-months since I started this project! Originally it was only meant to take 12-months for the sew along however the pace was reduced to only 1-block per week by the organizers earlier this year thus adding extra time.  I'm still plodding away.  Instead of sewing my blocks weekly I tend to do them all at once toward the end of the month.  

Here are my Farmer's Wife blocks for October:

04 October - Block 95 - Sylvia

11 October - Block 25 - Crystal

18 October - Block 38 - Golda

25 October - Block 81 - Peony
I noticed that not many participants have tackled Peony.
She doesn't play nicely - she has single & double Y-seams!

The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt - September

Here are my Farmer's Wife blocks for September 2016:

06 September - Block 3 - Alice

13 September - Block 17 - Bride

20 September - Block 19 - Carolina

27 September - Block 87 - Prudence
Prudence did not play nicely, I'm not sure if I will attempt to remake this block or ditch it entirely.  Not my best work.

There are still 25 blocks to go - at one block per week - that's 25 more weeks.... Hmmmmmm, I am undecided whether I will continue with the pace of this sew along or just whip up the rest of the blocks and finish this quilt off.  Each time I debate this I think of all the other flimsies that I have waiting to be turned into quilts and say to myself - "just keep going for now"... we'll just wait & see.  

After pinning all of my blocks to an old blue bed sheet, I have decided to use a solid white to sash all of my blocks. You may have noticed over the last few months I have started to use the more bolder shades of blues & teals in my blocks.  I have used up all of my original lighter blues/teals shades & after selecting the colour of my sashing I have decided not to add any more of the lighter shades to the blocks - they would look too washed out.  I have enough of the lighter coloured blocks to scatter throughout the quilt top. 

Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt - August

Here are my Farmer's Wife blocks for August 2006:

02 August - Block 18 - Carol

09 August - Block 93 - Starlight

16 August - Block 54 - Magnolia

23 August - Block 73 - Mrs. Taft

30 August - Block 89 - Ruby

The Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt Sew Along - July

Here are my Farmer's Wife blocks for July 2006:

05 July - Block 21 - Carrie

12 July - Block 63 - Mollie

19 July - Block 56 - Marcella

27 July - Block 85 - Primrose

The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt - June

Here are my blocks for June 2016:

07 June - Block 27 - Dinah

14 June - Block 7 - Augusta

21 June - Block 33 - Farmer's Wife

28 June - Block 21 - Carrie

The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt Sew Along - May

Here are my Farmer's Wife blocks for May 2016:

03 May - Block 31 - Eva

10 May - Block 50 - Lady

17 May - Block 5 - Anne

24 May - Block 29 - Doris

31 May - Block 48 - Judy

The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt Sew Along - April

At the beginning of April the announcement was made that there would now only be one block released per week.  I think too many people were struggling to keep up with the sew along.  My feelings about this are mixed.  A large part of me is relieved as I was struggling to stay up to date sewing all of my blocks, let alone blogging about my progress.  However, the realisation that it was now going to take more than the initial 12-month investment to complete this quilt frustrates me.  I have already cut back on some of my commitments to try to keep up to date with this sew along and the thought of adding another 3-6 months to this project makes it feel like a never ending task - at this point in time anyway. Just my initial thoughts; who knows, it might actually be a good thing.  

Here are my Farmer's Wife blocks for April 2016:

05 April - Block 32 - Fanny

12 April - Block 97 - Tracy

19 April - Block 72 - Mrs. Smith

25 April - Block 44 - Iris

So far I have made 53 blocks and I still have 46 blocks to go.  The big decision ahead of me is: do I continue to sew these blocks as they are announced each week with the official sew along or should I forge ahead and work at my own pace?

I have now used up most of my fat quarter bundle of solids that I was using for the shades of teal.  I am also starting to think about what colour sashing I will use for this quilt - I feel that a solid white would look too stark, and a solid black would look too heavy.  My current thoughts are to use one of the paler shades of teal - such as the lighter shade shown above in block 97.  Meanwhile I have added to my black and white prints as I slowly use up my smaller scraps and I have also purchased some yardage of the darker teal shades.

The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt Sew Along - March

Hmmmm, that annoying moment when you have written a blog post & thought you programmed it to post some time ago but you hadn't hit the right button so it didn't....  Here's a post you should've got AGES ago *hangs head in shame*

After a short break, the sew along re commenced on the 1st of March.  Here are my Farmer's Wife blocks for March 2016:

01 March - Block 88 - Rosemary

03 March - Block 66 - Mrs. Anderson

08 March - Block 43 - Hope

10 March - Block 15 - Blossom

15 March - Block 6 - April

22 March - Block 30 - Em

29 March - Block 77 - Nellie

29 March - Block 98 - Viola

The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt Sew Along - February

Following on from my last brief post, here are my Farmer's Wife blocks from February 2016:

02 February - Block 61 - May

04 February - Block 37 - Georgia

09 February - Block 69 - Mrs. Keller

11 February - Block 23 - Charlotte

16 February - Block 11 - Bea

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had a break in the sew along until the 1st of March.  This was a great opportunity to catch up. I must admit I am enjoying this sew along but it does take up a lot of time. 

The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt Sew Along - January

I've really fallen behind with my blog posts this year as I have been madly scrambling to keep up with all of my sewing commitments whilst battling bad health.  I'll be honest, I have not had time to read the stories in the book that accompany each of these blocks, but here are my Farmer's Wife Blocks for January 2016:

05 January - Block 47 - Joy

07 January - Block 51 - Lily

12 January - Block 71 - Mrs. Morgan

14 January - Block 53 - Lucy

14 January - Block 67 - Mrs. Brown

19 January - Block 40 - Grandmother

21 January - Block 42 - Heather

26 January - Block 28 - Dolly