Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt - 4

I have quite a few blocks for this post, since I haven't posted lately and have been very busy. I'm loving this project - it's not tedious or repetitive like some quilting can be - each turn of the page brings a new block with a different set of components. I'm more than halfway through the book now - and I've decided I'll go ahead and do them all, and end up with either two lap quilts or one queen-sized quilt.

Block #30 - End of Day

Block #38 - Four Winds

Block #40 - Friendship Block

Block #41 - Friendship Star

Block #42 - Fruit Basket

Block #43 - Garden Path

Block #44 - Gentleman's Fancy

Block #45 - Grape Basket

Block #46 - Hill & Valley

Block #47 - Homemaker

Block #48 - Homeward Bound

Block #49 - Honeycomb

Block #50 - Honey's Choice

Block #51 - Hovering Birds

Block #52 - Hovering Hawks

Block #53 - Jackknife

Block #54 - Kitchen Woodbox

Block #55 - Linoleum

Block #56 - Maple Leaf

Block #57 - Morning

Block #58 - Mother's Dream

Block #59 - Night & Day

Block #60 - Noon & Light

Block #61 - Northern Lights

Block #62 - Old Windmill

Block #63 - Ozark Maple Leaf

Block #64 - Peace & Plenty

Block #66 - Periwinkle

Block #67 - Pine Tree

Block #69 - Practical Orchard

Block #70 - Prairie Queen

My Newest "Baby"

This arrived today - a Singer 99K Hand Crank machine. It was made in Clydebank, Scotland, in 1936. It's in pristine condition, ready to sew right out of the box.

The reason I'm so thrilled to get this is because I can now sew when we're camped at places that have no electricity.  This past summer we spent the money to have hookups everywhere we went, but saw several prime locations we want to return to that are either campgrounds without hookups, or are boondocking locations (places where you can park your RV/trailer and camp for free). With my new machine, I can send Don off to fish and I can still sew!  This one works much like my Featherweight - I'm just going to have to get used to not pushing a foot pedal.

Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt - 3

I have a lot of blocks finished for this post - I've done quite a few on the weekends, and at least one every night this week (except for Wednesday).  I've been reducing my scrap stash - when I have less than a fat quarter, it gets used for this project.  When it gets down to bits, I make 1.5" squares for my Leaders and Enders quilt and put the rest in a scrap bag for yet another project. 

Using templates is not as hard as I thought it would be - most of these blocks call for set sizes of squares and rectangles, and if there's an odd-shaped piece there's a template. I've got all my templates in a notebook - I use business card, baseball card, and CD clear storage pages. 

#17 - Cats and Mice

#18 - Century of Progress

#23 - Country Farm

#24 - Country Path

#25 - Cups and Saucers

#26 - Cut Glass Dish

# 27 - Darting Birds

#28 - Duck and Ducklings

#29 - Economy

#31 - Evening Star

#32 - Farmer's Daughter

#34 - Flock

#35 - Flower Basket

#36 - Flower Garden Path

#38 - Four Winds

#39 - Friendship

#30 - End of Day

More blocks for Don's quilt

Don's quilt is quickly taking shape, as September was my month in my Bee Obsessed group to receive blocks. I told everyone to make them in all shades of brown, so I could add them to the ones I had already made. In addition, I received a few from my Quilters' Message Board swap that could go on the quilt, too.

from Marcie

from Laurie

From Kimmie

from Kathy

from Terrie

from Terrie

Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt - 2

Somewhere in this house is my camera battery charger and an extra battery.  I have searched high and low and cannot find it.  Meanwhile, the battery in the camera as well as the other spare both finally petered out, so I had to go to Radio Shack to get a new charger.  I'm back in business, with pictures to post.

Here are some more blocks from the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book:

Block #12 - Broken Sugar Bowl

Block #13 Buckwheat

Block #14 - Butterfly at the Crossroads

Block #22 - Corn & Beans

Block #15 - Buzzard's Roost

Block #16 - Calico Puzzle

Block #19 - Checkerboard

Block #20 - Churn Dash

Block #16 - Calico Puzzle

I must be losing it - I just realized I did 2 of #16 - and never noticed until just now.  Weird.

Is anyone else not happy with the new Blogger picture loader? I liked the old one - where I could load them all at once, and select them as I put them into my post. I'm going to have to go investigate and see what's up. This new way drove me nuts!

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt - 1

When I initially saw the two Civil War quilt books, I was intrigued, but thought I had plenty to do already - so I didn't buy them.  Then I saw this one, published in 2009, and HAD to have it.  It's called The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt, and has 111 different 6" blocks.  What's different (or new) for me is the fact that the blocks are made with templates.  I really was put off by the templates - until I discovered that one of the members of the quilt-along-group on the Quilters' Message Board is going to the trouble to write out cutting directions and sizes for each block.  There are many blocks where we'll be able to use her rotary cutting directions instead of the templates.

The original quilt featured in the books is made with subdued fabrics that were contemporary to the early 1920s - subdued darks and lights with plenty of florals.  In creating my blocks, I decided to make it scrappy - and am doing my upmost best to draw primarily from my scrap box. 

Here are the first 11 blocks, all of which I finished this past weekend while Don was tuna fishing.

Block 1 - Attic Windows

Block 2 - Autumn Tints

Block 3 - Basket

Block 4 - Basket Weave

Block 5 - Bat Wing

Block 6 - Big Dipper

Block 7 - Birds in the Air

Block 8 - Bouquet

Block 9 - Box

Block 10 - Bowtie

Block 11 - Broken Dishes

(For Broken Dishes, the pattern called for only 2 colors - light and dark.  However, I had some HSTs that I needed to use up, hence the multi-colored block.)