We are now two weeks into the year-long 1930s Farmer’s Wife Sew Along hosted by Angie at Gnome Angel and sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop and Marti Michell. I’m a block behind already, but it’s okay. No, seriously, I planned for this. At this point in my life, I have learned to actually PLAN for being behind schedule. (Is that weird or just really resourceful? I haven’t decided yet).
The final layout and block setting I chose/created includes background blocks between the farmer’s wife blocks, so my finished quilt only needs 72 blocks instead of the full 99. This gives me some much needed wiggle room and a whole lot less stress when I’m running “behind”. No worries. This is fun!
I’m having a great time so far experimenting with warm and cool color combinations as I put together the 6″ blocks. Here are the ones I have completed so far. For photos, I’m backing the warm colors with the black fabric in which they will be sashed, and the cool colors in a white/low volume print. I may swap a more grey-silver fabric in as sashing in the final quilt construction. Time will tell.
As you can see, I’ve been inspired by the gorgeous blocks being made by other quilters, especially the fun use of meticulous cutting. While I don’t have many “fussy cut”-able tone on tone fabrics, you can be sure you’ll be seeing more meticulous cutting in future blocks wherever I can make it work. It’s so much fun!
Reading the letters that correspond to each block has been my favorite part. The determined spirit of the farmer’s wives in the 1930s is inspiring and really puts things into perspective. While my block sewing has not been as reflective and relaxing as I imagined (shocker), I am enjoying this journey.
The only requirement for this sew-along is that you have the book by Laurie Aaron Hird, since the block measurements, directions, and templates are all included only in the book. There is also now an ebook available, which makes it super easy to jump right in.
I’m linking up with Angie’s Farmer’s Wife 1930 Sew Along Link up, week 2. I encourage you to hop over and see all of the gorgeously diverse blocks that have been made so far. It’s amazing how each person’s personal style and tastes can be put into the very same block! You can also visit the extremely active and growing Facebook group, which is now over 4,000 strong! I’m looking forward to making more of these blocks, and reading more inspiring reflections by the farmer’s wives of the 1930s.
Night Quilter 
I really love how you are carefully planning and cutting out for each block. Meticulous and beautiful!
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Love the fussy cuts! Really lovely! I’ve been debating jumping in on this but I’m really not sure still. Time commitment is tough for me! I’ve had the book for ages though so maybe this will be the kick in the pants I need?
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I’ve finally figured out how you get so much done. You schedule in being behind! Genius!
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You are off to a lovely start. I haven’t talked myself into joining this one. (ha! I’ve never joined any sew along!) There’s still (a tiny bit of) time, right? sigh. I really don’t have any time in my sewing budget right now. I’m so far behind the game, I’m still cutting out the templates for the 1920s book… Speaking of the templates, how many (if any) would you say are interchangeable with the previous book’s?
p.s. Happy 4 months of Finn 🙂
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Hi Tracy! I don’t have the 1920s book, so I can’t officially say how many of the templates are interchangeable. Do you mean the templates from the book itself, or do you have the Marti Michell templates that coordinate? I do know that from what others are saying, there are no block overlaps between the 1920 and 1930 books. No two blocks are the same. It sounds like 1930s Farmer’s Wives were completely different than the 1920s versions 😉 LOL! This is my first sew along, and so far I’m still having fun!! (then again, we are 2 weeks in, and I planned for being behind!). You could always do the same…?
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This is going to look so great! And I think it’s ingenious that you have built-in time for getting behind. I think it’s resourceful.
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I love how you are fussy cutting sections as appropriate. The rabbits are obviously cute, but how you have lined up the wavy lines in #16 takes an ordinary block and makes it extraordinary.
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Okay. I have studiously avoided all things Farmer’s Wife, but now you’ve got me interested. This looks like fun and I’m going to enjoy reading about your progress. Would you like me to go through my stash and see if there’s anything tone on tone fussy cut-able? I’d happily send it. And one is not behind if they plan for it. *elbow bump*
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Great plan – love the bunny rabbits!
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I love #14! You use such beautiful fabrics and have a great eye for color and detail. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Beautiful blocks, Kitty! I love the design you’ve chosen for your finished quilt. It is so striking, and the fact that it gives you wiggle room is even better. I don’t know how you manage to get so much done…when my boys were little I hardly sewed at all! Just the thought of getting out my sewing machine and setting things up was exhausting 🙂
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Especially love your Betty block!
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