When Carla from
Lollyquiltz and I decided to do the
Farmer's Wife quiltalong together, we tossed around a couple of different ideas on what would work the best for each of us. We finally landed on the idea of just starting with the first letter in the book and go through the book sequentially, doing the two blocks pictured with each letter. I had started reading the letters and found them fascinating so it seemed like a good idea, and the blocks would essentially already be chosen for us.
6" blocks. I thought, "how tough could it be?" I've been making quilt blocks for over fifteen years. I started with Cut Glass Dish. Wow. 51 pieces in a 6" block.
I looked at all those 1" HSTs and tried to decide the best way to achieve some accuracy. I finally decided to make them oversize and cut them down to 1 1/2 inches unfinished. That turned out to be a good idea, for me at least.
The second block, Kitchen Woodbox, looked like a snap compared to Cut Glass Dish. But I'm here at Lakeview with a computer but no printer, and for some dumb reason, I didn't print out the template before coming up here. So I kind of had to wing it. And the sun had gone down so the picture is taken in a cabin with really bad light. (Hey, Lakeview Cottages has an electrical system from about c. 1917 so we use 60w bulbs). Now that I think of it, these cottages are nearly the same age as the
Farmer's Wife challenge.
I'll be making all my blocks using Kona snow and Kaffe Fassett shot cottons.
The first letter, "Living in God's Open Air," really resonated with me, because this was the view from my porch as I thought about the letter written all those years ago.
I chose the colors for my first two blocks based on the colors I saw today in God's open air, the blue of the water, the green and brown of all the beautiful trees surrounding the cabins, and even the brown and green of the cabins themselves. It is all so beautiful. To answer the question, "Would you have your daughter marry a farmer," the writer says," I would have her marry a farmer because there she has the chance of living in God's open air, of living a pure life, away from the meanness of a rural town..." That's what I was feeling today, the beauty of living in God's open air.
Check out Lollyquiltz and see how Carla interpreted these same two blocks.
