The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 102 Whirlpool

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 102 Whirlpool

So glad to be making quiet progress with these blocks.  This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 102 Whirlpool. It looks like a traditional block, so I expect it also has some other names - do you know of any?  

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 100 Weathervane

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 100 Weathervane

As well as being a the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 100 Weathervane, this is a traditional block which you may find elsewhere.  My local quilt group had a challenge 'WEATHER' recently and this was the only idea I came up with, but with my slow stitching, it never came to fruition. I will bank it for a future group challenge.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 105 Goose Chase

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 105 Goose Chase

Don't look too closely at this one. The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 105 Goose Chase at this stage is a bit distorted and I am relying on the sashing / neighbouring block to tame it in submission.  I often get queries about this problem with regard to English paper piecing.  As I said, I hope the neighbouring piece will bring it back, then once the paper is removed the fabric will relax a bit, and finally the wadding and the quilting will fill it out.  That's the plan, but meanwhile I will press on with the remaining blocks.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 93 Swallow

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 93 Swallow

Thank goodness for Strictly Come Dancing - I have finally found a regular slot each week to get some of these blocks done. This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 93 Swallow - yeah I guess I can just about see a swallow in that block - what do you think?
Linking with Slow Stitching Sunday

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 103 Whirlwind

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 103 Whirlwind

So many of these Farmer's Wife blocks have similar names, it is easy to confuse them.  This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 103 Whirlwind, 102 is Whirlpool, then there is 105 Wild Goose Chase and 104 Wild Geese. I think my chart for tracking my progress is correct, but I am ready for any nasty surprises at the end! 

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 110 Wood Lily

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 110 Wood Lily

I enjoyed this Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 110 Wood Lily, mainly because it had lots of pieces in it which makes for more interesting fabric combinations and a more challenging block to piece.  In total I think there are 57 pieces in this 4.5" block.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 78 Shooting Star (front and back)

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 78 Shooting Star

For some reason this block took me ages to get together. It wasn't difficult, it just seemed to be the victim of my lack of time.  This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 78 Shooting Star and for a treat I have included a picture of both  the front and the back for you.  As well as the English Paper Piecing technique, it shows you how I code each piece and once done I put the block number on for reference.  I hope you are having a happy stitching day!

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 78 Shooting Star

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 92 Streak of Lightening

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 92 Streak of Lightening

A much needed injection of time has been put towards my Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) in the past few weeks, thanks to a trip to France and plenty of stitching time in the car.
This is The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  block 92 Streak of Lightening.  I think this is quite a well known traditional quilt block. Naturally, I have done it by hand using English Paper Piecing and you can still see the tacking stitches still in place.  I was just pleased to have all the writing on the feature fabric in the same direction!
#Farmerswifequilt

Great Northern Quilt Show, Harrogate 2019 - Some Scraps are Bigger Than Others

'Some Scraps are Bigger Than Others' Quilt made by Frances Meredith

It is a busy weekend for quilt shows this weekend.  Whilst my Dear Jane has been having success at the 2019 West Country Quilt and Textile Show, my latest quilt, 'Some Scraps are Bigger Than Others' has travelled up to Harrogate to the 2019 Great Northern Quilt Show.  I am pleased to report that it has received a Judges Choice Award.  This quilt is made up of small half square triangles, using up the bucket of scrap fabrics which I have accumulated over the past few years - a very satisfying quilt to have.

Dear Jane Quilt - West Country Quilt and Textile Show 2019, UK - Best Piecing

'Dear Jane' quilt made by Frances Meredith

My Dear Jane quilt has been out and about again, this time to the West Country Quilt and Textile Show 2019.  I am pleased to say that it won a rosette for 'Best Piecing'.  It was lovely to chat to those of you who are in the middle of your Dear Jane journey - keep going, it will be worth it!

'Dear Jane' quilt made by Frances Meredith

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 73 Rainbow Flowers visits Scotland

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 73 Rainbow Flowers visits Scotland

Following on from my last post, here is another Farmer's Wife Quilt block which was completed on my recent trip to Scotland. Here is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 73 Rainbow Flowers visiting a remote beach on a beach in North Uist, one of the Western Isles of Scotland. It has to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in the world.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 73 Rainbow Flowers visits Scotland

I chose this block to do while travelling in the car - just 7 pieces. A nice quick win.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 85 Square Dance visits Scotland

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 85 Square Dance

Fabadashery has been on tour again and the Farmer's Wife Quilt blocks joined me as I travelled to the Western Isles of Scotland.  Here is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 85 Square Dance at the end of the Hebridean Way at the Butt of Lewis Lighthouse.

Western Isles of Scotland - Isle of Lewis and Harris

It is a long car journey up to Scotland and the most northerly place I have ever been on the planet, but there is still further to go on a future trip.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 85 Square Dance

I only had one charm square of the centre fabric, so it had to be put to good use with a fussy cut middle and some clever use of striped fabric on the sides. 

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 104 Wild Geese

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 104 Wild Geese

After all the excitement of last week, I am back to the routine and have managed to finish a little block, the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 104 Wild Geese/  There are 29 pieces in this little block, but it seems to have taken me a while to get the together.

2017 Rainbow Scrappy Challenge

'Jane's Pinwheel' Quilt  62" x 62"

It is a long time since I linked up to the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge.  When I started this in January 2017 I was struggling to keep up.  The top was finally completed in January 2018 after a serious attack on it over the Christmas period, but since then it has been lingering around waiting for me to quilt it.  Before I had decided how I would quilt it I forced the issue by entering it into the 2019 Quilt UK, Malvern Show which is on this weekend.

'Jane's Pinwheel' Quilt  62" x 62"

So last weekend I was quilting it on my longarm quilting machine, in between my customer quilts.  I stitched in EVERY ditch and then added a simple orange peel design.  I wanted the piecing to be the focus, not the quilting.  It has made a dent into the Kim Diehl fabrics left over from my Dear Jane quilt, but there are plenty more to come out of that bag.
Linking to So Scrappy Saturday

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 109 Windows

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 109 Windows

With the stitching of the Farmer's Wife quilt up and running again I was pleased to notice that I have reached 400 Followers to this blog - welcome Barbara Woods!
This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 109 Windows.  It used up the last of this patterned fabric I had and now I look at the photo, it is looking slightly distorted.  No fear. It will be forced into shape when the time comes.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 59 Night and Day

 The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 59 Night and Day

Here is the first  of the blocks from the recent prep session, Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 59 Night and Day.  It reminds me of the 1952 Festival of Britain logo.  I think this is the only bit of this green I have left, so pleased to squeeze it into this block.

April 2019 Farmer's Wife Progress

Farmer's Wife Quilt - Prepping English Paper Piecing

As anticipated, the Easter break gave my a small slot of time to prep the next set of Farmer's Wife blocks.  This process usually pulling every Fig Tree fabric that I have out onto a table, whilst I decide the colour combinations of each block, so I try to do it in one blco of time to minimise the disruption.  I have scanned all of them into Electric Quilt 8, so I do a lot of designing in that programme.  The good news is that I have cut out and bagged up all the remaiing blocks and they are all ready and waiting for the little moments that I have for English Paper Piecing.

Farmer's Wife Quilt - Prepping English Paper Piecing

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 74 Ribbons

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 74 Ribbons

This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 74 Ribbons. I only had limited amounts of the white patterned fabrics, so some of the seams are at the limit.
I am reaching a tricky part of this quilt - I have run out of prepped blocks to do.  Let's hope the Easter break allows some time for designing and cutting.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 38 Four Winds

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 38 Four Winds

Back in the day when I was working on my Nearly Insane quilt, I had worked out that on a 6" block, 100 pieces was just about right to keep it interesting and enough of a challenge. This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 38 Four Winds.  This block has at least 50 pieces in it  but is only 4" square. It has kept me quiet for several days.

Suzi the cat on the window sill

Meanwhile, there is no rest for the wicked.  Suzi has had to abandon the comfort of her bed for a permanent station on the window sill. The pigeons just won't let up.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 54 Kitchen Woodbox

 The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 54 Kitchen Woodbox

Recently, I seem to be rattling through these Farmer's Wife blocks. This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 54 Kitchen Woodbox.  The outer corners were originally yellow, like the centre, but I had a change of heart and used the plain pink moda solid.

Suzi the cat on the Allitare quilt

With regards to the spring time pigeon activity, Suzi has at least found a comfy spot to keep an eye on them, but that doesn't leave much time for snoozing.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 51 Hovering Birds

 The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 51 Hovering Birds

It is just about warm enough to do my photoshoot outside.  Everything is starting to flourish and spring is on its way. This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 51 Hovering Birds. Certainly the birds are all very busy at the moment and I have caught Suzi napping on the job, whilst she keeps check in the pigeons.

Suzi the cat

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 28 Duck and Ducklings

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 28 Duck and Ducklings

This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 28 Duck and Ducklings. I am trying to add a bit of the very dark pink / red fabric in little bits across the quilt, so really pleased to fit in the centre square and to fussy cut the stripes.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 69 Practical Orchard

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 69 Practical Orchard

Yes, this is just a nine-patch, but look how I fussy cut the cross-hatch fabric. This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 69 Practical Orchard.  With all these orchards, no wonder they needed so many baskets.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 57 Morning

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 57 Morning

This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 57 Morning, which put on point looks very similar to Block 24, Country Path . In fact they all seem to be a variation on a theme.  The more I do these sampler quilts, the more I want to design one of my own ....

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 45 Grape Basket

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 45 Grape Basket

This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 45 Grape Basket. There are lots of baskets in this Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt, I guess a farmer's wife will use baskets a lot in her day to day work. This one was obviously on a vineyard.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 24 Country Path

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 24 Country Path

I have been running this blog since late 2012 and naturally over time things change.  One change which I miss is the Comments popping up in my Inbox each day.  Often it is only once I return to add a post that I realise you have kindly taken time to comment - so I am taking this opportunity to say thank you.
This is The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 24 Country Path. From my notes it says I have adapted this block - maybe I have, that would be nothing new.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 72 Railroad

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 72 Railroad

Still having fun with the gentle progress on the Farmer'sWife Sampler Quilt. This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 72 Railroad.  Although, this is no 72, I would not want anyone to think I did anything in order - I am currently working on No 24.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt - First Year Anniversary

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt  - First Year Anniversary

The other day I was pondering about the progress of my Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt and browsed back through the blog to find out when I started it.  The first post was 12th February 2019, so I though I had better show you all a photo of all the blocks done so far. 

In total I have done 66 blocks which represents 59% of the blocks, with an average of 5.5 blocks a month.  Before my big prep day over Christmas, stitching on this project had ground to a halt, but it is making happy progress at the moment, so I am optimistic about finishing the rest of them this year.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt  - First Year Anniversary

When you take a photo of them all laid out you spot some blocks that you would like to change.  Two have been replaced already, but there are some there that probably need a bit of adjusting.  I still haven't worked out my layout, but I think I had better concentrate on finishing the blocks first - that can follow.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 58 Mother's Dream

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 58 Mother's Dream

I found this little block, the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 58 Mother's Dream, hiding in a bag half done.  I don't know how long it had been sitting there.  There was enormous satisfaction in stitching a few seams together to get a quick finish.

BTW, pop back tomorrow as it is the First Anniversary of this Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt!

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 70 Prairie Queen

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 70 Prairie Queen

This one is Oh so pretty - the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 70 Prairie Queen.  I seem to been having a 'pink' phase at the moment as it seems to be my go to colour. What colours are you using these days?

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 61 Northern Light

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 61 Northern Light

From this photo you probably can't guess the actual size of my Farmer's Wife blocks, but I am working at 4" square.  When I made the decision to make the blocks smaller than the original size I flicked through the book and sought out the block with the smallest pieces to see if it was a viable endeavour.  When faced with this block, the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 61 Northern Light, clearly there was not going be a challenge.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 55 Linoleum

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 55 Linoleum

Her is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 55 Linoleum - don't miss the fussy cut rectangles!  Once you start fussy cutting you can never go back and you start to look at the fabric you buy very differently.  I have enjoyed quietly getting this block together over a busy week.  It seemed like my feet did not touch the ground, but somehow this came together.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 62 Old Windmill and an English Paper Piecing tutorial

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 62 Old Windmill

I thought I would go back to basics on this post.  If you glance down the side bar you will see that I have been blogging since 2012.  Over that time I have made my Nearly Insane quilt and my Dear Jane quilt, plus a few others along the way.  Just this week I got an email asking questions about my Nearly Insane quilt and how I make my quilts.  

This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 62 Old Windmill.  It is English paper pieced.  Yes, I know it is just squares and triangles and some of you could do it quicker on the sewing machine, but I choose to make most of my quilts by hand and sometimes it is the only time I have to sew.  You will see that I have included a little label of its name today.  I have taken each of the Farmer's Wife blocks and drafted them into Electric Quilt 8.  This enables me to make the block at any size and in the case of this quilt, I am making the blocks at 4" instead of the original 6" - not translated well in a picture on the internet (NB: Sorry, no I can't sell / give you a copy) .  Once drafted I print out an outline drawing of my block an usually it has its name at the top of the page which I snip out to label my prepped bags of sewing.  I have scanned all my Fig Tree fabrics into Electric quilt and it is a really worthwhile task as I can test out colour combinations before I take my rotary cutter to my fabric.  I usually use my iPad to take a screenshot as a record and use it as a reference to cut out the fabric.  Once cut out, it is put  in a bag, in a bag with thread, needle and a thimble, ready for a MOMENT.

This block was done whilst watching television last evening during down time.  These days, down time is down time from quilting other people's quilts as part of my longarm quilting business, where I get to quilt some mega quilts for my customers - do take a look.  

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 62 Old Windmill

Here is a photo of the back - I do this once in a while, just for new Followers.  You will see that I have coded each piece with a letter, so I know what fabric it goes with which piece.  I tack through the paper  for basting and leave all the papers in.  Why? Until the edge pieces have something to be sewn to, they will need the paper in them. Also, I usually put no time limit on my quilts, so I will probably handle the blocks quite a lot  between now and quilting the quilt, so it keeps them square for the years between - yes, years.  When your quilts are English Paper pieced and they are pretty much dead square, it is hard to appreciate why anyone would piece otherwise - but they do.  Once I blog a block, I number it and add it to a pile.  It's slowly getting bigger.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 66 Periwinkle

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 66 Periwinkle

This little block, the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 66 Periwinkle, takes advantage of the same pretty fabric as the last one.  I don't have much of it, but it is SO versatile in a sampler quilt like the Farmer's Wife.  The pieces are mirror imaged - yes, I had to unpick one set. School girl error.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 81 Snowball

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 81 Snowball

Tonight they are predicting the first snow of the year.  It is a bit colder here in the UK, but I don't hold out much hope. So this Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 81 Snowball might be the closest I get to the white stuff for a while.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 63 Ozark Maple Leaf

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 63 Ozark Maple Leaf

I can't believe what a relief it is to have this project moving again.  I have managed to do three blocks in as many days.  This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 63 Ozark Maple Leaf, yes, another Maple Leaf design.

Clover Field, Ellie and Ollie, Fig Tree Fabrics

My mega prepping day highlighted a lack of versatile fabrics in my Fig Tree fabric stash.  Amongst the Moda Scrap Bag I had purchased several months ago there was one strip of this pretty fabric and I found that it worked well in lots of blocks, so I followed it up with some internet shopping from Honeybee Cloths, which arrived swiftly and beautifully wrapped - lovely to get a late Christmas present to myself.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's) Block 71 Puss in the Corner

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 71 Puss in the Corner

 This is the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (20's)  Block 71 Puss in the Corner.  My Puss in not currently in the corner, but swiping her tail across this keyboard for my fingers to dodge.