Monday 15 August 2016

Farmers Wife 1930s Quilt - Susannah

Hello again, I'm back with another Farmer's Wife block. This time it's Block number 94 Susannah. This is a lovely simple block to make and as usual I've English paper pieced it. I've stuck to the colour palette from the book but played with the scale of the prints that I used and I chose a nice strawberry solid to add in. I'm really pleased with how it turned out :)

I've not managed to make as many blocks as I'd hoped during this quilt along. Life has been pretty busy for a while now and I'm struggling to find time to sew. But these little blocks have been the perfect hand stitching project to pick up when I have a few spare minutes. I've found that making just one little block soothes away my stress and is a good way to unwind. Also they're really portable. I'll be keeping on stitching them long after the quilt along is finished.


Above is my little stack of blocks so far. I think I've made 29, but I've not counted in a while so it might be more. I'm keeping the papers in for now because I haven't decided how I'm going to put them all together yet.


Here are another few blocks that I've made in the last few weeks. I've sometimes been trying to stick to the colours used in the book, especially if it's a colour combination I would never usually choose. The green and yellow Geneva block 36 is a perfect example of colours I wouldnt usually put together but I really like it.


I was really looking forward to making block 46 Jewel and it's one of my favourites so far.


And I was extremely stressed out when I made block 79 Patience. I search through the book to find the quickest, simplest block I could for some instant sewing therapy. It worked a treat and now when I look at it I think I chose the most soothing coloured fabrics I could get my hands on!

I've loved doing the quilt along and I'm really glad I decided to hand sew all the blocks. I think I would have managed to make even less blocks if I'd been machine piecing them all.

One bonus of being a good few steps behind most other people is that you can go and see what everyone else's blocks look like. There have been a few times where my fabric choices have been based on a block I've seen by looking at the hashtags on instagram.

So that's how my Farmer's Wife is getting along: slowly but surely, and it's been a fantastic stress-reliever when I've needed it.

You can see Kerry's beautiful version of Susannah on her blog, as well as Starlight, which is the next block on my to-do list :)

Thanks so much Kerry for hosting such a great quilt along and having me as a guest poster!

Fiona xxx