Farmer's Wife Quilt - The Big Assembly
July 16, 2012 I wouldn't be surprised if you thought I was ignoring my FW quilt because you know how OCD I am with block placement and all my silly rules about colors and prints etc. not touching and all that. Some of you even (rightfully) poked fun at me and how hard a time I was going to have with the layout process of my 98 blocks. Remember the nightmare I had with only 12 blocks?! LOL!
Lucky for me I still have a few brain cells that operate on common sense and they made me realize it was totally, utterly and completely IMPOSSIBLE for me to lay out this quilt AND follow all my rules ... AND keep my sanity.
So.
I let all my silliness go ... (ok, maybe just most of it ...)
I really only made sure that:
- the reds were evenly distributed (100% successful)
- the blocks - which I sorted into "lights" and "darks" - weren't clumped anywhere (mostly successful ... found a few problems after the top was put together ... I just practice taking deep breaths when I notice them)
- and of course I tried to avoid any obvious color/print touching (much leniency was required in this regard)
So now let me show you how it all came together.
It's not often a quilt looks as good or better in real life than it did in my mind when I started. It's always still a bit of a surprise to me. Sometimes I'm close, others are total disappointments.
But never mind. My Farmer's Wife quilt is an unmitigated success. For me.
Remember my pink sashing disappointment ...
because I was trying to make my quilt look like this ... ?
Well, I officially forgive that pink fabric for not cooperating because I gotta say, I'm THRILLED with how the white turned out. I especially love how the white background blocks "float".
The red. Ok. I'm not much of a red girl ... unless it's for Christmas or Valentine's Day.
However, from the very start - before I even made my first block - I pictured this quilt with red ... sparkle ... you know? I didn't want any bold or heavy redness so I carefully used it just as little bits here and there.
For the few red (& white) only blocks I used prints that weren't dark, but had lots of white or other colors in it, like these.
(There's a reason why this block is going on the back ... )
And the red posts? They finish at a mere 3/4" and seem to hold everything together.
When I stand back and squint my eyes to look at this quilt, I'm fascinated by the pretty, "random" geometric pattern created by the red punctuations. (I overexposed this photo to help you see what I mean.)
Oh, and one more thing about the posts. I wasn't wild with the finish in the book and how the outside posts were cut in half.
That would have driven me banana nuts crazy. So I made mine full squares.
And I am so pleased with how the light blue side-setting triangles frame the blocks without being too .. chunky. Subtle, but effective to my eye.
Also the book only has one large border. I wanted something a little different. So I added an inner border the same fabric & width as my sashing.
And then I went with this happy blue dot - mostly because I have limited "Flower Sugar" yardage in my stash.
But I wonder if I had a choice of every print in my quilt that I would have picked this one anyways. It's perfect. Grounding, happy, love the personality of the dots ... it's strong enough to hold up as a frame, but not too busy as to take the focus away from the intricate piecing in the blocks.
No, it's not pink.
And no, I don't care. ;)
For width, the outer border finishes the same width as a block (4 1/2"). It always seems logical to me to repeat a dominant measurement from the body of a quilt for the border.
I'm also going to bind it with the same border fabric. I was originally planning either red or scrappy, but now I think both those options would be too much. I'm just gonna keep it simple.
Now. I'm still not sure about these blocks being stuck in the bottom corners.
I don't know why, but I assumed the signature should go in the bottom right corner .... you know ... like where you sign a letter. That is until someone suggested placing it in the middle. Oh that would be so nice!
And I'm not happy with the other horizontal striped blocks so symmetrically placed. Looks ... predicable? And maybe boring. Not sure what I mean. So I'm thinking about moving at least one of them.
But I haven't yet. Cause doing stuff like that makes me cranky.
Sigh.
I should probably just do it. I think I'll be unhappy if I don't.
Oh WHO AM I KIDDING?!! They are staying put. The end. ;)
And a quick mention about this "Flock of Birds" block ... I set it so the birds are flying east ...
... 'cause remember my crazy birding sister? She lives east of us. So the birds are flying in her direction.
But now to the quilting decision. I have a habit of cheaping out on things sometimes - either with the border, or the backing ... or in this case, the top-stitching. And then I live to regret it.
I can do it myself with a cross-hatch - classic, acceptible ... but not necessarily the best option for taking this quilt to the next level of amazing, right?
I could free-motion quilt it, but my FMQ repertoire is limited at best and totally inappropriate for this quilt at worst.
So lucky for my I've let my BFF talk me into having it longarmed ... so now I'm saving my pennies.
Reader Comments (97)
it is the most beautiful farmers wife quilt i've seen!! i just adore it!! you've given me inspiration to get back to working on mine now!!
Oh my! Gorgeous! I love it so much I am almost inspired to do one! I love the colors, and the red sparkle :)
Thank you for making the FWQ doable for me, I bought the book for the stories with some block interest.
I have no imagination so wondered who I could 'gift' this book too. Then I came across your blog think it was the Sampler & saw the FWQ so looking at these blocks did not click that this was about my book.
Couldn't believe the delightful blocks ! was looking at were the same blocks. Where was the book? Not that I was going to do them but make sure I wasn't seeing things. Unfortunately I didn't start this journey with you but glad I came along for the ride. That 112th(?) block seems years ago.
You have a priceless treasure. I endorse all the remarks and especially Hildy's .
Thank you for sharing this glowing quilt which floats with joy and love.
And now I would love to use the Lecien fabrics but then would be always comparing so will choose others. Do you remember how many different fabrics you used, approximately the amount (more than required), with sashing posts, borders (like you used the floating white) then the aqua (love polkadots).....
EEK I know. (Probably looking at next year)
Looking forward to the next adventure. You have a work opportunity - putting other quilters blocks together.....Perhaps not. Cheers from Oz
Your quilt is absolutely a marvel !!! I could stay and look at it during hours !!!
It even gives me the envy of starting a Farmer's Wife quilt !!
Bravo !!
Florence
Wonderful! I have only one word. Barbara from Italy
Oh Kristyne it's perfect! Soo glad you canned the pink idea, the aqua is perfect for the freshness of the quilt! And I love all your advice on why you made it the way you did...I think I may have to hunt down some Flower Sugar, oh, & a book!
I am IN LOVE with your FW Quilt! I will admit, seeing your blocks as you started it made me go get the book myself!! Your colors, the pops of red, the white backgrounds - it's so fresh and modern, but still has that traditional feel. It's amazing. I love the turquoise borders and how you used full squares of red on the edges.
I find the color scheme of the FW book to be very muddy and not at all my aesthetic, but your interpretation makes me want to make one of my own over and over again!!
Thank you for sharing your impressive work!!
It looks really lovely! I always thought the quilt on the cover of the FW book was so staid and clunky. It amazes me what a difference fabric choice makes... your FW quilt is so light and airy, so cheerful too! Great job!
It's stunning !!!!!!!! Wow! Love it, Love it!
Completely SPEECHLESS Kristyne!!! It looks absolutely A-MAZ-ING ! You've done such a fantastic job, I love all your ocd'ness haha, I'm exactly the same!
Such a great idea to have it long-arm quilted, I think I'll do the same with mine ;)
Jessie, xo
It is gorgeous!!! I love it! I wouldn't change a thing. It is perfect!
Oh Wow! This quilt is absolutely drop-dead-gorgeous!!! I love it ... you have done better than I thought .... thought it might look a bit busy but no it's just beautiful... thank-you so much for sharing all the pain and glory of making it with us....
This turned out beautiful!!
Congratulations Kristyne it looks stunning!! What a fabulous achievement. So like what you did with the outer posts, love the setting triangles and agree that the blue spotty border is perfect! Also think using the border fabric for the binding will work so well. Keep saving those pennies for the longarmer! And Don't Change Anything!!
Your quilt is absolutely stunning! It is the most beautiful one I have ever seen! My 50 blocks are complete and half sashed. It sits in a drawer until I can get back to it. Your work is so inspiring!
Hi Krystine, WOW! You did an amazing job and I am really impressed! Well done!
stunning!!!
did you blog about all of the blocks as you went along?
i LOVE the colours, and the colour combinations.
truly amazing!!!
xo
eva
Absolutely stunning! You've done a fabulous job! And if you want to talk longarming.... ;) lol
It is breathtakingly beautiful Kristyne! I love it. I love the aqua setting triangles and spot border, the white peeper border and the red cornerstones. They give the quilt its "zing". Well done - I'm inspired!
It's been fun watching you put the blocks together and to now see the finished quilt top...oh my. The white with the red posts was the perfect thing - it tied everything together beautifully. Congratulations. You should be proud of this accomplishment.
I can't believe you finished this already, it's gorgeous!!! Seriously it is perfect. I have plans to do a similar finishing treatment for my blocks, white sashing and I have red & white polka dot fabric for the sashing squares. Glad to see it looks so cute! The aqua is perfect for the border too, I just love it! Congrats on a huge accomplishment! Can't wait to see it all quilted!
BEAUTIFUL!!! I loved following the progress of your FW quilt over the past year.
He is so really really nice, the colors everything you can be proud! Greetings carina
What a dreamy, delicious quilt top! It's so gorgeous. Love, love, love your fabric choices for these beautiful blocks. Dear Jane never looked better, in my opinion.
That is one stunningly beautiful quilt. I keep going back and looking at the pictures. Love it!!
oh mylanta!!! Kristyne! this is utterly amazing! you must be over the moon thrilled with it. long arming seems like the right choice. trying to quilt something so fabulous would be terrifying! i love how the red sparkles. it's perfect!!!
Stunning,
what size are the blocks???? there must be hundreds of them....
what a perfect completion. do you have a pic of the full complete top?
it's amazing!!!!
lovely!!
xo
eva
Congrats on the finish! It's beautiful. It would so not go with anything in my house, but I really really like it. I like your addition of the inner border. It adds a certain balance that improves the quilt
I realy like how it came out. It's happy and pops here and there. Love the teal instead of pink-- did you need EQ6 to get the blocks the right size? I don't have EQ and was wondering if I could try that without..
This is stunning! Absolutely amazing!
I love i,t it's just so beautiful, you have inspired me to try again, as I gave up, I don't like my fabric choices. Can't wait to see it quilted
Your quilt is beautiful. Are the blocks complicated like the dear Jane ones? Are any paper pieced? Does the book have actual patterns or do you have yo draft them?
This quilt is absolutely gorgeous! I love the colors you used in it, but especially in those prints. That is so my style too. :-) I haven't figured out yet if you were using all fabrics from one collection or if you combined different things you liked. Is it all one collection/line?
Ahhhh maze Ing! Please tell me what fabric line u used?????!!! I MUST buy it! Soo gorgousM
I LOVE how hour Farmer's Wife quilt turned out! So pretty!!!! I think I have to try this color palette!
Hi Pretty by hand. Can you tell me what Fabrics you used in your Farmer's Wife Quilt? Its beautiful. I am a complete novice but you have inspired me to start one for my daughter.
I LOVE IT! BEAUTIFUL WORK! I can't wait to see what the quilting adds!!
I'm a beginner in the world of quilting and I LOVE your Farmer's Wife sampler quilt! It's so beautiful and the colors are so well picked! I was wondering if you know the name in english of that japanese book that you show in this post. It seems soooo goood! Thank you and congrats on your work! kisses, sara
Jan
I¡m agree..the pink better out ! your choice couldn't be beat ...excellent
Thank you, Susie