When I was a bright-eyed newlywed, my good friend, Judy, asked me if she could make me a wedding quilt. In a moment of insanity, I said, “Actually…could we make one together? That way I could learn along the way!”
Well 3 years and, almost exactly, 3 months after I said “I do”, I finally finished said wedding quilt.
The journey has been so fun. Judy was so patient with me (especially after a year in there were I didn’t accomplish anything on the quilt) and really helped me get excited about being a quilter. I can’t thank her enough for her kindness in teaching me and dedicating so much time and so many resources.
We got the project up and running after Judy handed me a copy of The Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt. The book description says:
“The 1922 The Farmer’s Wife magazine posed this question to their readers: “If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you, in light of your own experience, have her marry a farmer?” The magazine at the time had 750,000 subscribers, and received over 7,000 letters. The best answers to this question are included in this book, along with the traditional quilt blocks they inspired.”
How fitting for a girl who’d just married a farmer!
The entire sampler quilt has 111 unique blocks, so we decided to scale it down. Instead, I found another quilt pattern I liked, chose 23 blocks out of the book and Judy created a design from which to work.
Because we wanted to include family in the process, I sent a letter to many of my and Tyler’s female relatives and asked for donations of fabric from their “stashes”. I received fabric from many generous family members. My maternal Gramma Marcie also gifted me with most of her huge fabric stash.
Then my mom gifted me my paternal grandmother’s sewing machine. Although she died when I was a baby, having Grandma Rozella’s machine made it feel like she was cheering me on as I sewed my wedding quilt.
Judy and I spent a lot of time selecting the right color values for each block. She also washed and ironed all the fabric (no small task). My first piecing experience was at the 2011 Wheatwater Quilters Retreat that the Platte County Parks and Recreation Department hosts each year. Judy started me off sewing all the little tan pieces. I even tried my hand at a couple blocks during that retreat.
Over the next couple of years, Judy and I worked on the tan blocks, the sampler quilt blocks and the piano keys (the striped borders). Finally at the 2013 Wheatwater retreat, we finished the blocks, added the brown borders and the piano keys and figured out what order we wanted to display the blocks.
A couple weeks later, we got together to finish the quilt top. It was so exciting to see all the intricate details start to form a REAL LIVE QUILT!
After the top was finished, Judy quilted it on her longarm machine.
Once that was done, she showed me how to square up the quilt and how to sew on the binding. I took the project home, finished the binding and then proceeded to jump up and down and squeal!
It was finally done! The girl who couldn’t sew a straight line in Jr. High Home Ec. just finished a whole quilt!
We still have to put the label on, but as of April 2014, the Farmer’s Wife Wedding Quilt is done!
God Bless You & American Agriculture,
Liz
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. – Proverbs 16:3
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Tags: Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt, quilting, quilting for beginners, sampler quilt
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