The Farmer's Wife - Block 51 - Hovering Birds

There's definitely a learning curve with FPP.  I'm trying to be patient with myself and overlook it when my points don't match.  I'm not going to restich these.  I'm going to stick with it until I figure it out! 

The Farmer's Wife - Block 51 - Hovering Birds - Foundation Paper Piecing

 

TFW - Block 18 - Century of Progress

I am not happy with the pinwheel in this block.  I have discovered, after doing this one and Block 79, that there is too much bulk in the center and they need to be pressed open.  Redoing this one is a real possibility!

 

The Farmer's Wife - Block 18 - Foundation Paper Piecing

The Farmer's Wife 1920 - Progress is Our Watchword

The farmer's wife does not have a monotonous life.  Every year, every season, every month, every week, every day, every hour she has something different to think of, so her mind ought not to get rusty! Mrs. L.C.F. Montcalm County, MI

That is so true!  I am never board.  My problem is that there are not enough hours to do all the things I want to do!

These block are nice:

    

    Block 18 - Century of Progress

    Block 51 - Hovering Birds

TFW - Block 46 - Hill & Valley

 

TFW - Block 46 - Hill & Valley - Foundation Paper Piecing

 

TFW - Block 34 - Flock

 

TFW - Block 34 - Flock - Foundation Paper Piecing

 

The Farmer's Wife 1920 - City Life Holds No Glamour

"It must be admitted that country life has neither vey many thrills nor frills, but it offers instead what is of more valve to earnest men and women: wholesome living conditions, an excellent moral environment, opportunity for mental growth and spiritual development, and the possibilities of real and lasting happiness."  Mrs. A.B.D. Park County, WY

I love this!  When you have few distractions on the outside you can focus on the inside.

These two blocks will be easy the FPP and I can focus on my skills.

Block 34 - Flock

Block 46 - Hill & Valley

TFW - Block79 - Silver Lane

 

TFW - Block 79 - Silver Lane - Foundaiton Paper Piecing

This block was a challange to for me.  Lots of small pieces and I didn't press open.  It's not my best work so I may redo it at some point.

 

Lemon Pie

Daddy's Favorite Lemon Pie - it has no eggs and it's no bake!

One block of Cream Cheese - mix really well to get the lumps out and add

Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk - scrape down the sides and bottom and add

2 tsp of Lemon Jello

1/2 cup of Lemon Juice 

After all ingredients are mixed well add

One large container of Cool Whip
 

Makes two 9" graham cracker pies.  You could use 10" and add some more Cool Whip on top!

TFW - Block 24 - Country Path

 

TFW - Block24 - Country Path - Foundation Paper Piecing

 

The Farmer's Wife 1920 - No Safer Road to Travel

"Children love the God-made world and are hampered in any man-made one, no matter how gilded." Mrs. E.M.L., Furnas County, NE

This is a beautiful quote and is paired with two challenging blocks.

Block 24 - Country Path

Block 76 - Silver Lane

TFW - Block 54 - Kitchen Woodbox

 

TFW - Block54 - Kitchen Woodbox - Foundation Paper Piecing

 This block had large pieces and not many seams so I chose to do the foundation paper pattern that EQ8 made from the drawn block.

TFW - Block 26 - Cut Glass Dish

 

TFW - Block 26 - Cut Glass Dish - Paper Piecing

Because of all the small pieces and I want to press open, I printed the templetes from EQ8, scanned them into the Scan and Cut to get a vector graphic and uploaded them into Brother Canvas.  I edited them by deleting the sew lines and used the cut lines to cut my fabric.  It seems like alot of steps but it was very simple and only took me TWO WEEKS to figure it out!!

 

The Farmer's Wife 1920 - Living in God's Open Air

This letter is accompanied with two blocks:

• Block 26 - Cut Glass Dish
• Block 54 - Kitchen Woodbox

The writer of the letter makes this statement:

"I did not feel that I had lost social standing by farm work; in fact, I thought more of myself for I felt I had beautified my labor" Mrs. J.E.F., Valley County, MT

I agree!  Farm work has given me the time and flexibilty to make many beautiful things.

The Farmer's Wife Quilt- 1920

I started this Quilt as a new challenge.  I have never done any kind of paper piecing.  But, I wanted to make a replica of a quilt my paternal grandmother made, so I was going to have to learn.  With a big difference being, my type of paper piecing would be done with the use of technology.  

I chose the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt because when I read the Intro, it spoke to me.  Mainly because I am a Farmer's wife!  This sampler quilt was made in response to a magizine contest in the 1920s.  Entries had to answer the question, "Would you encourage your daughter to marry a farmer?" When I asked myself that question my answer is ,without hestiation, YES! 

To begin this quilt, I bought the Pattern Book and to my surprise, there are no pattern pieces!!  The challenge of making this quilt will be getting the templates to trace and cut or printing the foundation pieces to sew.  When making each block I will decide, based on the piece sizes and my test block, which method I will do. There are 111 blocks that finish at 6X6 and they are in no specific order in the book. I have chosen to sew them the way the are listed in the book.  Here are the steps I'll take with each block. 

In EQ8, I will draw each block. I can print templates and foundation paper from this software.  I will use a website link in the pattern book to get the printable Templates.  And I will use a website I found online that published each set of patterns for Paper Piecing. Between these three options, I will go with the best one based on how my test blocks look.  I like to press open so that may help with my decision.  I will use my Scan and Cut to cut my fabric.  For any applique blocks, I will use Embrillance software and a Brother Embrodiery machine.  My fabric choice is Garden Gatherings by Primitive Gatherings and Moda Bella Silky Snow 9900 11S as my brackground

As you can see this will be quite the endevour, but, I'm up for the challange!

Dirt Cake

It was Hannah's birthday meal and she requested her favorite dessert, Dirt Cake.

Make 2 regular boxes of vanilla pudding with 3 cups of milk. Mix until it thickens. Let sit in the fridge while you mix together the remaining ingredients.

Crush a pack of regular Oreos (Hannah doesn't like them uniform so use a ziplock back and rolling pin)

In a large bowl, cream together a block of cream cheese and a stick of butter. Scrape sides.

Add a cup of powdered sugar and mix well. Scrape sides. 

Then add your pudding and mix everything together.

Use a large cool whip and fold it in the mixture.

Layer pudding and Oreo crumbs ending with the Oreos