The last few days have been amazingly sunny and bright, and we have had beautiful blue skies and white frost...
....besides getting out and about for lovely walks beside the sea and to our favourite gardens, i have been reading and sewing....one inspired by the other......the two books above arrived here last week....one of those reading trails where one thing leads to another....i had read The Diary of a Farmer's Wife years ago and loved it but didn't have my own copy till now and am so enjoying re reading it......
....below is a detail from a quilt i made when i was in my folk art craze...it shows the farmer's wife feeding her hens, beneath a very sunny blue sky......
....the second book is also wonderful ....The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book contains letters from 1920's farm wives and the 111 blocks they inspired....it is just the book i have been wanting as it has a delightful range of quite small blocks, with templates, that you can paper piece or machine sew.....and i do love paper piecing and small projects that add up to a bigger one...slowly and enjoyably.....
text from diary of a farmer's wife 1796-1797
.....so far i have made three blocks.... called Homeward Bound, Practical Orchard and Bow Tie...I love the names of the blocks and the homely associations and choosing which one to do next.......
.....they are fun to do and very varied.....they have captured many people's imaginations and i know there are lots of lovely quilt alongs going on across the pond where people make a set number of blocks per week or month....
.......a lovely project to be involved in and i know i will enjoy quietly working on a block for this quilt whenever i get a moment away from all the top secret projects i'm busily producing at the moment in my studio and sewing room......i will leave you with a picture of the incredibly blue sky taken yesterday when we had our seaside walk....i added this picture to the lovely Annie's delightful new Sky 365 project on flickr...pop over to
knitsofacto to find out all about it and how to join in.....
...thank you for dropping in to see me and for the lovely comments and emails which i sooo enjoy, it's so good to hear from you.....wishing you a happy week with lots of sunny crafty times...back soon xxxxxxx
32 comments:
Beautiful post Helen!
Ahhhhh Sigh at those blocks. How beautiful. The fabric prints are gorgeous. I REALLY need to make friends with my sewing machine this year. I did say that last year, but you never know, this might just be the year! Until I do though, I shall just have to visit here and soak up all the gorgeousness!
Have a beautiful sunny day!
Take care
Vanessa xxxxxxx
Oh, I love The Diary of a Framer's Wife. I have had my copy for a very long time and having just finished a book last night now know what I'm going to read next. Thank you for the timely reminder Helen :D And the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book ... I had seen this but assumed it wasn't for me as I hadn't realised that the blocks could be paper pieced (I do enjoy the slow rhythms of hand sewing a quilt) ... I shall be having a good look at it now. I do like the look your colourful blocks, and your fabric choices ... so bright and happy!
Love the photo of those gulls in the sky, and thank you for the Project :: Sky 365 mention. The interest in it after just a week is very encouraging and seeing everyone's photographs of the sky in its infinite variety is amazing.
Good morning Helen! Isn't it fun to see how our craft interests change and evolve over the years?
Your Farmer's Wife blocks are wonderful, and I love the colors!
Hope you have a wonderful week!
Debbie
Hi Helen,
Your books look interesting. Especially the diary of a Farmer's wife. Your quilt detail of the farmer's wife feeding her hens looks very pretty. So does the new quilt you have started. It's much more contemporary in colour and style, but just as pretty as the other one.
Happy new week!
Madelief x
your blocks look lovely Helen. I look forward to seeing more as you progress with it. I've not heard of this book before, but will be looking it up. Katie xx
I love your quilt with the farmer's wife feeding her chickens, so pretty. Your new blocks are gorgeous too, it's really nice to have a project that you can take your time over and pick up when you have a minute.
Beautiful photo of the gulls, I'm really enjoying this project of Annie's. :)
Have a lovely week Helen,
Vivienne x
We have had beautiful blue skies.It does make all the difference especially on coastal walks. These books sound interesting. Especially the diary . Will look out for these.
Sunny here too Helen but not as gorgeous as those tulips! So cheery. x
Just loving those blocks that you have done. Reallly want to make some quilts for girls beds. They have crocheted blankets but quilts might be nice for a change. Will this be the year I overcome my fears?? That quilt of the farmers wife is just beautiful too. I like a lot of the folky/prim styles too.
That sky in the last picture is amazing. It has been really beautiful here too although cold. But I do quite like this sort of winter weather.
MBB x
Hi Helen! Your blocks and photos are so beautiful! As you know I love fabric pictures and your small quilt with farmer's wife is so lovely! I'll go to see that sky 365 link. x Teje
Beautiful pictures, Helen! That block is so pretty, I love all the colors...and oh that blue, blue sky!
Have a wonderful, creative and blue-skied week!
Yours,
Mia
Loving your blocks the fabric and colours are so pretty. This sunshine and cold is so very welcome from the wind and rain we did have ;-) Have a lovely week, dee x
Hello, Helen
The tulips are stunning and it is always a thrill when they pop up in my garden come May. I enjoyed seeing your quilting pieces as well as the older folk art style ones you've made. Today, I'm going to organize a cupboard than has bits and pieces of fabric and so forth, notebook at the ready, and see if any inspiration strikes!
One little thing: I have started a link-up called Sunny Sunday (in its second week) that shares posts on either literal or figurative sunlight. Should you be at all interested, I invite you to link "Sew Sunny" to yesterday's event. It's quite all right if this is not "your cup of tea" and decide against it!
Bye for now,
Karen
Think I'm going to have to seek that book out.
Julie xxxxxxx
Oh Helen, how beautiful. I am losing steam on my craft studio redo and popped over for some much needed inspiration. It worked...your space has me motivated once again. I don't think we realize what we have aquired, all the bits and bobs, until we try and move it. Do you have any posts on your studio set up? Would love to see some. Patty
Wonderful cheery post :) I think I could do with a walk at the seaside with the sun shining :) have a great week.
Bee happy x
Have a delicious day!
That looks like a really interesting project going on there Helen. It is great to see such crisp bright weather isn't it. Glad to see that clear blue winter sky,
Jane x
It is always sunny here at your blog Helen. x
Hi Helen, you are really tempting me to do a little quilting. I prefer to sew by hand as I get a bit frantic on the machine. I really love quilts and always love to see yours, your sense of colour is so good.
I hadn't heard of 'The Farmer's Wife' but it sounds up my street. I will see if I can get a copy. Thanks for the inspiration and have a creative week! Love Linda x
Hi Helen,
Your photos are always so lovely and bright and cheerful... such a pleasure to read your posts! The quilting blocks are looking beautiful, it looks like a real project to be enjoyed as you complete it bit by bit. I bought a few more fabrics the other day for the start of my quilt - though it could be a long while until I actually make a start! hehe. At least I will be able to come over here for some inspiration before I do :) Hope the rest of your week is just as sunny and bright, Jenny xxx
Beautiful....I must get to grips with my sewing machine some time this year.
Lou x x x
such sweet names for the blocks, they'll be so pretty in a quilt one day. and i agree finding old loved books and rereading them, love your folk art stage, there is no end to your talent helen.
hope your blue skies continue!
xox
Hi Helen,
Another lovely and bright post, just what we need at this time of year! the quilting blocks are looking really good.Great colour as always,
You are a real inspiration Helen.Have a lovely rest of the week,
Andrea x
I just love your wonderful blog, cheers me up no end. Thank you x
The Diary of a Farmer’s Wife is one of my favourite books. I have the 1981 Penguin edition, which I bought after seeing the BBC Dramatisation on Christmas Day 1978. It’s the kind of book you can dip into aytime and find a useful nugget. Your ‘folk art’ complements it very well.
I've been seeing a lot of Farmer's Wife quilts online lately and they look so pretty. I just might take the plunge. Thanks!
Wow!!! Helen, such a beatiful post you shared! SUPER CUTE! Amazing quilt and tulips you`ve got there!
P.S.Please, came to join my giveaway :o)
Hugs from Russia
Natasha
Hi Helen
You really create beautiful things that will last for years like the quilts in your book, love the farming scene. I still have to finish my sampler quilt, so far I have done six blocks in six months!
Take care
Denise
So much beautiful colour! Thank you for sharing!
You're definitely on your way to making a fantastic quilt!
Hello Helen...How lovely are your tulips...you have already brightened up my day!
Love the fabrics in your quilt blocks...one of my favourite colour combinations too...so pretty!
I would love to have a read through The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book...I think I may have to pop over to Amazon...Oh dear...I need yet another book case...I just can't resist buying lovely books!
Susan x
Hi Helen, so glad you enjoyed the pics. I am feeling very retrospective at the moment and am enjoying learing how previous generations lived.Much love, Linda x
I love all your photos.. and the quilts.. so nice! I am wondering how hard it would be to make a tiny dollhouse quilt.. by hand.. I might need to do that.
((hugs)), Teresa :-)
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