Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Farmer Takes a Wife

farmers wife cover
I got an unexpected gift for Mother’s Day.  My lovely friend Gwen, sent me a copy of the book, The Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt by  Laurie Aaron Hird.  It’s a collection of letters from farm wives of the 1920’s who entered a contest where they had to answer the question: “Would you want your daughter to marry a farmer?”
More than 50 of the women’s letters are transcribed in the book, and each is paired with 2 quit blocks which were inspired by their words.
farmers wife pages
Gwen had wrapped the book in a country blue fat quarter which suits the book perfectly.  It was such an unexpected and wonderful gift to receive! 

Gwen had also included the perfect-for-me card with a hilarious dog photo that reminded me of Toby:
puppy cardOn the inside of the card it says:
i was just…uh…
getting you
something to drink
for mother’s day.
yeah…that’s it…


I know that Gwen pops in and reads my blog, so “Thanks, Gwen”!  I’m looking forward to reading the book and am already thinking about making some blocks.
Oddly enough, there was another farm related quilt book that I heard about recently.  It’s from Eleanor Burns and it is called Quilt Blocks on American Barns .  Eleanor’s sister Patricia visited our quilt guild and did a presentation of quilts from the book.  You can see Patricia’s version of her quilt here.  All I can say is that once again I was absolutely floored by the clever people at Quilt in a Day.  They come up with the most creative shortcuts for easy piecing.
Looks like this city girl might be heading to the country for a future quilt.  I never know where this quilting journey will take me next.

6 comments:

  1. I almost bought that card for someone for Mother's Day - very cute! Looks like a great book - lucky you!

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  2. Nice gift. I have been waiting for Eleanor to come out with that barn book. She did a class on them and you could take it on line but it was a bit pricey for me. I will have to get a copy of that book.

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  3. Now that is a lovely gift! They kind of remind me of Dear Jane blocks. Beautiful!

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  4. That sounds like a great book! The card is a hoot, too. Jen Buettner is doing a series of barn blocks in Wisconsin. I don't know if she's doing a book with it or not. She posts them on facebook but her blog is cre8tivequilter.blogspot.com.

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  5. I'd to read that book. I love to read stories about life back then, and the quilts that were made. I wish we had a quilt barn trail closer to where I live. Cute card, too!

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  6. Glad you loved the gift, Auntie Em! I wish
    everyone in my family was as easy to shop for
    as you are! Big hugs, Gwen

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