I started this quilt when the @beelori1 Farm Girl Vintage book sew along started back in May 2015. The tractor block was always going to be the star of the quilt, with all the other blocks set around it.
Working out how to set the 16″ x 20″ block amongst 6″ and 12″ blocks took some doing, but finally I settled on a square, almost medallion pattern for the quilt.
Requiring twelve 12″ blocks and thirty six 6″ blocks! Little did I realise back then how much angst those little 6″ blocks were going to cause me!!
I have learned a great deal along the way about piecing accurately, taking my time sewing so as to get accurate seam allowances and great tips like pressing seams open and STARCH! Oh thank the deities for starch – sometimes the only reason a block would lie vaguely flat was starch 🙂
This quilt was so important to me…. not just as a learning platform and being part of a world-wide community of farm girl quilters(!), but the fact that FINALLY I was creating a quilt just for us… to stay in our home and not be given away to live elsewhere. People visit us and, knowing how ‘into’ quilting I am, ask to see my quilts…. and all I have are two of the very first quilts I made way back around 2000!! And let’s just say that they do not hold up to close scrutiny!
As we live in the country I wanted to have a quilt that reflected all the farmyard things we have around us. I used Sweetwater’s Feed Company fabric to make sure we can use this in our bedroom – didn’t think hubby would like anything with pink in it! The Farm Girl Vintage book didn’t have a duck block in it, and Lori didn’t release a companion block during her retreats (oh how I wished I lived in the US so I could have gone to one!!), so I created my own Duckie Block (available for purchase).
I sent this quilt away to be quilted professionally as I am still too unsure of my free motion quilting skills to do it justice (oh the hours that have gone into this top!!). We picked it up just before Easter when my whole family was here and I sat together with them chatting and catching up and binding our quilt. A lovely way to spend some time over Easter.
Finally felt better and had my quilt holder with me to take outdoor shots of the finished quilt! I love the photo shoot at the end of making a quilt!
And the cows were unsure about what we were doing holding up a quilt (to say nothing of the people driving by!)
This finished quilt was part of my First Quarter 2016 Quilting Plan for the @FAL2016 hosted by @finishalong on IG
