"Buttons and patches and the cold wind blowing,
The days pass quickly when I am sewing"
~Author Unknown

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Needlework 12 Days of Christmas - 4th day...

On the 4th day of Christmas...

...planning, research and sewing. Does that sound strange in relation to needlework Christmas thoughts? This is always a very busy time for me. I start the new theme for my quilt group each January. Once our annual Christmas party is over, I go into full swing of preparing for that first month's new theme. Now I love connecting historical themes to my quilting as you have learned reading this blog regularly. It is logical that I try and place that in my newsletters for my group as much as I can.

This year, we are going to all become farmer's wives and create the sampler from this popular book. Everyone is going to put their own twist on it and I am looking forward to seeing how the quilts turn out. I am choosing two or three of the letters from the book each month and we can make one block or more a month to create our quilt by the end of the year. I will be including lots of fun facts about farms in Holland in the newsletters throughout the year. I am spending time doing research now.


I am testing the blocks by sewing those included in this coming month's newsletter. Here are the first few blocks. There are 7 for this month. I decided to start out this sampler with some fabrics I received as a gift from two of the ladies in my group. I will pull more from my stash as I go that work with these. I am going with a combination of browns mixed with blues and pinks or reds. Normally I would mix either the pinks and reds or the blues with brown and not all together. I thought this would be fun to do both and help them to work together by using dark brown later with my sashing. After all...the life of a farmer's wife is never dull I am sure and this represents her many talents.


Edzard Koning Boerin op de Veluwe Farmer's wife in the Veluwe by Edzar Koning

13 comments:

Catherine said...

I love the colors!! It will be fun to see this come together!

Jeanne said...

Your plans for this year's quilt project sound lovely Heidi. Also, love the recent finish in your previous post -how great you had the perfect frame for it! I am ready to start up our BICA SAL again in January as soon as you and Saskia are ready. I can stitch now, just not too fast or too long at one sitting. I'm looking forward to getting it going again - I have so missed stitching and feel like I could easily start 50 new projects if I let myself LOL!

Nancy said...

Some of the patches look very hard to do, however I am not a quilter, so what do I know.
I love the picture you used at the end of the entry.
So far so good, hope the ladies think so too. LOL
Love you, Mom

Susan in SC said...

I love the idea of the Farmer's Wife and your color choices. Your blocks that you have made are just lovely!

DonnaTN said...

Your theme for 2011 sounds and looks great! Have you done a round-up post for the 2010 quilts from your group or did I miss it? I always look forward to seeing all the ladies' finished quilts.

Heidi said...

It's a lovely way to start the New Year, Heidi, and the colors you chose are beautiful! Our Bee is also starting a sampler project, this time the Dear Jane quilt.

Nora Andersen said...

It looks great and I look forwards to the next beautiful blocks.
Warmest greetings, Nora :-))

Saskia said...

Still thinking... But I love how your sample sampler blocks turned out.
Knuffels

Dutchquiltster said...

Goed plan Heidi,I'am not thinking,ik weet wat ik moet gaan doen UFO'S AFMAKEN.Maar wat zal ik genieten van jullie project,en nee ik heb geen spijt.
Knuffel Joke.

barbara said...

These are some of the most gorgeous fabrics I've ever seen, Heidi!!

angelasweby said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
angelasweby said...

What a fantastic idea, Heidi.
Your imagination and creativity runs in top gear all the time, just like a well oiled purring motor :>)
This book looks fascinating and you should feel really pleased that you and your quilting group are keeping the quilting tradition alive and ongoing for future generations to enjoy.
Warm wishes Angela xx

Marta said...

I discovered your blog for casuality. I ordered this book and I´m waiting it delivery.... your blocks´re marvellous and the colours´re fantastic. I love them. I´ll visit you often to follow yours advanceds. Kisses