Sunday, October 30, 2011

Farmer's Wife Quilt

My Grandma's 90th Birthday is November 1st, and I wanted to do something really special for her.  She has been one of my favorite people for a long time -- she used to fix the holes in my worn out teddy bear, over and over.  She always choose the Old Maid card that my brother and I wanted to get rid of.  And I still wish that she could make me a peanut butter sandwich every night for a bedtime snack, like she used to do when I slept over at her house.
She makes the best peanut butter sandwiches, ever.

When my Grandpa turned 90 years old a couple of years ago,
my brother and cousins presented him with 90 bottles of beer.
You should have seen the huge smile!
So I wanted to do something equally amazing,
and maybe even better, for Grandma.
So here it is . . . . 90 quilt squares!

After I read about the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along starting up,
I knew that this group of blocks would be perfect.
My Grandma wasn't a Farmer's Wife, but she was a farmer's daughter!
I started making the blocks this past summer, but quickly realized that I would need (LOTS) of help if I was going to finish it in time.

So I invited my mom, aunt, and uncle over for some quilting parties!
They're not technically quilters, but my mom and aunt have done some sewing, and my uncle is a mathematician & painter, with a good eye for design and color.
We spent most of our Tuesdays together for the past 2 months -- they'd arrive right after I dropped the kids off at school, and we'd sew for hours and hours.
Most of the blocks are paper pieced -- and my quilting helpers did ALL of the tearing the paper off the backs for me -- how wonderful!
We had so much fun together, that I've joked that we need to decide who to make a quilt for next -- we make a great team!

We had a hard time deciding on a layout for the 90 blocks,
because a simple square design of 9 x 10 blocks seemed too plain.
And I wanted to make it large enough to fit a double/queen sized bed.
One day we just started laying out our blocks on a huge piece of white fabric,
and this design was born!



For the blocks set on point, I cut a 5 1/2 inch square on the diagonal,
then sewed these triangles on all four sides.
For the squared up blocks, I added 2 1/2 inch sashing to all 4 sides.
All blocks were then squared up to 9 inches.
There is another 2 1/2 inch border around the very edge of the quilt.
The fabrics are Kona Snow and Moda Sugar Pop.



I free motion quilted this myself,
using a fairly small meandering type pattern throughout the solid snow fabric.
  I love how it makes the blocks pop!
The batting is Warm and White, and the back is a collection of left over pieces.  


She loved it!


Linking up to:



Fresh Poppy Design

Amy'sCreativeSide
{Sew} Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations

124 comments:

  1. I love this quilt, and such a fun story!
    The setting is just perfect, and Sugar Pop is a great line!
    You should enter this quilt in the Blogger's Quilt Festival!
    (oh, and I used to quilt on a Juki too!)

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  2. How wonderful - a project that brought joy to several people in the making, giving and receiving.

    I love the way your quilt looks; I couldn't imagine how all those different blocks would work together but you have proved that it can be done.

    Happy birthday to your grandmother.

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  3. Wow! That looks great! I love that fabric line. Happy birthday to your grandma! If mine was still around she would have been 100 this summer What is it about grandmas that make ordinary things taste better.

    I'm so jealous of your quilt helpers!

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  4. Wow - what a story and WHAT A QUILT! It's fantastic. I love your creative setting solution - it's perfect. Thanks for sharing!!

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  5. What a wonderful story and such a wonderful quilt too! I love how you set it. Great job!

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  6. What an awesome story -- and quilt. And look how great your grandmother looks! Wow! I love the way you did the layout. Great job!

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  7. Your Quilt is Amazing, and such a wonderful gift for your Grandma!
    How much Sugar Pop did you use in the Quilt Top?
    I have a Fat Eighth Bundle sitting. would that be enough for this amount of Squares?
    Thanks

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  8. The quilt is just stunning. What a beautiful and thoughtful gift for your Grandmother!

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  9. Well of course she loved it!!! It is a gorgeous work or art as well as being a very special work of heart! Love it love it love it and lucky you being able to colaberate with family! just lovely!

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  10. When I grow up I hope to do a Farmer's Wife too! BTW, she looks fabulous for 90!

    Margaret
    www.quiltsoflove.blogspot.com
    msolomo1@maine.rr.com

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  11. Oh, I just love it!! I love the story too. This is going to be such a great memory for you and your mom and aunt and uncle! How sweet! Way to go!

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  12. Just WOW That is one awesome quilt :D

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  13. I think your quilt turned out so wonderfully, Michelle, and I think it's extra awesome with how your family helped you put this one together for your grandmother. Such a sweet story!!

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  14. Oh my. That is a gorgeous quilt!!!

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  15. WOW!!

    what a wonderful quilt and so many memories to go with it!!

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  16. Phenomenolly beautiful...grandma and the quilt. And of course she loved it. Supremely better than bottles of beer any day. What a wonderful piece you've made! Thanks so much for sharing the quilt and story. Have a great day

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  17. What a wonderful gift! It's such a beautiful quilt.

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  18. What a great story!! The quilt is stunning and a work of art. I think Grandma made out way better than Grandpa!

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  19. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!! That is really beautiful and what a sweet gift!

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  20. I love your quilt, I love your story, I love your setting, I love your fabrics. FANTASTIC!!

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  21. wow, what a wonderful story and a beautiful quilt, how luck to have your helpers too! Thanks for sharing!

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  22. This is such a beautiful quilt! It looks modern and traditional at the same time. What a sweet present for your grandma. I'm glad she liked it!

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  23. Oh WOW! I absolutely LOVE what you did with the layout! I have a feeling I'm not going to make it through all 111 blocks, so I might just have to use this design, if you don't mind!

    And what a sweet gift for your grandma. Congrats on a beautiful finish!

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  24. What a wonderful family effort with stunning results.

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  25. What a lovely gift! It is a beautiful quilt.

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  26. The wonderful story makes a beautiful quilt even more beautiful!

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  27. That's amazing! And I especially love the picture of you and your grandma with the quilt. You can tell she loves it and you!

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  28. A beautiful quilt, and a wonderful story! Good for you! 8-)

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  29. This is the best thing ever! I'm so impressed that your family members pitched in to help you with the quilt. It is gorgeous (I love the layout!) and I know your grandmother was thrilled.

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  30. I love the quilt and your story. This is absolutely amazing. You have made me want to try the Farmer's Wife again. I have my finished blocks made into a baby quilt and it's basted and ready to quilt (but has sat there for weeks). I really kind of want to start over and do the arrangement that you have done. It's just fabulous. I love it! Great work.

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  31. Oh wow! Michelle, your grandmother must love this -- it's so beautiful! Well done!

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  32. Wow, this is amazing, I love the colors and of course the story that goes with it. Well done!

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  33. Very nice work Quil

    http://szabonemarika.blogspot.com/

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  34. Best quilt story EVER. Seriously! 90 quilt blocks--that is just perfect! :) Thanks for linking this beauty up to {Sew} Modern Monday and have a wonderful week!

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  35. This is so beautiful, especially because you and your family worked on it together! If I were your grandma, I'd be beyond thrilled to receive such a loving present! :) :)

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  36. that is a great story, fabulous quilt. love it.thanks for sharing.

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  37. Amazing!!!!!! Great job!!! Both are beautiful!

    Happy birthday Grandma!!!

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  38. what a neat quilt and even greater story!

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  39. My favourite quilt and story of the whole festival! Well done!

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  40. Wonderful!! It's so nice to see one of the FW projects done -- and done so beautifully and creatively -- but the whole thing is made sweeter by the back story. Thanks so much for sharing this :)

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  41. I'm so happy to have read your story about making this quilt for your grandmother. I love that you had such a special team of helpers :) Beautiful quilt!

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  42. How beautiful and what a special present for your grandma...I love that you all worked on it. My grandparents and great aunt and uncle made a red, white, and blue quilt for me for my 16th birthday. They got together every Friday night for about two months also, cutting squares, sewing them, and then tying the quilt. It still means so much to me that they spent the time doing it.

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  43. what lovely memories were made along with this quilt!!

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  44. absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! so so so fantastic!!!!!! <3<3<3

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  45. Looks like you had the perfect production line/set of helpers there, it came out beautifully, no wonder she loved it :o)

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  46. this is amazing! what an incredible gift - both for your grandmother, the quilt itself, and for you and your family, the time spent on the project. it's going to be a heirloom, i'm sure.

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  47. What a wonderful story and sweet present for your grandma!! This is what it's all about...a family coming together...I love it!! And the blocks are beautiful, the layout is perfect. Thank you so much for sharing!

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  48. What a great story! And I love the quilt too!

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  49. oh wow! amazing .... my grandmother turns 90 in March and I too have begun collecting fabrics to turn into a quilt for her....she taught me to sew when I was 8 :) I am new to quilting so it will be achallenge and definitely not 90 squares paper pieced!?!?!? but I too plan to enlist family members help and I will refer to your quilt for inspiration!

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  50. boy, you outdid yourself! This is just amazing & I love that your family helped you - just lovely!

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  51. Wow, what a great quilt story! That's one very special quilt. Very inspiring.

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  52. This is such a sweet and beautiful gift! This story makes me smile.

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  53. It is absolutely stunning. I bet your Gran was over the moon. And I'm sure this will be the family heirloom from now on, so you'll get it back at some point!

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  54. Absolutely gorgeous and inspiring. I love the layout, and I'm sure many people will be borrowing your idea. :)
    I'd like to share your post on my blog this week, if that is alright with you!! :)

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  55. Beautiful! I love that this became a family project.

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  56. What an amazing story and beautiful quilt!

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  57. So beautiful and sweet : ) Great gift!

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  58. WOW!! How generous for you to do that for your Grandmother. It's wonderful!!

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  59. This is gorgeous. I love the colors, the alternating positioning of the squares, the everything! And what an awesome way to get to spend time with your family over the past few months. You grandmother is going to treasure this!

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  60. This is just beautiful. I am so happy to hear she loved it. Simply beautiful detail...

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  61. What a gorgeous quilt! And your grandma looks SOO happy with it! Love the story of your helpers too. :)

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  62. Fabulous!! Thanks for sharing this beautiful story and quilt!! Happy birthday to your Grandma!

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  63. Wow, this quilt is AMAZING!!! There are tons of pins on it on Pinterest, so I know everyone agrees!

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  64. Wowza!!! What an inspired arrangement of alternated on-point and straight-up blocks! Michelle, this is amazingly gorgeous. Love how you did the back, too.

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  65. Beautiful Quilt! Beautiful Story! Thanks for sharing.

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  66. what a fabulous gift! this is my favorite version of a farmers quilt i've seen, i love it on the white with some blocks on point and some not. excellent job =)

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  67. i totally cried like a little baby! what a sweet quilt and what wonderful memories that were and are being made because of it. what a precious gift to your whole family!

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  68. Simply delightful!! I know that your grandma must treasure it as much as you treasure your precious memories. How fun that it was a family effort. I sound like more memories were made while y'all were sewing!

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  69. That is so incredibly cool! And of course she loved it - what could be better than a quilt made by her family! Fantastic story, and a beautiful quilt!

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  70. I love your layout of the blocks... I always thought the Farmer's Wife layout was too busy but yours has the perfect amount of negative space to let each block shine!

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  71. What a really nice story! I can imagine that all the time you spent making this quilt with family will remain as priceless memories. The quilt is as lovely as the story!

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  72. you did a good job on that quilt and put a wonderful smile on your grandmothers face. I thought it great that you quilted it yourself also - I always like to hear that someone didn't "send" it out but did it themselves.
    Karen

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  73. What a wonderful quilt and story! Thanks for making my day thinking about it :) and Happy Birthday to your Grandma - what a treasure!

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  74. Incredible. Great to see a Farmers Wife quilt actually finished. I loved reading about the story too. Thank you for sharing with us.

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  75. What an awesome gift for your Gran. She is lovely and you can really tell she is delighted with the quilt.
    Come see my entries #29 miniature applique reproduction and #31 antique 1850 Bethlehem Star.

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  76. I love how this turned out Michelle!! What an awesome gift. I love the layout you choose too!

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  77. Wow, it's gorgeous! Your grandma looks so pleased with it. So much work involved - you must have a lot of patience!

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  78. This is beautiful!!!! Your grandma must be so proud of you.

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  79. What an amazing quilt! It is gorgeous. I have seen many blocks but no finished farmer's wife quilt. I love it. I just found your blog and I am so happy I did. I too have two little ones and work part-time. I love crafting in my spare time and quilting is my favorite.

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  80. Michelle, this is a fabulous quilt! I love the colors you chose for the blocks and the layout is perfect! Great story behind the quilt as well! Thanks for sharing!

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  81. This is so beautiful! What a wonderful way to celebrate your grandma's birthday and a wonderful way to spend time with your family.

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  82. Beautiful quilt and beautiful story to go with it. I like the idea of 90 blocks for 90 years. They look perfect on the white background and good on you for quilting it yourself too.

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  83. I'm seriously impressed with your FW quilt. Love the setting and the choice of colors. The story of your family helping you to make it was wonderful. Maybe I should do a FW quilt!

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  84. That is gorgeous, I love the layout!

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  85. Wow your quilt is beautiful and loved the story of how it came together as well. Amazing!!

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  86. Absolutely breathtaking quilt! I love the story behind it too. SWEET!!!

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  87. Way to go! This is beautiful. What a wonderful family gift!

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  88. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  89. I join the chorus of "WOWS"! Fabulous! Sweet. Touching. Kind. Generous. Soulful and Loving. I'm 150% inspired by your work and your heart.

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  90. This is such an AMAZING quilt. So so beautiful. Your grandma must be so proud.
    Carol

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  91. Beautiful! Love the colors and the quilting is great!

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  92. The love that went into the quilt shows. Happy Birthday to your grandmom.

    Rohini

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  93. Saw it on QuiltStory. WOW!!!!!! Great job. I really like the bright colors you chose.

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  94. What a beautiful gift to a wonderful Grandma :)

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  95. Beautiful! I love that you made it a family/group project, and I love how you alternated the placement/rotation of the blocks. Amazing. What a treasure!

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  96. This is so inspiring! I love the idea of spending every Tuesday with family making a gift full of love. Your Tuesday's together will be the most treasured gift of all.
    Ingenious idea to alternate your blocks in this way. I would like to do my fw like this too. It is so appealing.
    You have made many of us quilters proud!

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  97. That is an amazing quilt! And an amazing story, I just love how you enlisted the help of your family. And the layout? Wow!!!

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  98. Michelle I'm only seeing this now but it is absolutely amazing, really love it! And fab story too. I love how you gave those blocks such a fresh modern look :-)

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  99. A real labour of love to show how special she is. Well done! Love how you have put the blocks together, very creative.

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  100. This quilt is absolutely stunning! It has really inspired me to get going on mine! And I love how you laid it all out!!

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  101. Such a beautiful, special quilt!

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  102. WOW! I'm so excited by this quilt. Must make one for all my g-mas!

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  103. Such a beautiful quilt! Amazing gift for a sweet lady...

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  104. Beautiful work! I love that you have offset a few as well! Just Gorgeous!! Congrats and I am glad to hear that she loved it!

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  105. WOW! This is beyond inspiring- fantastic! The way you arranged the blocks and set every other one on point is PERFECT. Oh I wish I wish I had a team of helpers to come over every Tuesday and help me sew!

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  106. Absolutely stunning!! Thanks for such inspiration!

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  107. I love the quilt and the setting, the white makes the blocks pop! What a fun time you all had.

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  108. Such a speccial gift for Grandma, she looks so well for being 90, kuddos to her. I love your sashing and setting idea, awesome

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  109. Awesome! You do have a good team! Have you picked up the next team project? :)

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  110. You have inspired me to redo my Farmers wife quilt in these lovely colours.
    thanks Jeannie in Australia

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  111. This totally made me cry! How wonderful!

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  112. I love the settings! You have inspired lots of FW quilters:)

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  113. I found your quilt through Pinterest. You did a fabulous job - I am working on this quilt and am having a hard time imagining how it will look when done - I really like the fabrics you chose and the setting you came up with. The extra white surrounding the blocks really softens the blocks and seems to help blend them all together. I love the story about how you and your family made this for your grandmother. Thanks for the smiles!

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  114. Googling for images of the FW quilt I found your blog. WOW - what a stunning quilt. Love what you did with the setting. Such great memories both making the quilt with family and giving such a precious gift to you nan :)

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  115. An absolutely charming story! What a treasure for your Grandmother, and an heirloom for future generations! I inherited a quilt with 25 blocks that were done by various family members in 1934. . . . my Great Grandmothers, Great Aunts, my Mother and Aunt. They embroidered the name of the quilt block and signed their names. Do you happen to have the names of the quilt patterns for all your 90 blocks? Would love to see if we have some of the same! Congratulations, great job! Thanks for posting!

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  116. This is by far the most AWESOME FW quilt I have ever seen!!!

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  117. I love the alternating on point blocks idea. Really sparks up the quilt! And your story is so lovely. Your Tuesday afternoons were such a gift to all concerned. Thanks for blogging about this!

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  118. This is an amazing quilt and a great story. Well done!

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