Modernizing the FWQ: Episode 10

Finishing the Quilt Top~

I have been working on modernizing the Farmer's Wife Quilt since January 1st.  I have enlarged many blocks, made repeats of some, and combined others so they all finish at 12 inches.  Then I added borders to the blocks.  After I got borders on all of the blocks, I played with the placement of them on my design wall.

There was barely enough room for all the fourteen inch blocks there, so I took over the family room.  :D  This is the largest quilt I have made since 2007.  It will finish about 94 by 112 inches.  I forgot how much bigger a queen/king is than a twin.

My layout is inspired by Katie's Sampler from the book Vintage Revival Quilts.  I love that my quilt combines the Farmer's Wife with one from Vintage Revival.

Luckily after moving some furniture and taking apart my modular sofa, I was able to lay out the entire quilt.  What a difference the sashing and cornerstones make!  Cheetah helped me move some of the blocks around to find this setting we both liked.

There was even enough room for my sewing machine cabinet.

I was able to get all the rows sewn together in one evening.  I used numbered flower pins to keep the rows in order, and moved them back into my craft room for pressing.

Here they are all nice and pressed and ready to sew.

I moved the sewing cabinet back into the craft room for this step.  I can't handle a messed up family room for long.

After twelve long seams, I had the top together!  I didn't want to risk taking it outside with all that cream, so here is an indoor picture.

And here are my helpers sweetly staying off the quilt (at least for a little while).

It is now all basted and ready for some custom quilting.   I decided to be brave and put Kona Snow on the back.  My quilting will really show.

Now that I have finished the top, I thought I would share some notes on fabric usage.

Kona Snow is my background.  I used about 2.3 yards to make the 30 blocks, 3.3 yards for the sashing, and 8.5 yards for the backing (three 102 inch pieces).

My light pink is a Riley Blake blender in bubblegum, and the rest of the marbled fabrics are from various Northcott fabric lines including Stonehenge and Toscana.  I used about 15 inches of each of the eight colors for the 30 blocks.  I used 14 inches of each of the eight fabrics for the block borders and cornerstones.  So purchasing one yard of each of the colors was a great idea.  I have about a quarter of a yard of each color left, but I like having the left overs without being too close.  (I only have 7.5 inches left of the light blue.)  I can use what is left for coordinating pillows and quilts or can use it for a scrappy binding.  I am still deciding.

Click on the Modernizing the Farmer's Wife link if you have missed any of the posts in the series.  It will take you to the introductory post with links to all of the episodes sharing my ideas for ways to modernize the Farmer's Wife Quilt.  I have included the sizes to rotary cut the enlarged blocks in case anyone else wants to make a modernized farmer's wife quilt similar to mine.

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with Let's Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday, Finish it up Friday, and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop to share this finished top.