Sew Along: This farm girl’s progress

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Earlier this spring when I got my hands on the book Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt (Bee in my Bonnet), I admit I was farm girl giddy!  First off, the book is just so pretty!  From the beautiful photography to the graphic design to the lay-flat spiral binding, it’s the kind of quilting book that deserves a good read.  Curl up in the recliner under your favorite faded quilt, along with a cup of tea (or glass of wine), and page through it . . . maybe even several evenings in a row if your family doesn’t put up a fuss or expect you to make supper.


The sheer volume of blocks, arrangements and projects in this book is amazing. Forty five individual farm girl blocks! Several quilts and projects in varying sizes! Instructions for mixing and matching different block settings! Tips for embedding smaller blocks into larger blocks for a custom project!    

But of course, it’s the quilts themselves that are the real show stoppers . . . beautiful, colorful, cheerful, fresh, vintage . . . and for me, nostalgic.  You see, I am a farm girl. Along with my younger siblings, I picked rocks, drove tractor, and weeded soybean fields.  We played in the hay loft of the barn, built forts in our large grove and rode our bikes two miles down the gravel road to play with a neighbor girl. We set up a dusty outdoor “café” and made mud pies and served lemonade to my Grandpa Ray when he came in from the fields.  We froze sweet corn in our small, hot kitchen with Mom and Grandma Audrey.  Farm girl memories came back to me as I leafed through the pages of Lori’s book.

However, I also quickly found I had a problem.  I wanted to make everything in the book . . . to the point that I couldn’t decide where to start.  Soon my book was decorated with colorful sticky tabs of the projects or blocks that were my favorites.  That was no help.  Nearly half of the book was tabbed!  

 Thankfully, the answer came in the form of farm girl fun! Lori announced on her Bee In My Bonnet blog that there would be a weekly sew along called Farm Girl Fridays.  This is the first sew along I have ever joined and it is great fun!  I encourage you to visit Lori’s blog for the instructions and just jump in! The Farm Girl Vintage book is published by It\’s Sew Emma, a division of Fat Quarter Shop. And if you don’t have an Instagram account yet, you’ll want to get one for sharing your progress and seeing the blocks of other quilters.  It\’s both inspiring and a great way to connect with other quilters! #farmgirlfridays  #farmgirlvintage  

My Farm Girl Progress through Week 6:


I did not purchase any new fabric for this project, and I don’t know what I will do with all of the blocks when I am done.  But I am thoroughly enjoying the process of making two new, six-inch blocks each week (yes, six-inch blocks!) and forcing myself to creatively use up bits and pieces from my fabric stash.  Nerd alert:  even color organizing my stash has been fun.  I am truly pleased with how my scraps are working together.  Here\’s my journey, week by week . . .

Week 1: Apron Strings Block

Week 2: Autumn Star Block, Baby Chick Block

Week 3:  Baking Day Block, Butter Churn Block

Week 4:  Canning Season Block, Chicken Foot Block

Week 5:  Churn Dash Block, Cool Threads Block

Week 6:  Corn & Tomatoes Block, Country Crossroads Block



Thanks for stopping by my blog.  Here\’s hoping you\’ll get carried away quilting often!
~Taunja

My stash bits & pieces (that I know of or can remember):  Aloha Girl, Somerset, Avalon (Fig Tree & Co. for Moda); Circa 1934 (Cosmo Cricket for Moda); Bee My Honey (Mary Jane for Moda); Wishes (Sweetwater for Moda); Baby Jane (Eric & Julie Comstock for Moda)

2 thoughts on “Sew Along: This farm girl’s progress”

  1. Thanks for the link for your blog in IG. I am stamperlady50. I can't find the one with the aloha girl…but will look. I just bought my Farm Girl book and cannot wait to start. You are correct, the directions are easy and there are so many cute ones. Will have to start. What block are you all on now? Thanks!!

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