I can’t say for certain when I started this quilt but my first 20 blocks (of 111) were done by May of 2014. I used Mum’s fabrics to make each of the blocks, with a bit of my own fabric added in where necessary. The last block was finished in August 2018 and when Stacia, Deloise and I sewed together in October they helped me sort out the settings. I used my go-to eight-pointed star to quilt each block; I used a fancy stitch from my machine for quilting the sashing, and straight-line stitching in the corners and setting triangles.

I used two tops that Mum pieced for the backing. It makes the quilt very heavy and, probably, too heavy to hang but I have beds it will certainly fit on. In many ways I like the back more than the front – the pieces of fabric are larger on the back and bring back more memories.

I used the end of one of Mum’s embroidered pillowcases as the quilt label. The quote about the Farmer’s Wife came from the internet.

From the quilt show label:

Mum was a Farmer’s Wife. I used her scraps for the blocks and her quilt tops as backing. No matter where I look I see fabrics that stir my memory – items Mum made, fabrics from clothing made by me and my two sisters, and scraps from clothes I made for my children.