These were our instructions:

Channel you inner “BAG LADY”

1. Must use the equivalent of half the Fat Quarter on the OUTSIDE of your bag.
2. Be at least 9″ Tall & 10″ Wide.
3. Have 2 or more complimentary blenders.
4. Have a Quilted Motif somewhere on your bag, but not just on the bottom.

I purchased the green and gold fabrics to go along with the focus fabric that was included in our packages. It wasn’t easy to find a bag that didn’t use a zipper; I had a book with a pattern that I originally intended to do.

One day when I was waiting in line at the grocery store I glanced through their quilting magazines and came across one that had a couple of things in it that I liked, including this bag. 

My original intent was to have the gold on one side of the front and the green on the other side but somehow that didn’t work out and one colour shows on the front and the other on the back (depending on which way you are looking at it).

As I typed out the “rules” I see that I was to have used a motif on the bag. Does meandering count as a motif?

In the very early stages of making my Farmer’s Wife Sampler I came across the name of this pattern in a blog I follow. Based on the name alone I purchased it immediately. On a trip through Calgary with Stacia and Deloise I told them about the pattern and they decided to make it as well. Each of us made extra blocks to be added to the backs of our quilts.

I purchased a Kaffe Fassett bundle of fabrics on that trip and started English Paper Piecing a block. With one block finished I changed my mind on some of the layout, based mainly on seeing what Stacia had done. The fabric made my blocks look very scrappy so I tried to calm it down a bit by putting some order into the scraps.

The quilt was finished in time for the 2019 quilt show. Here’s what my label said:

A Jen Kingwell pattern made with Kaffe Fassett fabrics. I bought the pattern based solely on the name – I’m proud to be a farmer’s daughter. Close to 1000 pieces were hand-basted and hand-pieced (EPP). A block from each of my sisters is on the back. Hand Appliquéd and machine quilted. Never Again!

I thought that finishing this large EPP project would allow me to decide if I wanted to do another big English Paper Piecing project (with 17,000 pieces). The answer is NO!

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.

I’m happy to say that Taylor received her “real” birthday present less than a week after her big day. And thanks to Elizabeth for reminding me that I hadn’t posted any photos.

This was my first experience with a panel; the original pattern called for cutting off the burgundy and pink borders but I decided to leave them on. That meant that the measurements for attaching the snowflakes was “off” but I added extra strips in the borders to make up for it.

The first snowflakes for the quilt were done in 2015, shortly after I made the purchase. Each of the 22 snowflakes were appliquéd onto the background using a zig-zag stitch.

I didn’t know how to quilt the centre of the panel and the pattern gave me no clues. I decided to cross-hatch the centre panel and I was happy with my choice. I used one of the “fancy” stitches on my machine in the narrow borders. The snowflake blocks and wider borders were done in a free-motion meander.

I originally purchased Olaf fabric for the backing, but later decided I wanted flannel. When the quilt was washed the snowflakes really popped, which gave a very nice effect.