FWQAL - zero to go!
November 13th, 2011
I was so enthusiastic and excited when I started the Farmer’s Wife Quilt-a-long. I had bought the book a few years back - and it was collecting dust… until I saw that Amanda and Angela started the FWQAL. I jumped in, and jumped from what felt like the high-dive. I made these and these. And then got cookin’ on these:
And then I decided I had had enough of the templates, and applied my Only Do Things That Make Me Happy rule to my block-making. I then picked blocks that made me happy and I paid no attention to their numbers.
And then I started to slow down a little.
And then I began to make the blocks how I wanted to make them - and used the book as guide rather than an assignment. (Block 39 I made with half square triangles and flip-n-stitch corners vs using the templates). I’ll make some more in a future post. Easy as store-bought pie.
And then I decided I was done and wanted to make something with only the blocks that I had already made (and hopefully not write a blog post to go with it that would end up sounding like the drive-thru lady on Dude Where’s My Car).
And then a bee flew up my butt. I grabbed some Kona White and Kona Pepper, (and put some Kona Coal aside)… 
And soon realized I needed more blocks to make my quilt just right.
And then… I Rosie Ruiz’d finished my Make Me Happy quilt!
And then I made out with my quilt. BAM - surprise ending.
Thank you Amanda and Angela for hosting such a great quilt-a-long. And most of all, I’m thankful for all the new friends I made from participating in it! XXOO!
Posted in Quilty n Crafty |
Farting around with needle & thread and then blogging about it.
I LOVE it!!!
November 13th, 2011OMG, you totally pulled me along with your narrative, hook, line, and sinker. When you got to the full reveal and those blocks look like they’re falling out and crashing on the ground (which is pure genius), I was as surprised as if I had been startled by the sound of actual breaking glass. This may be the #1 most awesome quilt I have ever seen.
November 13th, 2011It’s fabulous! Love those crashing blocks pieces on the bottom. But I really wanted to see the housecoat that went along with the slippers. ;)
November 13th, 2011I agree with the others…Crashing blocks=genius! Love the slippers, too!
November 13th, 2011Amazing! Century of Progress is my favorite Farmers Wife block, glad you picked it! I love the colors and the way they pop off the white and gray backgrounds.
November 13th, 2011this is fabulous!! what a great design, great work - the colors, the kona solids - seriously, love it all!
November 13th, 2011::::Standing ovation::::
November 13th, 2011Awesome! This quilt is such a cool original take on the traditional blocks. Love it!
November 13th, 2011This makes me wish I didn’t divorce that farmer months ago.
I am thrilled to see your version!! I lost interest in my blocks because I didn’t want a whole quilt of the blocks. I am brainstorming my own ‘not all the blocks’ version for what I have done. This is such a great quilt! Thanks for the inspiration.
November 13th, 2011I love the way you finished your quilt Monica. I started to buy the book when folks started on the QAL but with the talk of templates I knew I didn’t want to go there.
Love the fabrics and blocks. Really nice.
November 13th, 2011Beautiful quilt Monica! Those slippers are hot lady! :)
November 13th, 2011I love your quilt!!! Congrats for being the first finisher that I have seen…I have made 46 and have four more to go. Will have to wait until after Christmas though.
November 13th, 2011Your quilt makes me happy too! What a perfect, original ending to the FWQAL–the farmer’s wife breaks out of her rut and goes for a little walk down the road…
November 13th, 2011☺
Monica!!!! Cutest Zombie!!!!!! I can’t even handle how RAD this is!!!! So freaking clever! And I totally freaking LOVE your rule, I’m borrowing it!!! Woo Woo!
November 13th, 2011I love it Monica! You did a great job, and I like the layout a lot, it’s totally awesome :)
November 13th, 2011Love your quilt, slippers and the surprise ending :) Thanks for the inspiration to make the quilt what WE want it to be!!
November 13th, 2011Fantastic! I love your spin on the blocks.
November 13th, 2011Swoooooon! I love the black and the contrast of your beautiful bright fabrics! And good for you for only doing what makes you happy! I think I’m going to apply that rule to everything I do from now on. Let’s see…laundry…dishes…
November 13th, 2011That is so fun! Definitely tradition with a twist!
November 13th, 2011Bwahahahah!!! Oh my goodness. This makes me happy too. I can totally relate to your farmer’s wife journey. What a great playful, fun and original finish. Bravo!!!
November 13th, 2011Too cute! Loved the post and all your ‘make me happy’ things, and your quilt!
November 13th, 2011That’s pretty funny. I think that you might have a lot of copy cats as the quilt along seems to have taken a turn for many of the members. Yours is a very creative, fun approach. It makes me laugh :)
November 13th, 2011Okay I loved the sneak peak I saw of this on flickr. But girl this rocks!!! The two blocks that are kind of tumbling out there into those little pieces, A-MAZ-ING!!!!!
November 13th, 2011Love the layout - very original and the charcoal background is a winner. What wondrous quilting design to you have in mind?
November 13th, 2011Love it!!
November 13th, 2011You are hilarious! Your quilt is quite unique, just like you. Love never knowing what you are going to blog next.
November 13th, 2011I love the rule…well I can at least apply it to quilting projects and friends! This was one quilt along I didn’t get sucked into, I just knew I ‘d stall out after a few days of cursing at templates. Love your version…I’m thinking it says something profound but not repeatable…lol!
November 13th, 2011fabulous blocks - and love x 3 the bottom quilt blocks - really sets it off ! ps love the slippers ♥
November 13th, 2011That’s one of the best walking quilts I’ve ever seen! I wasn’t interested in doing a traditional, country-style quilt, but when I saw what you and several other quilters are using, it’s tempting. In fact, I bought the book today because I’m feeling inspired by you. But I’ll never be able to think up as cool a setting as you did. But then, who else could be so clever?
November 13th, 2011Oh Monica, you are the cat’s pajama’s. Seriously. That is the most brilliant idea. And I am so happy I was there to see part of the creation. LOVING those slippered feet too.
November 13th, 2011Love your quilt! It is a great showcase for your lovely fabric, too! Very, very clever setting!
November 13th, 2011Awesome quilt Monica!! So fun. And I love your Only Sew What Makes Me Happy rule. I could really use that one on my Dear Jane. Thanks for the wisdom.
November 13th, 2011I love the way you made it totaly your own FWQ. I love the quilttop too.
Greetings from Holland,
November 13th, 2011Marga♥
AMAZING!
November 14th, 2011Your quilt just blew my mind. I can’t wait to see it when you’ve gotten it quilted. Gorgeous!!
Amazing. Amazing!!! I love your spin on the quilt!! So completely unique and wonderful. I’m so happy that you sewed along with us. You and your sweet slippers (love!) xx
November 14th, 2011Just brilliant! BRILLIANT. I love it.
November 14th, 2011You’re hysterical. I can see now that you definitely play with drugs. I LOVE your color placement on a lot of those blocks — you’ve got the eye — and I’m not talking about the stink eye either!!!
November 14th, 2011fabulous idea! I love what you’ve done ;)
November 14th, 2011Great post and great quilt layout. It makes me happy too! Your basket weave block is my favorite.
November 14th, 2011You are such a little ruler breaker ! Love the finished product. Also loving the “do what makes you happy” rule!
November 14th, 2011Simply Brilliant! Not only are there no ‘Quilt Police’ to insure that we stay in the lines. But we have you to guide us into the light of making ‘what makes me happy’!! thanks. ME
November 14th, 2011This completely made me smile this morning! Thank you so much!!
November 14th, 2011Love love love it!
November 14th, 2011and ?? you too. xo
Oh WOW!!!! I just love your quilt!!! Now that’s a Happy Zombie Ending if I’ve ever seen one! The tumbling off and broken blocks are a perfect ending to the quilt!!
Your quilt mirrors my ambition, but you are WAY more talented and ambitious. I get going and then fade away a lot sooner. Ahhh… my life in quilts!
November 14th, 2011Me again - forgot to mention how cute you are as a walking quilt!
Love the curly hair and slippers walking along in the roadway!!
November 14th, 2011I LOVE how your slippers go with your AADD Quilt !!!! I always try and match mine to my Adult Attention Deficit projects too !!!! I am in awe that you paid attention to the instructions as long as you did !!!! (I wouldn’t have made it past block #2 !) GOOD JOB Monica !!!! LOVE THAT QUILT !!!
November 14th, 2011I really wish you would call this AKA The Enough Is Enough Quilt. :-) Maybe I’ll stop where I’m at too.
November 14th, 2011Dude, I can’t believe you’re quitting on me! YOU made ME join. FW land feels a little emptier now somehow. :(
But I LOVE your quilt. Especially the commentary about your motivation/inspiration for this project with the block crashing at the bottom (if that’s what you meant … if not, I still think it’s hilarious!)
November 14th, 2011Oh Monica, how you make me laugh! That is an awesome quilt–just perfect! Good for you!
November 14th, 2011This is so awesome. And your post cracked me up. AND THEN?
November 14th, 2011lol! totally cracked me up! love your happy quilt and i love your slippers!
November 14th, 2011Oh Monica…your posts always make me laugh! But seriously, this quilt is just awesome!
November 14th, 2011Love it! So awesome!!!!
November 15th, 2011I love your style!!!!! Have this book too but haven’t made any blocks yet. #39 is my favorite and so glad I now “have permission” to make it my own way….too lazy to figure out the templates!
November 15th, 2011I love your blocks,especially Butterfly at the Crossroads. I am always impressed by your use of color, especially since it is so different from my home.
It’s been very fun seeing the different Farmer’s Wife blocks.
November 15th, 2011It’s wonderful - I love the spin you’ve put on the sampler quilt, genius!!
November 15th, 2011I think that is my all time favorite quilt I have ever seen. I love that it breaks the rules
November 15th, 2011Oh wowee!! I love it. And those slippers are so sassy!
November 15th, 2011Love the blocks and the FW bits and pieces. Definitely a kick!
November 15th, 2011That looks great! Love that you did what you wanted
November 16th, 2011That is hilarious! and the cute is fabulous. thanks for sharing honestly what I feel most of the time! I absolutely hate templates. I am always happy to start a project, but sometimes (mostly) I lose interest! Way to improvise!
November 16th, 2011Words can’t express how much I love this quilt!!!!!!! Original with a capital “O”.
November 16th, 2011Send that bee down to Chico will ya? I have only two blocks made and need something to get me going. Oh yeah, that is one awesome quilt MSS! I love that charcoal and how it makes your blocks stand up and be counted no matter what number they be…congrats!!
November 16th, 2011You should definitely get the toaster over. You just talked me into joining!!!!
November 16th, 2011Love the way you have mixed the solids with your zingy fabrics. Sometimes less….is more!
November 16th, 2011Oh, I put mine on a shelf, and I haven’t worked on it in sometime. As soon as the Holidays are over I am all over getting that thing DONE!! I love what you did. You are one smart girl it must be that good Oregon air that I miss so much!!!
November 16th, 2011Nadine ( Mrs. Osmond)
BRILLIANT!! Very cool quilt - inspiring and fun!!
November 16th, 2011Love this!!! Made me LOL! When the stash, WIPs and wish lists become “have to”s instead of “want to”s, it’s time to take a step back and ask “Are we having fun yet?” Thanks for the reminder with this quilt!!!
November 17th, 2011And this is why I love you, Monica. SO awesome. And the crashing blocks at the bottom are precisely the reason I never started the QAL. I just knew that would end up happening to me! So glad you finished it. A million points for tossing in a “dude, where’s my car” reference. Hilarious.
November 17th, 2011OMG the Boston girl in me is dying over the Rosie Ruiz reference! Awesome! Love the disintegrating block - a truly unique concept.
November 17th, 2011Wow! The final pictures were totally unexpected, and I love that! Kudos to you for making the Farmer’s Wife your own… nobody will have a FW quilt like this one, and it’s fabulous!
November 17th, 2011oh yes! love the blocks and falling pieces and how your slippers compliment all of it! you are a joy ~xo~
November 18th, 2011You are so clever… I love your quilt!
November 19th, 2011Love your blocks, they look fabulous in your fabrics. Your modern layout is great too.
November 21st, 2011hahahahahahahahaha……
November 23rd, 2011It’s awesome! I love it! You do have the best sense of humor. :)
November 23rd, 2011I love the way you made your quilt top so much, Monica! Love the contrast on it!
and of course your photos rock as usual!
December 1st, 2011I really enjoyed the story of your quilt. I would have never guessed from an initial gander that it was a FWQAL. It made me happy too!
January 21st, 2012I love your fabric choice for your blocks . Beautiful!
November 6th, 2012