Hands To Work Quilt ~ Farmer's Daughter Fabric Collection
Long, long ago, I saw this truly unique antique quilt and it really stuck with me. I adore everything about this quilt, and knew I wanted to reproduce it, and a collection of fabrics to go with it.
The unusual pairing of reds, pinks, blacks, blues and gray prints against the Mourning print is so stunning. The block, and the seemingly endless options with fabrics, only makes it all the better! And so.....my Farmer's Daughter fabric collection came to be!
Since the Mourning print has such a huge role in the quilt, I knew it had to be special. I wanted a simple, non-directional print and found just that in this lovely old berry design. Here is what the original antique fabric looks like....it always was a Mourning print. Authentic!
If you don't know what a Mourning print is.....way back in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, folks in mourning over the loss of a loved one, wore black or grey clothes for many months...often a year to show their grief. Hence the term, Mourning prints. There are many Mourning print in my vintage quilts, but I really don't see a whole quilt like this where the Mourning print is the main background. That's why I adore this quilt!
The antique quilt has blues and pinks.....
lights and reds......
....blacks and grays. I love the prints in this collection and they all played together so well in the blocks. Oh, yes....about the block....
If I were making this block 100+ years ago, I would have cut diamond shapes and sewed the block with Y seams.
Nope....not gonna happen for today's quilters! So, I redrafted the block so there are NO diamonds to cut or dreaded Y seams to sew!
There's an endless number of ways you can play with the positioning of the fabrics, and the colors.....
So very fun to play with them. No matter how I played with fabric, and position, there isn't a bad block in the bunch!The quilt is being finished as I write this, so I don't have a photo of my finished quilt just yet. (I'll post more photos on Instagram and Facebook once the quilt comes home.)
This is my Electric Quilt design of my Hands To Work quilt. It looks much darker than it really is because EQ compresses the prints/colors when you want to see the whole quilt. Refer to the block photos and fabric photos for the real coloring of the quilt. I named the quilt, Hands To Work, after the phrase 'hands to work, hearts to God,' because when we are hurt, sad, grieving....we often turn to our sewing....keeping our hands busy to get through those tough times. I thought it was a very fitting name.
The quilt size is about 77 x 90.
If you love Hands To Work as much as I do, you can PRE-ORDER a kit for a very limited time. My Farmer's Daughter fabric collection is available now, so once I know how many kits are ordered, I can place my order for the fabric. I expect to be shipping your kit to you mid-July.
You can reserve your Hands To Work quilt kit with a $50 non-refundable deposit. Read all the order details and place your order here. This offer ends Sunday, June 20th. Kits will NOT be available unless you pre-order one.
Thank you for your continued support of my patterns and fabrics for Marcus Fabrics!
Please patronize your local quilt shop, and ask for Farmer's Daughter fabrics there.
In the studio.....I am working on the quilt directions for my next quilt, Needle & Thread, featuring a brand new collection of glorious basics! Wait until you see that collection....be still my heart!
Keep your needle busy and your heart content.....Be well
