"Show Off the Farm"

Well, I’ve made a plain old Show Off and then Alaskan Show Off and now Show Off the Farm.

I’m making this quilt for the Farm Bureau dinner that is held in the fall every year in Dade City. Last year I made Country Links - the story is here.

I had something else in mind to do but I just couldn’t “get into” it - not yet anyway - maybe it’s because I’m just not sure about my own design. I decided to “quit fighting it” and just go with this one. Once I decided to make this design with these farm fabrics, I began to look forward to making this quilt - my other idea gave me this sense of dread. It’s just not quite ready to do.

Anyway, so I went back to this quick and easy, yet stunning design that is a real crowd-pleaser.

And that’s what we need.

Last year they used my quilt as an auction item instead of a door prize - the money going towards scholarships for young people. I’m fine with that. Mostly I wanted the advertising for the Quilted Twins shop there in Dade City, FL.

So, once again, I cut out 49 squares at 9.5” — fussy cutting where needed, I used my bandanna fabric that mostly I bought after my father passed away in 2015. I had used some for our memory quilts but still had some left. (My dad called himself a ‘farmer from Montana’.)

My husband kind of thinks the border makes it too busy. I think it makes for a mighty fine ‘I Spy” quilt for some little kids who might visit!

So far, it’s only a top - but I hope to work on it so that in a week or so it will be all finished. It is supposed to cool through the end of next week, so here’s hoping I can actually do some quilting next week. While it’s not too cool to work in the garden, the things I want to plant do better in warmer soil, so I’ll wait another week to plant. I found that when the soil is warmer, the seeds have a lot better germination rate and they come up ever so much faster! So I’ll wait. In the end it is worth it.

I used cows - horses, chickens, roosters sunflowers, some food items and some tractor fabric I had. I did NOT use all one fabric grouping. I used several different brands of fabric - ranging from Elizabeth’s Studios to Concord/VIP, Alexander Henry, Quilting Treasures and others.

The piano key borders used up a good bit of the misc. bits and pieces I had left over from fussy cutting. But not entirely. I’ll probably fold the leftovers all back up and put it back on the shelf with the other farm fabrics - trying to keep them together for the next farm themed quilt! Quilts for the Farm Bureau have to be farm-themed.

There were two new fabrics that my sis sent me directly from the shop - for which I was very grateful!

Here’s one of them! -

This one is Farm Animals by Elizabeth’s Studios. Should you want to buy some, it’s here.

This one measures almost 100”x100”. By the time I quilt it and wash it, it will be probably around the 95”x95” range. I’ll have to measure it and let you know after I finish it.

This cool fabric with the pickup also came from my sis. I really enjoyed fussy cutting it. I used the non fussy cut parts in the border.

And now you know - it’s one of the things I’ve been working hard on lately!

---

Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store!

---

---