Laurie Aaron Hird

The book contains letters written to The Farmer's Wife magazine in 1922 saying why or why not they would want their daughters to marry a farmer. The reasons were interesting and still relevant today. There were only a few letters that had the slang of those days that reminded me of the times in which the letters were written. A lot of the women also had experience living in both the city and the farm life and though the city women look down on them, the women pity the city women for not having the equal treatment in marriage or the community that they have, as well as the freedom of the pocketbook. Morality of farm life was brought up often and compared to the "entertainment" in the city.
The book does include a CD of templates for quilt blocks.… (mehr)

I like all block dictionaries. I like them because I can always find a new block and the new blocks starts me on a fun creative spiral. [b:The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt: 55 Letters and the 111 Blocks they Inspired|6878287|The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt 55 Letters and the 111 Blocks they Inspired|Laurie Aaron Hird|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348820062s/6878287.jpg|7095579] is no exception, but I have a few beefs with this book. The idea is that you make these blocks with templates. The crazy way I have heard of people using templates through this project (which has taken hold in the Modern Quilt community) is frightening. The problem I have is that there are no rotary cutting instructions (though you can buy an EQ6 CD with all the patterns on it). In this day and age, I find that to be crazy as well.

There are also no line drawings of the blocks. People need to be able to see the pieces without the colors the author chooses.… (mehr)

The title of this book immediately caught my eye as a Farmer’s Wife, and a quilter! I was quite excited when I contacted Laurie with an offer to review a copy of her latest book.
The book surpassed what I even imagined it would be like.

My all-time favorite quilting book!! And quite possibly my favorite book reviewed this year!

The combination of the letters from the Lucky Pony Winners of 1915 sponsored by Webb Publishing company, and fantastic quilt block designs for each letter, the book spotlights 90 beautiful blocks to be put into a sampler.

Original concept, fantastic photos, brilliant historical recollections, and absolutely beautiful quilt blocks.

One of the plusses of this book is that regardless of your type of quilting; using templates, foundation piecing, or rotary cutting, the directions are written for each. A CD is included with the book that provides cutting instructions for each block and the assembly diagrams. This book can easily be used by a beginner through advanced quilter and the options for color design, or placement are endless for your finished quilt.

The history alone from these Pony Winning kids, born in the early 1900’s and the photos along with many of the letters makes this a fantastic read even for those who don’t personally quilt.

A MUST for anyone you know who quilts, or loves to look at quilting books. Laurie has outdone herself in this book, and to think she did it all with young ones still at her side, and a home to take care of.

I can’t say enough about the historical aspect of the book, and the merging with the design of the quilt blocks to represent each letter.… (mehr)