by Laurie Aaron Hird
Published by Fons & Porter on February 29th 2016
Style: Perforated pages, single page illustrations
Pages: 144
Format: Card cover
Goodreads
When quilting meets coloring, beautiful things happen!
Laurie Aaron Hird's bestselling Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt series has been recreated in this commemorative coloring book designed around time-honored blocks and inspired fabric motifs. The traditional blocks, inspired by actual letters from 1920s and 30s farmer's wives, give quilters a glimpse into life in the country during the era of the Great Depression.
The Farmer’s Wife Quilt Coloring Book Review
The Farmer’s Wife have produced a series of quilting books. They have now reproduced the designs found in their Sampler Quilts books into a coloring book. This seems like a good idea to me 🙂 I have made quilts in the past and there is something about the randomness of patterns, colors and designs that translates well into the coloring book world for me.
This designs used in this book are based on the traditional quilting blocks used by farmer’s wives in the Great Depression.
The book is only small measuring approximately 20 cm x 20 cm (8in x 8in) with a glossy card cover.
Inside you will find 70 designs printed on cream perforated paper. Some colorists may have preferred a white paper but the cream paper was a choice by the artist to produce a look similar to the era, and provide harmony with the completed work.
There is a variety of designs throughout to suit different levels of complexity. It appears, and I would have appreciated some direction from the book’s introduction, that the book is divided into chapters. Each chapter starts with a design of the different types of block designs/patterns that you can create in a simple outline. The pages following are the various block patterns to suit each overall design. Overall, there appears to be 7 “chapters” for example, blocks, pinwheel designs. See the image below for an example of the “chapter” design. On each chapter there are 9 blocks that comprise the entire design. In each chapter of the book the main chapter is followed by 9 designs, that have been designed for that particular type of block work within that theme.
The Farmer’s Wife – Chapter Placement Page
The Farmers Wife’s Quilt – Illustrations for the design theme based on block 8 of the chapter design above
It has been a while since I’ve done quilting and other than remembering the basics like “pinwheel” the rest of my knowledge is blank. It would have been nice if the author/artist had provided information on the names of the designs ie pinwheel, basketweave etc so colorists could also learn the terminology.
The patterns on each design comprise a mix of florals and abstract as you would expect from the era. Some of the patterns are quite small and may cause discomfort to those that suffer from minor visual impairment. If you are using pencils you would need a very sharp pencil point for some of the smaller details. The images have been centered on the page well, providing enough space between the image and the spine of the book for comfortable coloring.
The line work is dull black and the line weight is fine/delicate overall. The thinness of the line weight may be an issue for those with motor skills impairment and visual impairment in conjunction with the size of the book image.
Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt Coloring Book
The illustrations can easily be removed from the book using the solid perforations which is good because the book does not lay down completely flat. The illustrations are printed on single sided paper. If you were coloring, in the book, I would use a blotter between the pages. The paper is thin but good quality and smooth to the touch.
If you enjoy quilting and coloring you might like this book that combines two popular hobbies in one.
The Farmer’s Wife Quilt Coloring Book Video Review
Enjoy the video review of the Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt Coloring Book below:
Where to Buy The Farmer’s Wife Quilt Coloring Book Review
| Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | Book Depository |
Happy coloring x
Lea
Hi Lea,
I just wanted to say Thank you for all the colouring book review’s you do, I really enjoy it and being a fellow Aussie it’s great for me to see what the book’s look like before I purchase over the internet.
I really do appreciate the time you take doing your video’s and get all excited when I see another video from you in my inbox.
Regard’s
Meagan
Thanks Megan! Your feedback means a lot to me! I just wish my normal voice would come back after 6 weeks of bronchitis from hell 🙁 Keep an eye on your inbox in the next few days – I’m celebrating 200 videos since February!
Just received a few free pages with these quilt samplers..look interesting..will see how it goes.
Thanks Lea⚘⚘⚘⚘