The Farmer's Wife Pony Club Sampler Quilt: Letters From the Lucky Pony Winners of 1915 and 90 Blocks That Tell Their Stories

In the early 1900s the Webb Publishing Company created The Farmer's Wife Pony Club, inviting children to join and compete for prizes by selling subscriptions to The Farmer's Wife magazine. The grand prize was a Shetland pony with bridle, saddle and often a carriage. To satisfy skeptics who doubted that a child would receive a pony, the editors asked the winners to send photographs of themselves with their ponies. Many of the children also sent thank you letters along with their photographs. These endearing, poignant, and sometimes hilarious, letters provide a unique window into the lives of children in rural America in the early 20th century.

Directions for making 90-8" blocks to complete a queen-size quilt

90 letters from the Lucky Pony Winners, along with 100 year old photographs

300+ Page CD

Templates organized by block

Foundation patterns

Rotary cutting measurements

Full-size black line drawing of each block

Assembly diagrams for lap, twin, queen and king size quilts

Pony Letter Excerpts

I would not sell "Bullet" for any price as he is the best and dearest friend I have in the world, and if any boy is lucky enough to win a pony I think he is the happiest in the United States.

I must tell you some of the cute things my pony "Sweetheart" does. One day mamma was picking cherries and "Sweetheart" was around the tree so he knocked the ladder down and mamma had to stay up in the tree for some time until someone came and put the ladder up for her...He does so many cute things...

There isn't a store in town where "Larry" hasn't been in. He goes in the drug store and the druggist knows he wants ice cream and he bows enough to say, "Yes." He gives him a cone of ice cream and "Larry" will eat every bit of it and then looks for more...Then the druggist gives him some gum and he will chew the gum and I am on his back all the time...

Book to be released: Summer 2011