Scallops, scallops and more scallops!! {Farmer's Wife}

Part of me hasn't wanted to share this post - I wanted to wait until I could do a big reveal. But I love reading about the process, and I assume others do as well.
And this process has been a VERY long time coming. I started my Farmer's Wife quilt in January of 2012, and with my plans to hand quilt it, it won't be done anytime this year.
Back in March of this year I called it good with making my Farmer's Wife blocks. I stopped at 42 blocks and pieced it into this pretty, pretty top. 

And then I started scheming a border. I had A LOT of fabric left over. And then it came to me. Scallops!

Scallops started coming together in April 2013

I wish I could remember how I figured it out, and how I made my scallops, but I honestly have no clue. I made 2 sizes with the plan to alternate them. And back in April I spent a lot of time working on hand basting them. (My method: iron freezer paper template on back of fabric, take a running stitch around the curve of the template in the seam allowance, then pull so the fabric hugs the template. Give it a good press, remove freezer paper. Ta-da! Pretty scallop ready for applique.) But then it my husband went away for a training and I didn't spend my evenings sitting on the couch watching TV with him, so they got set aside. And I realized I didn't want to wait til he is back home and we are back sitting on our couch to finish them, so I pulled them out last week, and finished up basting. It's really boring.

 

And then I started appliqueing. Thankfully everything worked according to my plan size wise. I swear the hand appliqueing of the scallops is going faster than basting them did. 

 

I just finished up one strip (with 17 of the 64 scallops!) Right now it's a bit wobbly because my scallops strip ended up a bit too long, I maybe should have smooshed them together a bit more. I really don't want to redo it though...I guess we'll see. But I LOVE it! 

 

Here is a close up view, I pressed towards the scallops which just added to the wobble. 

{I apologize for the poorly lit phone pictures. Fabrics used on my Farmer's Wife quilt are mainly Ruby by Bonnie and Camille, with a few pieces from Bliss and Vintage Modern, and coordinating solids.}