The Farmer's Wife 1930's Block Tutorial - #83 Poppy

I'm feeling like the slackest blogger ever at the moment. I have been sewing quite a lot, and I'm hoping to have a chance to share what I've been working on really soon! I finished quilting and binding my improv quilt over the weekend, and I just need to get some decent photos so I can blog about it. And I've started my next class sample - more to come on that in the next week or two!

Today though, I'm sharing my next block tutorial in The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sew Along, hosted by Angie of Gnome Angel. My block this week is #83 - Poppy. I was a little dubious when I saw how many pieces are packed into this 6" block (over 60!?!), but she came together pretty happily in the end :o)

I've been using my stash of Japanese prints (mostly Suzuko Koseki and Dawaibo from both Polka Dot Tea and Sew Me A Song) for these blocks. I deliberately chose high contrast colours for this block, as I wanted to emphasise those tiny pieces. The orange print is quite small-scale, but the black and blue are both medium/large scale prints - I think the combination works quite well, despite the tiny size of the pieces. 

This is a pretty basic tutorial - I paper pieced my block - and the biggest advice I can give here is to identify which fabric goes with each template section and label it accordingly. This meant I could cut a bunch of squares from each of my three fabrics (mostly 2" squares, with a few 2" x 2.5" for the ends of the rows) and then piece them without having to think too carefully about what went where. 

Once I'd foundation pieced each of the sections (my friend Cat shares a great paper piecing tutorial here) I laid them out and double checked that I hadn't messed up my fabric placement. From there, it was simply a matter of piecing all those bits together.

I don't have all that much special advice here. I didn't use pins or clips to hold my pieces together - I actually find with really small sections like these, either of these tools actually shift my pieces just slightly and it causes more issues than if I don't pin. Go figure. I just made sure the edges of each pair of pieces lined up nicely, and sewed right along the solid line rather than using my 1/4" foot. I pressed my seams open in all cases, to spread the bulk as much as possible.

First, join F and G to E.

Then add the side sections of the middle star to (EFG) - these are sections H and I (pictured to each side of the block in this photo).

Followed by the first outer edge sections. These are sections C and D.

And finally the longer outer edge sections - sections A and B.

Every time I make one of these blocks I get the bug to keep making more - so once I get my last two class samples made for this year, I hope to get back to my Farmer's Wife 1930's quilt! 

The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 Quilt Blocks That Honor Them by Laurie Aaron Hird for Fons & Porter/F+W; RRP $28.99 – Click here to purchase.

Block #20 Caroline Tutorial - Farmer's Wife Sew Along

Today it's my turn to share a block tutorial with you for the Farmer's Wife Sew Along, hosted by Angie at Gnome Angel. I'll be walking you through how to put together block #20, Caroline.

This block is made up of half square triangles (HSTs) and quarter square triangles (QSTs). I will be walking you through how to put this block together, along with a few tips and tricks for piecing these units so that you get perfect points.

#20 CAROLINE TUTORIAL - ROTARY CUTTING

Step 1 - Cutting

To make this block using the rotary cutting method, you will need to cut squares of fabric.

a. The smaller squares are cut at the size shown on the rotary cutting instructions for Triangle B, but rounded up to the nearest half inch. You will need FOUR squares from one fabric (shown as blue in my block) and TWO squares from two other fabrics (the green and white stripe, and the green and blue stripe shown here). This is a total of EIGHT squares.

b. The larger squares are cut at double the measurement shown for Triangle B, rounded up to the nearest inch.

Step 2. Pair up your fabrics. 

The smaller squares will be paired up as shown in the photo below. The larger squares are paired up together.

Step 3. Draw a diagonal line through the centre on the wrong side of the lightest fabric in all of your six pairs of fabric. 

Step 4. 

a. Sew 1/4" either side of the line on all pairs of fabric, by lining the side of your patchwork foot up along the edge of the line

b. Cut along the drawn line on all pairs of fabric.

Step 5. Press your seams open. 

You will have two large HSTs and eight small HSTs as below. The large HSTs will be used in the quarter square triangle units, and the small HSTs will be used to make pinwheel units.

Step 6. Making the QST units

Take both your large HSTs, and draw a line diagonally through the centre on the wrong side of one of these. Pair them up so that the sewn seams on both the HSTs are lined up and you have different opposite fabrics paired either side of the seam as shown below.

You want to make sure these seams line up accurately along the line, so you get a really nice point in the centre of your block.

You can use a floating pin to help do this - push a pin exactly through the centre of the top HST.

then carefully lining up the edges of your two blocks, push the pin through the bottom HST, making sure it goes straight through the centre of the seam. 

Pin these together and sew either side of the line. 

 Cut along the drawn line, and press your seams open.

You will need to trim these QST units down to size. Look carefully at the photo below to see which points you will need to line up on your ruler to trim these blocks accurately. When these points are lined up, trim the right hand and top sides of your QST unit.

Turn your QST around so the trimmed sides are at the left and bottom. Follow the photo below to see which points to line up on your ruler, and again trim the right and top sides.

7. Trimming the HST units

Look carefully at the photo below to see where to line up your ruler on your HST blocks to trim them to size. You'll be lining the 45 degree line on your ruler up with the seam on your block. Position your ruler as shown, and then trim the right hand and top sides of your HST.

Turn your block so the trimmed sides are on the left and bottom, and follow the photo below to line up your ruler. Again, line up the 45 degree line on your ruler along the seam. Trim the right hand and top sides.

8. Make the pinwheel units

Take your eight finished HST units and arrange them in pairs as shown below.

 Sew these pairs together. I find by starting the seam at the end where the points join, I get my seams to match better. Press your seams open.

Next, sew the pairs of HSTs into pinwheel units. Pinning the seams as below will help keep the centre points aligned.

If you look at where the seams will match from the side, you can check that they're aligned properly. 

10. Sew your QST and pinwheel units into the block. 

Arrange your QST and pinwheel units as shown below. 

Sew them into pairs, pressing seams open.

 And finally sew the pairs together, using the same pinning technique as shown in step 9 above.
Press you seam open!

I actually made two versions of this block - I am learning so much about fabric placement by making these blocks! I definitely prefer the blue/green version, but I think this red/white version will make it's way into my quilt as well!

This tutorial is part of the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew Along, hosted by Angie of Gnome Angel and the Fat Quarter Shop.

If you would like to join the sew along, you can find the book here:
The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 Quilt Blocks That Honor Them by Laurie Aaron Hird for Fons & Porter/F+W; RRP $28.99 – Click here to purchase.

xx Jess

Farmers Wife Sew Along - Week 1 Roundup

You might have noticed a not-so-little event kick off this week - the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew Along, hosted by Angie of GnomeAngel. Angie has been working tirelessly for the last several months behind the scenes organising this sew along - and she has done a phenomenal job. Angie has thought of literally everything needed to make this sew along work smoothly, I absolutely take my hat off to her for taking on this massive year long project.

Angie has teamed up with Marti Michell and a bunch of bloggers (including me!), and we will all be sharing block tutorials for the 99 blocks over the next twelve months. It's a bit exciting to be honest - the Facebook group has hit almost 4000 members (!!), so it's definitely the biggest blog event I've participated in. The first three blocks were released this week - and there are tutorials by Angie as well as a couple of the guest bloggers. I've even managed to make my blocks for this week - I'm not sure I'll keep up over the whole twelve months, but at least I'm off to a good start! I've decided to use my stash of Suzuko Koseki prints for my quilt, along with a bunch of other coordinating prints as needed. It will be quite unlike any quilt I've made before - it's already an eclectic mix of prints.

Angie has organised the block schedule so we will be working from easiest through to hardest rather than working alphabetically through the book. So the first block - #12 Becky - was quick and easy to put together. I'm still not entirely sold on this block - but I'll wait till I've made a few more before I decide whether to remake this one or not. You can find the tutorial for this block by Angie, and tutorials for Becky (#12) and Bonnie (#16) by Lucy at Charm About You and Melissa at Oh, How Sweet. Co

The second block - Bonnie #16 - was another quick and easy make. I'm really happy with this one - not my normal choice of colours, but it's nice to make a soft and pretty block one in a while :o) 

The third block - #8 Aunt - was a wee bit more complicated, but way more simple than some of the blocks to come ;o). I ended up paper piecing the centre part, and then rotary cutting the 'borders'. I actually changed the outer fabric in this one, as I wasn't happy with the first version. Angie has put together a tutorial for this block, along with the uber talented Jodi of Tales of Cloth (whose block is spectacular!!) This is my first version...

I'm much happier with how it looks now!

I'm really glad I'm participating in this sew along - I actually have the first Farmer's Wife book but haven't made a single block. I'm definitely the sort of person who needs a sew along to keep me motivated with this kind of quilt, and I'm really hoping I'll keep up over the next year. I don't have a great track record with finishing QAL quilts, but I'm determined to get this one finished!

xx Jess