farmers wife sew along

Well hello there, and thanks for stopping by again for a peek at one of the Farmer’sWife 1930’s sampler quilt blocks we are making this week!

I hope you are all having fun learning some new sewing techniques on the Farmer’s Wife sew along hosted by the Fat Quarter Shop, Angie from Gnome Angel and Marti Michell.

I’d like to introduce you to #61 May.

Again, I am cutting my pieces directly from the paper pieces included with The Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt book.

This might seem like a tricky little block but if you take your time it will be easy peasy. I promise.

I started by laying my gray dog ear type pieces onto the center white base piece and stitching them on.

Press them open.

Be sure to follow the diagram in your Farmers Wife books so you can follow the exact template layout.

Helpful tip: Your sewing line should stop 1/2″ from the end of your piece so you can manuever the piece around and make your second sewing line.

Carefully turn your fabric piece so the bottom edge lines up with the right side of your bottom pieces and stitch. Your dog ear will fold up a little but don’t worry about that, you won’t be stitching over the top of it ….. it just needs to get out of the way for a minute or two.

Note: I used red thread for my picture so you could see where the stitching stops and starts.

Press open and watch the magic happen.

Repeat that process until you have four units.

And now it’s time to start bringing your units together to form your May Farmer’s Wife block.

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.

Happy 1930’s style sewing friends ….. and don’t forget to come back and take a peek at my Farmer’s Wife Gallery for inspiration.

well hello there and thanks for stopping by for a peek at two of the Farmer’sWife 1930’s sampler quilt blocks we are making this week!

I am so excited to be one of the guest bloggers for this fun Farmer’s Wife sew along hosted by the Fat Quarter Shop, Angie from Gnome Angel and Marti Michell.

I’d like to introduce you to #49 Katherine & #94 Susannah. They are just two of the quilt blocks from The Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt book.

I have to admit I was a little bit nervous about making any of the Farmer’s Wife blocks. I almost talked myself out of even trying.

So …… I hope that by sharing my blocks with you and a few helpful tips I’ve learned along the way…. that you will give it a try too. Even if you have to use the seam ripper a few times. Or twenty.

There is a CD that comes with your book ….. that includes templates for each block. All you have to do is print them and cut out your shapes.

Then pin your paper template to the fabric and cut. Easy right?

I know this sounds intimidating to some of you because we have gotten so used to our patterns being written with specific cutting measurements. Not so much with paper of plastic templates.

It’s time to be creative and shake up the way we think to try something new so we can make one of these beautiful Farmer’s Wife Quilts.

Both Katherine & Susannah are fairly simple blocks ….. so after cutting your pieces according to shape and color, follow the diagram in your book to lay out your block & stitch the pieces together.

You can see they both share similar templates, so it was easier to make them both at the same time.

Helpful tips I’ve learned…..

Don’t panic! This book can seem overwhelming at first glance but if you take your time …. work slow and steady, you will be so excited when you learn it wasn’t that hard after all. And …. you’ll have some pretty cute quilt blocks started.
Follow the color code. Next to each block diagram they show you the shapes used & they are marked by color. If you don’t follow the color code for each shape exactly, your block will not look like it was designed.
Keep your book open. You will want to keep the block diagram open for reference. Because if your like me and get distracted easily, you will come back and start putting things in the wrong place. #thatsaconfession
Use your book. Each block not only shows a color code for specific pieces, but it also shows a block assembly diagram to help guide you in stitching them together. Using that as a guide will be very helpful.
Put the kids to bed before sewing. When you try to make these blocks with your toddler marching to her own parade in your sewing room, you may get distracted and make a mistake like I did.