Farmer’s Wife 1930s Quilt Blocks 65, 70, 81, 96, 97 and 99

And so I come to the end of my Farmer’s Wife 1930s blocks with these last six blocks.....

                               

Block 65 – Mother.  This was the second-to-last block I made but the last block to include inset seams.  If you paper-piece this block ignore pieces F2, G2, H2 and I2 – there is no need for them.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block no. 65 - Mother

Block 70 – Mrs Lloyd.  I don’t know why this block got pushed to the back of the queue, perhaps because I had enough flying geese at the beginning.  But I spent a pleasant hour patching and paper-piecing Mrs Lloyd.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block no. 70 - Mrs Lloyd

Block 81 – Peony.  I was thinking of taking the easy way out to make Peony using Gnome Angel’s simpler alternative.  However, this was the last block I had to make so I decided to go for it.  What a mistake!!!  There are four 90-degree inset seams, one center partial seam and over 50 pieces.  There would’ve been more pieces but I couldn’t see why the E3/E4, F3/F4, G3/G4 and H3/H4 pieces had been split (utter madness) so I joined them together.  In the history of quilting, I can say with utter certainty – I will NEVER, EVER make this block again.   My advice to you – take the simpler alternative.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block no. 81 - Peony

  

Block 96 – Tirzah.  I struggled to get the outer middle parts to match up with the corner units.  This had the effect of me not liking this block very much.  But it measures 6½” and it is done.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block no. 96 - Tirzah

Block 97 – Tracy.  When making this block you really need to pay attention when stitching the sections together.  It is easy to get them muddled up.  Pay attention and this block goes together fairly easily.  But be warned – it is a lot of work.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block no. 97 - Tracy

Block 99 – Widow.  The date on this page of the block reminds me that I paper-pieced this block in September 2015!  It is an okay block but very similar to many others in the book.  It is the fabrics that make it different.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block no. 99 - Widow

So there you have it – all 99 blocks completed.  If you want to see all the blocks together head over to my Farmer's Wife 1930s Pinterest Board.  I am finishing off the sashing and then it will be off to the quilters.  I will post photos here and on social media when I get it back.  Time to raise a glass and toast in the New Year. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 

xxxxx

Farmer’s Wife 1930s Quilt Blocks 88, 89, 91, 92, 93, and 95

I am finishing up my Farmer’s Wife 1930s quilt and this is the penultimate post with six blocks detailed......

                               

Block 88 – Rosemary.  This was a straightforward block to paperpiece – it just took a long time.  But no problems and I love the strawberry colours.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 88 - Rosemary

Block 89 – Ruby.  I wasn’t sure I would like this block as it is an odd design where none of the seams match.  However, it turned out really pretty using just two charm squares for each colour.  Notes in the book read “I may have stitched the sections together incorrectly but we will never know and it doesn’t matter.”

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 89 - Ruby

Block 91 – Sarah.  Another block full of half-square-triangles and flying geese.  A little boring after some of the more challenging blocks in the book.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 91 - Sarah

Block 92 – Sonnie.  It is over a year ago that I paper-pieced this block.  My scribbled notes in the book remind me that it took “1 hour and 20 mins but it turned out lovely and to size”.   That it did. 

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 92 - Sonnie

Block 93 – Starlight.  This is one of my favourite blocks – it turned out perfectly to size and oh so pretty.  I changed the paper-piecing templates to make it easier to line up a direction print so F1 became F2, E1 became E2, G1 became G2 and H1 became H2 (and F2 became F1, etc, etc).

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 93 - Starlight

Block 95 – Sylvia.  This block was a dream to put together using a mixture of paper-piecing and patchwork.  Notes read “prettiest block in the book – my favourite.”  I used 1½” squares for the paper-piecing from my scrap box and cut the outer borders larger than needed and trimmed the block to size.  Who'd have thought scraps could look this good?

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 95 - Sylvia

I hope to be back on New Year’s Eve with the very last six Farmer’s Wife 1930s blocks.  So until then ......

Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt Blocks 59, 60, 63 and 64

Time for another four blocks from the 1930s Farmer’s Wife quilt .....

                               

Block 59 – Mary.  I thought I might make this block scrappy but after looking at the balance of blocks I realised I needed more blue and more yellow. It pays to lay your blocks out when you have complete fifty or so, turn away and then turn back to look at them.  What colours do you need more of to provide balance and cohesion?

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 59 - Mary

  

Block 60 – Mary Gray.  Here is something very unusual – no notes in my book just a date - 20 May 2016. I think we can assume that this block was straightforward as well otherwise there would be scribbling.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 60 - Mary Gary

Block 63 – Mollie.  This is my most recent block – made just a few days ago when I was poorly and stuck at home.  Notes in book read “home with sore throat – paper-pieced easily”.  It should also read ‘felt so much better for doing a little sewing’.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 63 - Mollie

Block 64 – Monette.  Ooh-la-la. The templates on the CD are not sized correctly so I patched and paper-pieced this block.  I paper-pieced the four corners and patched them together.  Mon amie – c’est bonne, n’est-ce pas? 

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 64 - Monette

I still have three blocks to make and a few more to blog about.  So until next time ......

Farmer’s Wife 1930's Quilt Blocks 83, 84, 85 and 87

Block 87 - Prudence rejigged (see notes below)

It is a while since I posted any Farmer's Wife 1930s blocks so here are another four blocks .....

Block 83 – Poppy.  This block was a lot of work and took two evenings to complete.  The notes in my book suggest it is easier if you take the paper-piecing papers off prior to joining the sections.

Block 83 - Poppy

  

Block 84 – Posy.  I changed the template everso slightly in order to eradicate eight ‘Y’ inset seams making the red crossbars straight at the ends rather than pointed.  I also couldn’t understand why the paper-piecing templates had fussy itty-bitty corner triangles making up the corner squares – there was no need when a small square would work equally well (see the solid red corner squares in the photo).

Block 84 - Posy

 

Block 85 – Primrose.  What a lovely block for using up some of the scraps left over from all the other blocks.  Notes in book read “went together fine using my 1½” scraps”.

Block 85 - Primrose

Block 87 – Prudence.  “My advice when paper-piecing this block according to the book – DON’T DO IT.”  I first made this block using the templates in the book - what a nightmare!   So I redid Prudence by patching a nine-patch centre with four corner half-square triangles (tip:  make your HST bigger and trim them down to size).  I then taped the paper-piece templates together as indicated by the red lines on the diagram below.  So much easier.

NOTE:  this diagram is for illustration purposes only and is not to size – you need to print the templates that come with the book. 

You can see the difference when the two blocks are placed side-by-side (click on the photo to see a bigger image).

Block 87 Prudence
(Left using templates - Right using my changes)

There are still a few more blocks to blog about which I hope to do before the end of the year.  To see all the blocks together just click on the 'Farmer's Wife' tab above or visit my Farmer's Wife Pinterest board.  

Until next time ......

Farmer’s Wife 1930s Quilt Blocks 72, 73, 74, 75, 77 and 98

I am catching up on the Very Kerry Berry sew-along this week with another five Farmer’s Wife 1930s blocks.

                               

Block 72 – Mrs Smith.  There are a lot of notes in my book for this block.  Firstly “make sure you sew the arrows (chevrons) together correctly – don’t turn the pieces upside down”.  This comment tells you how my piecing went initially.  Next “make one corner unit and one arrow unit and use that as a guide for the others”.  More mistakes in my piecing which I soon corrected.  Overall note reads “really tricky block for placement – it is not enough just to mark colours on the chart.”

Farmer's Wife 1930s block no. 72 - Mrs Smith

 

Block 73 – Mrs Taft.  Thankfully this block was easier than Mrs Smith.  I made it scrappy but it would look good in two colours with one background as shown in the book.

Farmer's Wife 1930s block no. 73 - Mrs Taft

Block 74 – Mrs Thomas.  This looks complicated.  But it isn’t.  I split the center quite simply by patching four squares together and then cutting it on the angle.  Notes say it all ‘Loved making this block’.

Farmer's Wife 1930s block no. 74 - Mrs Thomas

Block 75 – Nan.  I initially made this block using English paper-piecing whilst watching over my father one Saturday morning.  Notes in book from October last year tell me “there are glimpses of the old Dad in there but not many”.   (I remade this block by machine - shown at the top of this post.)        

Farmer's Wife 1930s block no. 75 - Nan

Block 77 – Nellie.  I patched this block rather than paper-pieced it just because I was in the mood for a little patchwork.  It is not perfect but I like it and the imperfections will not show once it is quilted.  

Farmer's Wife 1930s block no. 77 - Nellie

It reminds me of Block 98 – Viola which I also patched last September.  The notes for Viola apply to Nellie “lovely block to patch using strip piecing for checkerboards.”

Farmer's Wife 1930s block no. 98 - Viola

You can find all my Farmer’s Wife blocks on my Pinterest page or by clicking on the ‘Farmer’s Wife 1930s’ tab above.

Until next time   ......

Farmer’s Wife 1930s Quilt Blocks 54, 56, 58, 66, 68 and 69

 

Time to catch up on my Farmer’s Wife quilt blocks.  I shall be making the last few blocks over the next few weeks and hope to finish piecing the quilt top before June is out. So let’s get going .....

                               

Block 54 – Magnolia.  I initially pieced this block incorrectly (leaves are the wrong way round) so I turned that into a Quilty Zip Pocket and set about paper-piecing this block correctly.  

My notes for this block state ‘too many seams so I combined A4 with A5, B3 with B4, C1 with C2 and D1 with D2.

Farmer's Wife 1930s block no. 54 - Magnolia

Block 56 – Marcella.  This is simple block and I am surprised it wasn’t one of the earlier blocks on the Gnome Angel sew along.  Notes state ‘really easy – paper-pieced whilst waiting for daughter to come home from work.’

Farmer's Wife 1930s block no. 56 - Marcella

Block 58 – Martha.  I patched this block back in October 2015.  It is just a collection of half-square and quarter square triangles.

Farmer's Wife 1930s block no. 58 - Martha

 

Block 66 – Mrs Anderson.  This was a “lovely block to make.”  I took off all paper-piecing paper off the four corners before patching the sections together.

Farmer's Wife 1930s block no. 66 - Mrs Anderson

Block 68 – Mrs Fay.  My notes in the book say it all “strewth – why oh why has the paper-piecing templates been created in such a convoluted, difficult manner.  No need for insets or half-triangle squares.  I patched this block easily with rectangles and squares.”  My notes on Instagram suggest a shortcut ‘I calculated cutting sizes myself but I have since noticed that this block is incredible similar to LoriHolt’s Winter Star Block from her Farm Girl Vintage book.’

Farmer's Wife 1930s block no. 68 - Mrs Fay

Block 69 – Mrs Keller.  I patched this block as it was a case of a simple nine-patch center and then quick corners for the sides and half-square triangles for the corners.  Notes read “okay – nothing special to make”.  But it sure did turn out pretty.

Farmer's Wife 1930s block no. 69 - Mrs Keller

 

Very Kerry Berry has covered a few of the blocks whilst I have been unwell so my Block-a-Day makes this week will be including Block 59 Mary and Block 60 Mary Gray. 

You can find all my Farmer’s Wife blocks on my Farmer's Wife Pinterest Board or by clicking on the tab above.

Until next time   ......

Farmer's Wife 1930s blocks 48, 50 and 52

Very Kerry Berry has covered six Farmer’s Wife 1930s blocks since we last met – three of which I have blogged about previously but three of which are new.  Let’s take it in numerical order:

Block 47 – Joy.  This is a lovely block and one which I covered in January.   Notes in my book read ‘okay to paper-piece – pretty block’.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 47 - Joy

Block 48 – Judy.  This is one of the new blocks which I have only just made.  It is the same as block 29 Doris but with a different center.  I patched the center and corner squares but paper-pieced the sharp triangle patches. She reminds me of Judy Garland - it is the orange polka dot.  

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 48 - Judy

Block 49 – Katherine.  I patched this block way back in October 2015.  It is not one of my favourites – I guess I prefer a symmetrical approach.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 49 - Katherine

Block 50 - Lady.  This is another ‘new’ block to the blog but one which I made back in November last year.  Notes read “a simple paper-pieced block with endless possibilities depending on fabric.  You could even patch the centre.”   

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 50 - Lady

Block 51 – Lily.  This is a block that I blogged about in January.   Notes in my book read ‘nothing with this block went together easily.  It is a very pretty block but not one I want to make again!”.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 51 - Lily

and finally ..... Block 52 – Lola.  I patched this block using the paper templates.  “Pretty in Gooseberry fabrics”.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 52 - Lola

The Gnome Angel sew-along has reduced to one block a week and this week’s block is one which was a lot of work back in October 2015 - block no. 6 April.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 6- April

I'll be back shortly with an update on The Splendid Sampler blocks - they are coming along very nicely but if you can't wait you can find them all on my Splendid Sampler Pinterest board here ........  

Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt Blocks 41, 42, 43 and 44

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block no. 43 - Hope

VeryKerry Berry is chasing through the Farmer’s Wife 1930s sampler quilt with another four blocks:

Block 41 – Granny.  I cheated with this block and paper-pieced it in such a way that I eradicated those silly half-triangle squares.  Find out more HERE. 

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block no. 41 - Granny

Block 42 – Heather.   Another block that I’ve covered already HERE.  I loved this block – so much that I made two.  .

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block no. 42 - Heather

Then we came to a block I was looking forward to and which I like the look of....

Block 43 – Hope.  This block has a partial seam and my notes read “not sure I got the partial seam perfect but it is pretty and to size”.  It is also sashed and joined to another already!

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block no. 43 - Hope

Block 44 – Iris.   I struggled with this block.  Notes tell all .....  “Seams didn’t match up when joining two halves.  I don’t quite know why because the middle and ends match and it is to size.  Unpicked and restitched.  Better match but still unsure.  Maybe I am being too fussy.” 

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block no. 44 - Iris

GnomeAngel managed another two blocks before scheduling a break until 1^st March.  Both blocks are covered briefly here as they have been blogged about before:

Block 11 – Bea.  This has been blogged about HERE.  I like how the handle looks like ribbon – it isn’t, it is the small stripe on the fabric that makes it appear so.

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block no. 11 - Bea

Block 23 – Charlotte.  This was an easy block to paper-piece and I made it in two halves.  Nothing challenging – quite straightforward.  

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block no. 23 - Charlotte

I actually only have another 7 or 8 blocks to make and you can see all the blocks I've made so far over on my Farmer’s Wife PinterestBoard or on my Farmer’s Wife tab above.

Sew until tomorrow when I shall be sharing my Splendid Sampler blocks .......