Farmer's Wife - Week 26

Week 26 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along brings three more blocks that should be fairly easy, but still interesting.  The blocks are:

• Block 56 - Maple Leaf
• Block 85 - Square Dance
• Block 101 - Wedding Ring

Farmer's Wife - Week 25 - Our Blocks

For week 25 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, we made three more blocks using mostly Foundation Paper Piecing.  Here are our blocks:

Farmer's Wife - Week 25

We'll be doing more Foundation Paper-piecing and a few other familiar methods for week 25 for our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along.  Our blocks this week are:

• Block 44 - Gentleman's Fancy
• Block 47 - Homemaker
• Block 53 - Jackknife

Farmer's Wife - Week 24 - Our Blocks

We are moving along with our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, having now finished 67 blocks!  We are well past the half-way mark.  Here are the blocks we finished in week 24.

Farmer's Wife - Week 23 - Our Blocks

For week 23 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, we completed three more blocks; one was pretty challenging and the other two were fairly simple.  Here are our blocks:

Farmer's Wife - Week 22 - Our Blocks

We made a LOT of HSTs this week and threw in a few simple squares, but that doesn't mean they were simple squares!  Here are our blocks for week 22 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along.

Farmer's Wife - Week 24

For week 24 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, we will be making more Flying Geese units and HSTs.  The blocks we are making are:

• Block 25 - Cups & Saucers
• Block 62 - Old Windmill
• Block 105 - Wild Goose Chase

Farmer's Wife - Week 23

For week 23 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, we use Foundation Paper Piecing two blocks and traditional piecing for one.  The blocks we are making are:

• Block 36 - Flower Garden Path
• Block 74 - Ribbons
• Block 96 - Tulip

Farmer's Wife - Week 21 - Our Blocks

Week 21 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along included some rather complicated blocks with some alternative piecing options.  Here are our blocks:

Farmer's Wife - Week 20 - Our Blocks

We continued using our traditional and efficient piecing methods for week 20 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, making three more blocks.  Here are the blocks we made.

Farmer's Wife - Week 22

For week 22 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, we'll be cutting and making a lot of squares, HSTs and a few rectangles.

• Block 38 - Four Winds
• Block 68 - Postage Stamp
• Block 106 - Wild Rose & Square

English Paper Piecing Progress

Earlier this year I shared my new interest in English Paper Piecing.  Well, I'm obsessed now!  I'm plotting my next move into working on a Passacaglia quilt.  But until then, here is more of I started.

Farmer's Wife - Week 21

For week 21 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, we go back to using Foundation Paper Piecing with some alternatives depending on your color choices.

• Block 33 - Farmer's Puzzle
• Block 65 - Peaceful Hours
• Block 110 - Wood Lily

Farmer's Wife - Week 19 - Our Blocks

Week 19 we introduced a new pieced unit called "Dog-eared triangle" that was used in each of these blocks.  We also used a variety of other familiar piecing methods.

Bumble Bee Quilt for Baby Gigi

When I learned that a friend was expecting a baby, I hoped I'd be able to make a baby quilt as a gift.  She shared that the theme of the baby room would be Bumble Bees and gave me some color swatches, so I began planning.

Farmer's Wife - Week 20

For week 20 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, we have three blocks that use a variety of piecing techniques we've been using.

• Block 22 - Corn & Beans
• Block 80 - Single Wedding Star
• Block 98 - Waterwheel

Farmer's Wife - Week 18 - Our Blocks

Week 18 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along included blocks that used mostly foundation paper piecing.  With this posting, we are completely caught up, and I've learned that I'm now behind on week 19.  I need to get in gear!

Farmer's Wife - Week 19

Week 19 of the Farmer's Wife Quilt-along introduces three more blocks that have some interesting new techniques.  We'll be making:

• Block 28 - Duck & Ducklings
• Block 40 - Friendship Block
• Block 64 - Peace & Plenty

Farmer's Wife - Weeks 16 & 17 - Our Blocks

We are catching up (again) so here are two weeks of our completed blocks; weeks 16 & 17.

Farmer's Wife Quilt-along - Weeks 16 & 17

Farmer's Wife - Week 18

This week our blocks all use foundation paper piecing, but also with a few simple cut pieces, a few HST's, and an hourglass thrown in just to keep things interesting.

• Block 8 - Bouquet
• Block 23 - Country Farm
• Block 24 - Country Path

Farmer's Wife - Week 17

This week we will be making a lot of Half-Square Triangle (HST) blocks for our three Farmer's Wife blocks.  We are making:

• Block 11 - Broken Dishes
• Block 16 - Calico Puzzle
• Block 21 - Contrary Wife

Farmer's Wife - Week 16

We are back from vacation, all caught up, and ready for another week of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-Along!  This week we'll be making three more blocks, but these all have something in common.  Each block includes Flying Geese Rectangle blocks.  I posted information on the Flying Geese block here, so read up on that before getting started.

Our blocks this week are:

• Block 15 - Buzzard's Roost
• Block 31 - Evening Star
• Block 87 - Star Gardener

Farmer's Wife - Week 15 - Our Blocks

For Week 15 of the Farmer's Wife Quilt-Along, we completed three more blocks.  Block 18, Century of Progress, was by far the most difficult.  All of the points that needed to be matched up were challenging.

MJ's Farmer's Wife - Block 18 - Century of Progress

Beth's Farmer's Wife - Block 18 - Century of Progress

Farmer's Wife - Week 14 - Our Blocks

Week 14 introduced three more blocks, Basket Weave, Churn Dash, and Wrench, and here are our finished versions.

Basket Weave, Churn Dash, Wrench

Farmer's Wife - Week 13 - Our Blocks

We have been on a short break and getting caught up!  Here are our results from Week 13 of the Farmer's Wife Quilt-Along.

Block 19, Checkerboard, wasn't too hard, but lining up those corners was the most tedious part; looks like we did a good job there.

MJ's Farmer's Wife - Block 19 - Checkerboard

Beth's Farmer's Wife - Block 19 - Checkerboard

Tutorial - Dog-Eared Triangle

I don't know what anyone else calls this triangle, but I call it "Dog-Eared".  I take the term from what we used to do (before we knew better) to books when we didn't have a bookmark handy; we'd fold down the corner of the page.  The two triangles remind me of those "Dog Ears"!

Dog-Eared Triangle

I've found this triangle used quite a bit while making the blocks for the Farmer's Wife Quilt-Along.  It is made up of a square in the center with two smaller triangles attached to adjacent sides of the square to form a larger triangle.

Read my tutorial for a fool-proof way to make these perfectly every time.

Tutorial - Flying Geese Units

There are so many uses for the Flying Geese rectangles that it warrants a separate post on the various ways you can make them, including my tutorial on how to make a single unit.

Flying Geese Unit

Most everyone is familiar with the Flying Geese border that has been a standard on quilts for a long time.  If you are looking to make many Flying Geese units that are all the same color scheme, this tutorial explains how to make four identical units at a time, plus it has the benefit of being a "no waste" method.

If you are looking to make fewer than four Flying Geese units or want to use up your scraps, read on for my tutorial...

Farmer's Wife - Week 15

Our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along continues with three new blocks that will use a variety of techniques and are of varying degrees of difficulty.

• Block 18 - Century of Progress
• Block 46 - Hill & Valley
• Block 109 - Windows

Farmer's Wife - Week 12 - Our Blocks

We've finished our blocks for Week 12 of the Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, and they look great!  I so enjoyed doing the applique on the handle of Basket Weave, I think that I may have to dig into some of my books on applique and do some dabbling.

Here are our Block 3, Basket, blocks.

Beth's Farmer's Wife Block 3 - Basket

MJ's Farmer's Wife Block 3 - Basket

Farmer's Wife - Week 14

We'll being taking it easy for Week 14 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, while still making three blocks.  Once we have these completed, we'll have 37 blocks completed, exactly one-third of the blocks!

• Block 4, Basket Weave
• Block 20, Churn Dash
• Block 111, Wrench

Farmer's Wife - Week 13

Our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along continues with three new blocks for our lucky 13th week.  This week we'll work on:

• Block 7 - Birds in the Air
• Block 13 - Buckwheat (lucky 13)
• Block 19 - Checkboard

Continue reading for instructions.

Farmer's Wife - Week 11 - Our Blocks

Our blocks for week 11 of the Farmer's Wife Quilt-along present very nicely!

Beth enjoyed making Block 9, Box, because she got to use a larger-scale print that is often too fussy for the more complicated blocks.

Beth's Farmer's Wife - Block 9 - Box

MJ's Farmer's Wife - Block 9 - Box

Farmer's Wife - Week 12

For week 12 of the Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, we are using a variety of techniques, including one we haven't used on a previous block, appliqúe. The blocks for this week are:

• Block 3 - Basket
• Block 14 - Butterfly at the Crossroads
• Block 63 - Ozark Maple Leaf

Continue reading for instructions.

Farmer's Wife - Week 10 - Our Blocks

Week 10 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along included three blocks that were all assembled using foundation paper pieceing.

Block 94 - Tall Pine Tree - presented a challenge in getting the color placement and block orientation just right.  See my post about how many ways you can mess this one up!  I think Beth did a fantastic job with her fabric/color choices.

Beth's Farmer's Wife Block 94 - Tall Pine Tree

MJ's Farmer's Wife Block 94 - Tall Pine Tree

Two Ways to Mess up Farmer's Wife Block 94 - Tall Pine Tree

For our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, week 10 included Block 94 - Tall Pine Tree.  I used my seam ripper more on this block than any other, so far.  Here I share with you two ways you can mess up on this block.

I thought I was doing just fine and had the four quarters complete.  I was poised to sew them together, but when I laid them out, here's what I ended up with.

The bottom two blocks have the green and white in the wrong place

English Paper Piecing - Progress

Back in January I shared my thoughts on English Paper Piecing, something I started after being drawn into what I had been seeing from others online.  I continue to work on it a little at a time, so I thought I'd share my progress.

English Paper Piecing

In my previous post, I hadn't started putting the "stars" and "flowers" together in any sort of pattern, so since then I decided to add some white space between.  I love how the collections take on different shapes as you get them assembled.  Clearly the "flowers" stand out, but sometimes, the "stars" turn into tumbling blocks where they are joined to a white diamond.

I think I've decided to leave the basting stitches in place for the finished product.  I like how it helps to keep the overall piece laying flat.  The one exception may be the center of the flowers and the white hexies.  I still do have an idea that there should be some fabric overlap to help prevent the batting fibers from poking through, and by releasing the basting stitches and pressing the allowances outward, then many of the seams will have a backing.

Now, how big will I go with this project?  I still don't know.  What I'm considering next is changing up the layout a bit to keep it interesting!

Farmer's Wife - Week 11

We are on to week 11 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt Along and we'll be working on three more blocks, one foundation paper pieced and the other pieced using more of our favorite half-square triangles.

• Block 9 - Box
• Block 12 - Broken Sugar Bowl
• Block 104 - Wild Geese

Continue reading for this week's instructions.

Pondering Drunkard's Path

I grew up enjoying an heirloom quilt that was given to my parents as a gift, made by the ladies in their church.  It was a Drunkard's Path pattern, made with two fabrics, white and sky blue (if my memory serves me).  The quilt was just gorgeous and had the perfect weight and drape after years of washings and use.

Drunkard's Path - Two quarter circle options

Here are my thoughts on getting beyond the details of the planning and getting to the doing of making one for myself.

Farmer's Wife - Week 9 - Our Blocks

Finishing week 9 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, we are, essentially, 20% of the way to completing all 111 blocks.  Very exciting!

This week we took on three more blocks using a variety of techniques.

Block 29, Economy, was foundation paper pieced and a very clean looking block.

MJ's Farmer's Wife - Block 29 - Economy

Beth's Farmer's Wife - Block 29 - Economy

Farmer's Wife - Week 8 - Our Blocks

We were falling behind, so this week included two blocks, Silver Lane (Block 79) and Waste Not (Block 97).  We have now finished 19 blocks!

Block 97 - Waste Not

Here is the simpler of the two blocks for this week.

MJ's Farmer's Wife - Block 97 - Waste Not

Beth's Farmer's Wife - Block 97 - Waste Not

Farmer's Wife - Week 10

For week 10 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, all three blocks use foundation paper piecing. The blocks are:

• Block 58, Mother's Dream
• Block 75, Rosebud
• Block 94, Tall Pine Tree

These three are of equal difficulty, each broken into 3 or 4 sections.

Farmer's Wife - Week 7 - Our Blocks

Week 7 was all foundation paper piecing.  Our blocks turned out beautiful!  Here is Block 5, Batwing.

MJ's Farmer's Wife - Block 5 - Batwing

Beth's Farmer's Wife - Block 5 - Batwing

Farmer's Wife - Week 6 - Our Blocks

Three more blocks to share!  Here are our Farmer's Daughter blocks (Block 32) from week 6 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along.

MJ's Farmer's Wife - Block 32 - Farmer's Daughter

Beth's Farmer's Wife - Block 32 - Farmer's Daughter

Farmer's Wife - Week 9

For week 9 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, I'm going back to three blocks.  They are:

• Block 107, Windblown
• Block 92, Streak of Lightning
• Block 29, Economy

I would classify Windblown as difficult, but only because there are so many pieces. Economy and Streak of Lightning are straight-forward.

Let's go...

Farmer's Wife - Week 8

We are falling behind!  But we will catch up, and to help us along I'm only posting instructions for two blocks this week.  One is pretty hard and the other is easy.  This week we'll be making:

• Block 79, Silver Lane (pretty complicated)
• Block 97, Waste Not

Let's get started...

Farmer's Wife - Week 7

Well, I'm behind on Week 6, but don't want to hold up anyone else!  So, here is the information for Week 7.  We'll be doing all foundation paper piecing this week and they are all different levels of difficulty.  The blocks for this week are:

• Block 5, Bat Wing
• Block 49, Honeycomb
• Block 83, Spider Web

Farmer's Wife - Week 6

Week 6 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt Along introduces three more blocks that involve a small amount of foundation paper piecing and the rest efficient standard piecing.  This week's blocks are:

• Block 67, Pine Tree
• Block 32, Farmer's Daughter
• Block 61, Northern Lights

Farmer's Wife - Week 5 - Our Blocks

Week 5 is behind us!  We now have eleven blocks done.  Here are the Snowball blocks from this week.

MJ's Farmer's Wife - Block 81 Snowball

Beth's Farmer's Wife - Block 81 Snowball

Farmer's Wife - Weeks 3 & 4 - More Blocks

She caught up!  Beth completed the Farmer's Wife blocks from weeks 3 & 4 and they are lovely.

Beth's - Farmer's Wife Block 1 - Attic Window	Beth's - Farmer's Wife Block 2 - Autumn Tints
Beth's - Farmer's Wife Block 34 - Flock	Beth's - Farmer's Wife Block 59 - Night & Day

See the instructions for Week 3 here, and for Week 4 here.

Farmer's Wife - Week 5

For Week 5 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt Along, we'll be creating three blocks.  Not to fear!  We have one simple pieced block, one simple paper pieced block, and one more challenging block.  They are

• Block 108, Windmill
• Block 17, Cats & Mice
• Block 81, Snowball

After four weeks of success, I think we can handle an extra block.

Continue reading for detailed instructions.

Farmer's Wife - Week 4 - Our Blocks

The Farmer's Wife Week 4 blocks were fairly simple.  We completed Block 1, Attic Window, and Block 2, Autumn Tints, using both foundation paper piecing and basic piecing.

I'm including my finished blocks here and will post Beth's once she has caught up.

MJ's - Farmer's Wife Block 1 - Attic Window

MJ's - Farmer's Wife Block 2 - Autumn Tints

See the instructions for these blocks here. 

Farmer's Wife - Week 4

For Week 4 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt Along, we'll be creating Block 1, Attic Window , and Block 2, Autumn Tints.  We'll be using foundation paper piecing for Attic Window and brute force measured piecing for Autumn Tints.

Continue reading for detailed instructions.

Farmer's Wife - Week 3 - Our Blocks - Part 1

We are in agreement about Week 3 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt Along; one was fairly easy and the other was more difficult.  This week we worked on Block 34, Flock, and Block 49, Night & Day. Both blocks were created using foundation paper piecing.

Read on to see our versions of these blocks and hear about our experience.

Farmer's Wife - Week 3

For Week 3 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt Along, we'll be creating Block 34, Flock, and Block 49, Night & Day.  We'll be using foundation paper piecing for Night & Day and making a series of half-square-triangle blocks in different sizes for Flock.

Read on to learn a few tricks and consider color placement options.

Farmer's Wife - Week 2 - Our Blocks

We finished week 2 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt Along!  This week we worked on Block 30, End of the Day, and Block 39, Friendship.  Both blocks were created using foundation paper piecing.

Read on to see our versions of these blocks.

Farmer's Wife - Week 2

For Week 2 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt Along, we'll be tackling two blocks that we'll make using foundation paper piecing, Block 30, End of the Day, and Block 39, Friendship.  For both of these blocks, your color placement can be varied for a different look.

Farmer's Wife - Week 1 - Our Blocks

Here are the fruits of our labors from Week 1 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt Along!

MJ's set - Farmer's Wife Block 6 and Block 10

English Paper Piecing

For several months now I keep getting drawn into research on English Paper Piecing (EPP).  So, I finally decided to dive in.  I've done a lot of hand-sewing over the years, but it has never been something I particularly enjoyed.  I think I may be a convert!

Read on for some tips and pointers.

Farmer's Wife - Week 1

We are beginning our Farmer's Wife Quilt Along!

We decided to start out doing two blocks per week, then will re-evaluate as we go to see if we feel we can do more. Our blocks will be 6 inch blocks, so all templates are for that size.

This week we are making Block 6, Big Dipper, and Block 10, Bow Tie.