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.

Block 34, Flock

For this block I recommend following this tutorial for making HST's (half-square-triangles).  You'll need two 3 inch finished blocks and eight 1.5 inch finished blocks.

The tutorial calls for adding 7/8 inch to your desired finished block size, so for 3 inch blocks you would start with 3 7/8 inch squares.  I say go with 4 inch squares and trim them down.  For 1 1/2 inch blocks you would start with 2 3/8 inch squares, but I say go with 2 1/2 inch squares and trim them down.  Better safe than sorry.  If trimming, be sure you end up with 3 1/2 inch blocks and 2 inch blocks before assembly.

Be careful with the color placement on this block.  The title of the block is Flock; presumably to represent a Flock of geese.  Like a flock of geese, the standout triangles should all go in the same direction. 

Farmer's Wife - Block 34 - Flock

Block 59, Night & Day

I have created a foundation paper piecing template you can download here for this block.  Be sure to print two copies, as each page only makes half of the block.

For color placement, most blocks I see online follow a "checkerboard" pattern, which is really nice, particularly for a two color block.  I like this block I found where the middle "star" shape is a contrast to the center "star" and outer sections of the block. 

Farmer's Wife - Block 59 - Night & Day

REMINDER: Please be sure to print the templates at 100% scale, not "Shrink to Fit", to be sure you get them to the correct size for 6 inch blocks.

See our finished blocks here.

See instructions for Farmer's Wife - Week 2