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

All three of our blocks this week have a similar elements in them that I call a "dog-eared triangle".  It is a triangle that is made up of a square with triangles attached to adjacent sides.  I've created a tutorial, dog-eared triangle tutorial, on how to make these, so take a few minutes to familiarize yourself before starting the blocks. In the block instructions below, I define what X is, and X is a base measurement explained in this tutorial.

Dog-eared Triangle

Block 28 - Duck & Duckling 

This block is a little complicated, but I've broken it down into sections.

Farmer's Wife - Block 28 - Duck & Ducklings

I see this block as the four quadrants or corners and the center cross.

The center cross is made up of 9 squares cut to 1 11/16 inches each.  You will need four white, four blue, and one red square.

Each of the four quadrants is made up of a green triangle and a dog-eared triangle.  Yes, the other side of that square is a dog-eared triangle, but the "center square" is actually a HST (half-square triangle)!

Start by making the HSTs; you will need to make four, so the tutorial we have been using will be used two times since it makes two HSTs.  Start with squares that are 2 1/4 inches (two white and two red) to make the HSTs, then trim the HSTs to 1 11/16 inches square.

Now make the dog-eared triangles, using the HSTs for the center squares, with X=1 1/4 inches.  Be sure to sew the small triangles onto the red side of the HST to get the proper affect.

The green half of each quadrant should be cut from a 3 1/4 inch square that is cut in half diagonally.  To finish each quadrant, sew a dog-eared triangle a green triangle.  Do this four times.

Once you have the four quadrants complete, the last step will be to assemble the center cross section and the quadrants together.

Start by sewing a white square to a blue square four times.  To one of these sections, sew the red square to the blue square (to make section 1 at right).

Attach the three blue and white rectangles to three of the quadrants, making sure to sew them to the same side of each one, as shown in this diagram.  You should now have 5 sections.  Sew section 1 to section 2, then add section 3.  Next, sew sections 4 and 5 together, then sew the two large sections, and you are done!

 

Block 40 - Friendship Block

This block also has the dog-eared triangles on each "corner" of the block.

To start, the center square should be cut 3 11/16 inch square.  The white strips surrounding the square are cut from 1 inch strips.  Two sections are 3 11/16 long and two are 4 3/4 in long.  Attach the two shorter strips to opposite sides of the square, then attach the two longer strips to the other sides.  Now the center is complete.

For the four corners, make the dog-eared triangles using the tutorial above with X=1 1/2 inches.  Once you have four dog-eared triangles, sew them to each side of the center unit.

Farmer's Wife - Block 40 - Friendship Block

Block 64 - Peace & Plenty

While pondering this block, I could see many different ways to assemble it.  I settled on making it in four parts.  My color selections here have each of the four sections exactly the same.

Farmer's Wife - Block 64 - Peace & Plenty

Look at this diagram to see the sections (click to enlarge).

You can see that each quarter of the block is the same, but turned a quarter turn to be assembled.

Each quarter is made up of a dog-eared triangle that has an HST in the center.  One thing to note here is that the triangles added to the HST are not the same color, but not to worry as you have four to make, so you'll use up all of the pieces.  The other half of each quarter is two triangles.

Let's get started!

First make the HSTs that will be used in the dog-eared triangles.  Start with two white and two green 2 1/2 inch squares.  Make four HSTs and trim them to 2 inches square.

Use these HSTs in the dog-eared triangles, with X=1 1/2 inches.  Notice the HST in the center needs to be oriented just right (different from how it was when we did this in Duck & Ducklings, above).  Each triangle will have one white and one green triangle added to the HST, making sure to attach them to the correct side of the HST (white to green and green to white).

The other side of each quarter is a white and blue triangle, each cut from a 3 inch square.  Since you'll need four white and four blue triangles, cut two white and two blue 3 inch squares, then cut each in half diagonally.  Sew blue and white triangles together (on a short side), exactly the same and with the colors are oriented appropriately when attached to the dog-eared triangle.  If you accidentally sew them the wrong way, then the blue will be attached to the green side of the dog-eared triangle and the white will be attached to the white side.

Attach each blue/white triangle the each dog-eared triangle, creating the four quarters.  Finally, assemble the four quarters into the final block.

See instructions for Week 18 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-Along.