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

Block 4 - Basket Weave

For this block, you'll want to do a little research online.  You'll notice that my block doesn't look quite like the others that you'll find.  During my research, others noted that the original Farmer's Wife version of the block reminded them of an undesirable symbol.  Once I read that, I decided to switch mine around a bit, as well.

We'll be doing "strip piecing" for this block, sewing three long strips of fabric together, then cutting them into blocks and assembling them into a 4-patch.  This method works if you decide to use the same three fabrics in the four sections.  Should you decide not to, this method still work, but in smaller strips.

Hint: Before starting, read ahead to the next two blocks; to save time, you may decide to cut more strips while you are at it.

Start by cutting 1 1/2 inch strips from your three fabrics, each 15 inches long (14 is all that is necessary, but I always like a little more).  Sew the three strips together, making sure your order is as you intend.  Don't worry if the ends don't match up exactly.  Iron your seams in one direction; I always iron toward the darker fabric.  This section should be 3 1/2 inches wide, so double-check that your seams allowance aren't too fat.  Next, trim of one end of the section, so the end is nice and square, then cut this long section into four 3 1/2 inch blocks.

Finally, arrange the blocks as you desire and sew them together.

Farmer's Wife - Block 4 - Basket Weave

Block 20 - Churn Dash

Before starting this block, peak ahead to the third block for the week, Block 111, Wrench.  These two blocks are the same pattern!  From what I can gather, the difference between the two is simply the color scheme.  For the original Farmer's Wife quilt, it seems that Churn Dash used two colors and Wrench used one color.  So, since I haven't been trying to copy the original block schemes, I see this as an opportunity to see if I can make these two blocks look as different as possible!

The block is a 9-patch of 2 inch squares, one solid center, four half-square triangles (HSTs) in the corners and four split squares on the sides.

For the solid center, cut one 2 1/2 inch square.

To make the HSTs, use the tutorial here; start with two 3 inch squares from each color fabric.  Be sure to trim the HSTs to 2 1/2 inch squares.  When done, you'll have the four HSTs for the corners.

Make the split squares using the strip piecing method, as we did above, but with two strips this time.  Start by cutting 1 1/2 inch strips 10 to 11 inches long from two fabrics.  Sew the long strips together and iron the seam allowance to one side.  Trim one end to be square, then cut into four 2 1/2 inch squares.

You should now have your nine blocks ready to arrange and sew together.

Farmer's Wife - Block 20 - Churn Dash

Block 111 - Wrench

Choose a different color scheme and repeat the instruction for Churn Dash.  Easy!

Farmer's Wife - Block 111 - Wrench

See the instructions from Week 13 or our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along.