Friday, January 30, 2015

Agri-Spouse Friday - Week 23

Welcome back to our Agri-Spouse Quilt Along.

Things have been pretty busy for me for the last few weeks. As I mentioned, Quinn and I got each other a Dominican Scuba vacation and we were gone from the middle of January until a few days ago. I don't like posting publicly exactly when we are gone even though Mom was at the house with the kids so I hope everyone understands.

We had a great time and got our advanced diving course done so that was nice. We only took our dive camera with us since it is good in and out of water most of the time but when we took it underwater the first time we found out that there was a crack in the battery cover and the thing filled up with water and fried so it was useless for nine of the eleven days we were gone. I did still get some great photos with our iPads but I haven't got them off there and onto our main system so I can't post them yet. I'll do that soon when Quinn can get some time to help me out.

Other than that, Brianna has been doing well in Tae Kwon Do and is off to a promotion test tonight. Best of luck to her even though we know she is ready.

Rhylee is also doing well. Tomorrow is our little man's TENTH birthday! How did our little man get so big? How the time flies. He is also off on a day trip with Quinn tomorrow to Whitecourt for a Tae Kwon Do competition. He is so excited to be doing a road trip with Daddy and we know he will work hard.

I also have some great shots of blocks to share. We are all getting caught up and in the next few weeks I will get caught up with my own sewing and post instructions. I will also do up a post soon about the EPP (English Paper Piecing) that I have started.

First though, the new blocks I have to share from everyone else!

Marian has sent me a whole bunch of photos of her getting caught up so here we go.

Marian's Sawtooth:




Hovering Birds:




Big Dipper:




Honey's Choice:




Linoleum:




Ozark Maple Leaf:




Buzzard's Roost:




Wild Goose Chase:





Cups and Saucers:




Windows:




Practical Orchard:




Steps to the Altar:




Pine Tree:




Beautiful blocks Marian! I love them all.

I also have some photos from Mom.

First is Mom's Waterwheel:




Railroad:




Puss in the Corner:




Prairie Queen:




Broken Sugar Bowl:




Awesome job Mom! 

I think that everyone is doing such a great job on their blocks. Mom mentioned to me that even as a beginner, she only really needed me to post instructions for a particular "piece" a couple of times. That is to say, she only needs me to post the instructions for how to piece, say, an HST or Flying Goose, or whatever a couple of times to get it down pat and after that if she needs a reminder then she will just go back to an earlier post for the instructions. So, this is what I am planning to do after this post - mostly because the instructions after this were already typed up when I added the section above this. If anyone disagrees with me, please let me know.

With that, I will start off with the instructions for the next blocks.
Our first block this week is Block #10 - Bowtie.

Cut two 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" pink squares.
Cut two 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" black squares.
Cut four 2" x 2" grey squares.













Place one grey square in the corner of each of the larger squares. Draw a line diagonally across each of the grey squares.













Sew directly on the line you just drew. Place your ruler on the line you just drew and slice off the corner, 1/4" from the seam you just sewed. Set the seam and press to one side. Press the pink squares toward the pink and the black squares toward the black for neatly nested seams.








Organize your squares the way you want them to look. Flip one pink square RST onto a black square. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other pink and black squares.








Flip the two pieces you have sewn RST onto each other. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side and you have finished the first block for this week!




Our second block this week will be Block #40 - Friendship Block.

Cut one 3 3/8" x 3 3/8" green square.
Cut two 3 3/8" x 1 1/4" orange rectangles.
Cut two 4 3/4" x 1 1/4" orange rectangles.
Cut four 2" x 2" orange squares.
Cut four 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" green squares. Cut these on the diagonal.










Line up the short side of the green triangle with the orange square and place it RST, lining up the right angles. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other three orange squares.










Place the short side of a green triangle RST with an orange square after a quarter rotation. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other three orange squares.









Place the smaller of the long orange rectangles RST along the side of the large green square. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other small rectangle on the opposite side of the green square.









Place one of the remaining orange rectangles RST with the green square on a side that hasn't been sewn on yet. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other large rectangle.










Place one of the orange/green triangles that you pieced previously RST along the side of the orange/green square. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat with another orange/green triangle on the opposite side of the square.







Lastly, place one of the remaining triangles RST along one of the two sides of the square not yet sewn on. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the last orange/green triangle on the remaining side and your block is finished!




Our third block this week is Block #39 - Friendship.

Cut four 4" x 4" purple squares.
Cut one 4" x 4" blue square.
Cut one 4" x 4" red square.
Cut one 4" x 4" orange square.
Cut one 4" x 4" green square.












Apparently I did not take a picture of the pieces before getting sewing them but there really is just eight squares. So place one purple square RST with one blue square and pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the lighter fabric. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn. You don`t need to bother sewing on the other side of the line you drew. Then place your ruler along the line you drew and slice the two triangles apart. Set the seam and press to one side. Match each of the other three colours with a purple square and repeat above. You should now have four purple and another colour HSTs.












From each of the four coloured triangle pieces, cut one 2" x 2" square. Place this square RST in the all purple corner of each HST, matching the little square with it's own colour on the other side of the HST. Draw a line diagonally across the wrong side of the fabric and sew directly on this line. Place your ruler along your stitch line and slice the little triangle off, 1/4" away from your stich line, set the seam and press to one side. Watch that you press seams in opposite directions in order to get neatly nested seams.
















Once again you have a four patch to put together. Place the top two squares RST, sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the bottom two squares.








Lastly, place the top rectangle RST with the bottom rectangle, sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Our third and last block for this week is finished!




I am now about six blocks behind so my current plan is to get get us caught up again over the next few weeks. As usual, sew what you can, when you can and I will happily post your block photos as you send them to me!

Have fun and see you next week!

Tara

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Agri-Spouse Friday - Week 22

Happy New Year to us all!

Welcome to our first Agri-Spouse post of 2015.


We have had a good couple of weeks off but we are all ready for life to get back to normal. 


I haven't gotten any sewing done on my Farmer's Wife but have started prep work for a new hand sewn EPP work.

Suzanne did manage to get some sewing done over the last couple of weeks so I actually do have some photos to share. She has managed to finish ten blocks. TEN! So all ten of the following blocks are by Suzanne. It has been the holidays though so I didn't really expect to get many photos. I sure didn't get a whole lot done myself.

Big Dipper:




Honey's Choice:




Linoleum:




Ozark Maple Leaf:




Maple Leaf:




Buzzard's Roost:




Wild Goose Chase:





Cups and Saucers:




Windows:




Practical Orchard:




Great job Suzanne!


We have two blocks to do up this week.

Our first block this week is Block #89 - Steps to the Altar.


Cut one 3" x 3" blue square.
Cut two 3" x 3" brown squares.
Cut two 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" blue squares.
Cut two 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" blue rectangles.
Cut eight 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" blue squares.
Cut nine 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" orange squares.
Cut two 1 1/2" x 2" blue rectangles.









Place one 3" blue square RST with one 3" brown square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the lighter fabric. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn an then sew a seam on the other side of the line you drew. Then place your ruler along the line you drew and slice the two HSTs apart. Set the seam and press to one side. Trim your HSTs to 2 1/2" squares. You should now have two blue/brown HSTs that measure 2 1/2". One of these HSTs is extra so you can set it aside and maybe it will get used later.





Place one 1 1/2" blue square RST with one 1 1/2" orange square. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to the side. Repeat for seven of the 1 1/2" orange squares, always pressing toward the same colour. With the last orange square, place one 1 1/2" x 2" blue rectangle RST with the last 1 1/2" orange square. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side.







Organize your pieces like the picture above. We will be making five 2 1/2" squares. Starting in the top left corner of the photo above, flip the blue rectangle RST with and orange/blue rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Then place one orange/blue rectangle RST with another orange/blue rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. This will create an orange/blue four patch. Repeat this to make two more orange/blue four patches. Flip the last blue rectangle from the bottom right of the picture onto the orange/blue rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Lastly take the last 
1 1/2" x 2" blue rectangle and place it RST onto the centre orange/blue rectangle so that you will end up with an "L" shape. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side.



Place your "L" shaped orange/blue piece RST with the remaining 3" brown square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the pieced fabric through the two blue pieces. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn on the orange side of the line you drew. Then place your ruler along the line you drew and slice the two HSTs apart. Set the seam and press to one side. Trim your HSTs to 2 1/2" square. I just put the remaining blue and brown into my scrap bin and maybe I will use it later.





























Flip square 2 RST onto square 3 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 3. Flip square 5 RST onto square 6 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 5. Flip square 8 RST onto square 9 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 9. Flip square 1 RST onto square 4 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 4.





Now flip square 7 RST onto square 4 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 4. Flip the 2/3 set RST onto the 5/6 set, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 2/3 set. Flip the 8/9 set RST onto the 5/6 set, nest the seams nearly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 8/9 set. Flip the 1/4/7 set RST on the 2/5/8 piece, nest eh seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press to one side and the first block for this week is finished.




The second block for this week is Block #67 - Pine Tree.




Cut two 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" dark purple squares.
Cut nine 2" x 2" dark purple squares.
Cut nine 2" x 2" light purple squares.
Cut one 3" x 3" light purple squares.
Cut one 1 7/8" x 4" dark pink rectangles.
Cut one 4 7/8" x 4 7/8" green square.












Line the short side of the light purple triangle RST along the long side of the dark pink rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other light purple triangle on the opposite side of the dark pink rectangle.









Place the almost triangle you have pieced RST with the large green square. Pin on the diagonal. Pretend that the raw edge of your almost triangle is the line you draw when making HSTs. Sew a seam 1/4" from the raw edge, on the pink/purple side. Line your ruler up with the raw edge and slice off the green triangle. Set the seam and press to one side. Trim this piece to 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" square.





Place one 2" dark purple square RST with one 2" light purple square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the lighter fabric. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn an then sew a seam on the other side of the line you drew. Then place your ruler along the line you drew and slice the two HSTs apart. Set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other eight dark purple/light purple 2" squares. Trim your HSTs to 1 1/2" squares. You should now have eighteen light purple/dark purple HSTs that measure 1 1/2". Organize your pieces the way you want them to look.



I prefer to avoid long seams when possible so, sew your little HSTs into four patches.













Sew three of the four patches together into one strip and sew two of the four patches into another strip.












Flip the shorter strip RST onto the 4 1/2" square, sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side.










Flip the longer strip RST onto the previous piece. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side and that completes our second block for this week!






This week's blocks were a bit fiddly but I had fun doing them. I hope you did too. See you next week.

Tara