Agri-Spouse Friday - Week 4

Welcome back to our Agri-Spouse Quilt Along.

As usual, I will start with the photos that I have received from last week's blocks. I only have Marian's blocks so we will start with her Spool Block:

Then we did the Friendship Star block:

Last, we did up the Contrary Wife block:

Lovely!

I can't believe that summer is almost over. Both kids have had a great and busy summer with some camping time, a week with Nana, a variety of daycamps and bunches of downtime to just relax. There has been Tae Kwon Do camp, swim lesson camps, art camp, cooking camp and bike camp between the two kids. Rhylee grew enough to require a new bike and got good enough at biking that we took him to get a new bike. Turns out that he went from needing a child bike to needing a "young adult" bike. He ended up needing a 14.5" frame. MY bike frame is only 16"! We have a tall leggy little man.

Brianna is getting to be such a big girl too. She lost her first two teeth almost a year ago. They were the bottom two centre teeth. She just lost her first top centre tooth, the second one is loose and there is another "wiggler" on the bottom. She is a leggy girl too and all smiles - even if they are a bit goofy! 

In a week and a half Brianna will turn seven and on the same day she will start grade TWO. Rhylee will start grade FIVE on the same day. How on earth did so much time pass that we have an almost seven year old entering grade two and a nine and a half year old entering grade five? Our kids are getting so big and they make us so happy.

All right, enough of the mushy stuff and on to the actual quilting part. This week we will sew up two blocks but if you did up last weeks blocks then you shouldn't have any problems with this week's blocks since they are essentially the same blocks. Different colours, different orientation but otherwise things really are pretty much the same.

Our first block this week will be Block #81 - Snowball.


Cut two 3" by 3" yellow squares and two 3" by 3" purple squares.
Cut one 2 1/2" yellow squares and four 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" purple squares.

Place one 3" yellow square RST with one 3" 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. Place the other 3" yellow square RST with the remaining purple 3" square and repeat the HST process. Trim your HSTs to 2 1/2" squares. You should now have four purple/yellow HSTs that measure 2 1/2", one yellow 2 1/2" square and four purple 2 1/2" squares. Get your pieces organized RSU the way you want them to look.

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 is finished.

Our second block this week will be Block #16 - Calico Puzzle.

Cut two 3" by 3" pink squares and two 3" by 3" blue squares.
Cut one 2 1/2" pink square and four 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" grey squares.









Place one 3" pink square RST with one 3" blue 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. Place the other 3" pink square RST with the remaining blue 3" square and repeat the HST process. Trim your HSTs to 2 1/2" squares. You should now have four pink/blue HSTs that measure 2 1/2", one pink 2 1/2" square and four grey 2 1/2" squares. Get your pieces organized RSU the way you want them to look.









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 the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press to one side.

That's our second block finished and we are done for this week! Next week will again be very similar but there will be some slight variations that will make the blocks different than the last couple of weeks!

Have fun and I'll see you next week.


Tara

Agri-Spouse Friday - Week 3

Welcome back to Week 3 of our Agri-Spouse Quilt Along.

First off, let's start with the photos that I have received of the three blocks we did last week. First we have Suzanne's Northern Lights:

 


And Marian's Northern Lights:

Our second block was Rainbow Flowers. Suzanne is up first:

And Marian's:

And, last, but not least, we did up Homeward Bound. Suzanne's:

And Marian's:

They all look so good to me! Even after ten years of quilting, it still amazes me how changing the fabric can so completely change the look of a block. I know that there was a flood at Mom's church a few weeks ago so she has been spending a lot of time there but she is planning to catch up in a couple of weeks when she gets her work done there. I will post her catching up as she is able to do so.

For clarification purposes, just in case, your block will finish TODAY at 6 1/2" square and 6" square after the cornerstones and sashing have been added. Blocks rarely to never finish at the exact measurement. All we do is trim them down to the measurement needed once put together. I had already purchased my sashing and cornerstone fabric so I have been adding it as I go along. Should you wish to also, the sashing cuts at 1 1/2" by 6 1/2" and the cornerstones cut at 1 1/2" by 1 1/2" square. I am making the Queen Sized quilt where you make one of every block. For that I needed to cut 110 cornerstones and 32 teeny triangles but I just cut 142 cornerstones. I also had to cut 252 sashing strips. If you are making a different sized quilt, check the book for how many of each piece to cut.

Last week we did a single block that had HSTs (Half Square Triangles) along with two other blocks that did not. That block with HSTs was the start of theme that I am going to run for a few weeks. We will do up the blocks that have the larger HSTs so that we can get those down pat before we move on to smaller HSTs and Flying Geese. These won't be at all scary in a few weeks though because by then the big HSTs will be so easy-peasy that it will only be a small step.

We are doing three blocks again this week but it isn't as bad as it sounds at first for any beginners. All three blocks have nine 2" finished squares which, when sewn together, make the final, standard 6" square. All three blocks have five squares with no piecing and four squares that are 2" finished HSTs and that's it. With different colours and different arrangements you will end up with three drastically different blocks.

For the purposes of putting the block together, all three of these blocks break down into a Nine Patch Block. Basically speaking, looking at the block you can take the main block and divide it into nine squares, 3 by 3 like a tic tac toe board or a number sign. If you start at the top left corner, that first piece is piece 1, then piece two going to the right and then three. You then move onto the next line and the left most piece in the middle line is piece 4, piece 5 is the centre square and the piece on the right is piece 6. Again move to the bottom row and the left most piece is piece 7, piece 8 is in the bottom middle and the last piece is nine. Basically, draw a tic tac toe board and number the squares the same way we read!

Knowing this will help piecing the nine patch with simple instructions and neatly nested seams. In reality there are effectively a good number of nine patches in this quilt.

Again, if you are using a method different than mine to make your HSTs, they need to trim to 2 1/2" square and will finish within the block at 2" square.

With that, our first block this week will be Block #84 - Spool.

This is a two colour block that ends up looking like a spool of thread. My block will have pink "thread" with a grey background. For your own block, use whatever colours and fabrics that you like of course but I will use my colours for descriptive purposes.

Cut two 3" by 3" pink squares and two 3" by 3" grey squares.  

Cut three 2 1/2" pink squares and two 2 1/2" grey squares.

Place one 3" pink square RST with one 3" grey square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the fabric of whichever one will show the line better. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn and 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. Place the other 3" pink square RST with the remaining 3" grey square and repeat the HST process. Trim your HSTs to 2 1/2" square. You should now have four pink/grey HSTs that measure 2 1/2", three 2 1/2" pink squares and two 2 1/2" grey squares. Get your pieces organized RSU the way you want them to look.

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.



Next 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 neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 8/9 set. Finally Flip the 1/4/7 set RST onto the 2/5/8 piece, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press to one side and the third block is finished! You are finished the first block and there are only small differences between this block and the next two. The only differences are colour choices and organization no sewing differences!

Our second block this week will be Block #41 - Friendship Star.

Once again this is a two colour block with four HSTs and five squares, each of which are 2" finished, sewn together to make a 6" finished block. My block will be a purple star with a blue background. Again, I will use my colours for descriptive purposes but of course use whatever colours and fabrics you like for your own block.

Cut two 3" by 3" purple squares and two 3" by 3" blue squares.
Cut ONE 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" purple square and FOUR 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" blue squares.

Place one 3" purple square RST with one 3" blue square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the fabric of whichever one will show the line better. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn and then sew a 1/4" 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. Place the other 3" purple square RST with the remaining 3" blue square and repeat the HST process. Trim your HSTs to 2 1/2" square. You should now have four purple/blue HSTs that measure 2 1/2", one 2 1/2" purple squares and four 2 1/2" blue squares. Get your pieces organized RSU the way you want them to look.

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.

 
Next 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 neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 8/9 set. Finally Flip the 1/4/7 set RST onto the 2/5/8 piece, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press to one side and the third block is finished! You are finished the second block and there were only small differences between this block and the next first block and there are equally small differences between the first two blocks and the last block. Again, the only differences are colour choices and organization no sewing differences!

Our third block this week will be Block #21 - Contrary Wife.

This is a three colour block but once again there are four HSTs and five squares, each of which are 2" finished, sewn together to make a 6" finished block. My block will be a green squares with pink and black HSTs. Again, I will use my colours for descriptive purposes but of course use whatever colours and fabrics you like for your own block.

Cut two 3" by 3" pink squares and two 3" by 3" black squares.Cut FIVE 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" green squares.


Place one 3" pink square RST with one 3" black square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the fabric of whichever one will show the line better. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn and 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. Place the other 3" pink square RST with the remaining 3" black square and repeat the HST process. Trim your HSTs to 2 1/2". You should now have four pink/black HSTs that measure 2 1/2" and five green squares. Get your pieces organized RSU the way you want them to look.










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.

Next 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 neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 8/9 set. Finally Flip the 1/4/7 set RST onto the 2/5/8 piece, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press to one side and the third block is finished!

You are finished the third block and there were only small differences between this block and the next first block and there are equally small differences between the first two blocks and the last block. Again, the only differences are colour choices and organization no sewing differences! Hopefully I haven't made any errors in the pattern instructions but if I have, please let me know and I will correct them. As I have said before, this is the first time that I have tried to write a pattern and I appreciate the help of corrections from all of you! Hopefully as I get better at this there will be fewer corrections to make.

Next week we will only do up two blocks again but once again there won't be any construction differences. Just colour choice and organization differences!

See you next week!


Tara

Agri-Spouse Friday - Week 1

Welcome to our very first week of Agri-Spouse Quilt Along. I am very excited and hope you are too. This is the first time that I have written quilting instructions so I hope that I have written what is needed. Should there be any questions, please feel free to let me know and I will clarify as needed.

It is finally time to actually start piecing our first two blocks. These are the methods that I am using but I have no doubt that there are many other options available. These instructions are just how I am doing it.

I will also be pressing every seam sewn to "set" the seam before pressing the seam to one side. Pressing has an up and down motion only - no side to side, sliding motion like ironing. To "set" a seam, take your piece just as you get it from the machine and without opening it or anything at all, press the newly sewn seam. This "sets" the seam, making it a stronger seam (or something like this, I think this is why we do it, I just know that we are supposed to do it, can't remember why, just that it is important LOL!)

The first block we are going to do today is Block #4 - Basket Weave.

Start by cutting three strips of fabric measuring 1 1/2" by 15". 

Place two pieces of fabric right side together (now - RST for Right Side Together), ensuring that one of the pieces you choose is the fabric that you want in the centre of the three pieces. Sew a 1/4" seam along the long side of the fabric.
Set the seam and press to one side.














Take your third piece of fabric and place it RST with the fabric you want for your middle fabric and sew a 1/4" seam along the long side.
Set the seam and press to one side.







Square up one end of your long piece of fabric and cut four pieces that are 3 1/2" long.
Arrange your four pieces like the picture and then place two RST and sew a 1/4" seam and place the other two RST and sew a 1/4" seam.
Set the seam and press to one side.





Place the last two pieces RST and sew a 1/4" seam.
Set the seam and press to one side.
Your first block is finished!

The second block we are going to do today is Block #2 - Autumn Tints.

Cut 2 squares 2" by 2" in one colour.Cut 2 squares 2" by 2" in another colour.

Cut 4 squares 2" by 2" in a third colour.
Cut 2 square 3 1/2" by 3 1/2" in a fourth colour.








Take each of the four 2" squares and place them RST with one each of the squares of the other 2 colours. Sew a 1/4" seam along one side. Set the seam and press the seam to the side of the colour that you have four of. In my case I pressed all of the seams AWAY from the pink. This will allow the seams to "nest" neatly later.





Place one of the green sets RST with one of the yellow sets, making sure to match the middle seam neatly. Sew a 1/4" seam along the long side. Set the seam and press to one side. Repeat with the other set.








This time you need to be a little bit more careful before sewing the seams. Arrange your four pieces in front of you the way you want them to end up. I decided to have the yellow squares in the centre so I placed everything right side up the way I wanted it to finish. Then I flipped one four patch onto one blue square RST and sew a 1/4" seam along the flip line. Set the seam and press the seam towards the blue. Repeat for the other four patch and large blue square.


I mucked up here and didn't follow my own rules so don't make my mistake! Place your two pieces RSU (Right Side Up) in the order you want them to end up (I didn't do this and ended up sewing the wrong seam and stitch ripping. Whoops!). Flip the one piece onto the other RST, making sure to match the centre seam nice and tidy. The seams should nest nicely if you have pressed both pieces to the big square. Sew the long seam. Set the seam and press to one side and you are finished your second block! 

Next week there are three blocks but two of them are simple straight line blocks like these two. The third has a couple of HSTs (Half Square Triangle) but just the one double set and straight lines otherwise. Don't worry, we're easing into the harder blocks!

See you next week!



Tara

Agri-Spouse Friday Quilt Along - Getting Started

I got rather busy the last couple of months and let this blog lapse. I don't want to do this so need to get better at making sure I post at least once a week. On Fridays I will be doing an "Agri-Spouse Friday" for the next year or so. We will do a couple or so of these getting started posts and then work through the 111 blocks over the next year. Then we can do up the sashing and cornerstones and get it all finished up. Anyone and everyone who happens to read this is welcome to join in.

My Mother-in-law is wonderful. She is actually partially responsible for me starting to quilt in the first place since she is the one that bought me my sewing machine a decade ago - I can't believe that it has been that long already. Now, she didn't quilt herself but that was what I wanted to do with the machine and I loved it but - without any pressure from me - she has recently started quilting too. She was, well, "encouraged" by family in the town she lives in and I am tickled about it even if we do live almost three hours driving apart.

I decided to suggest that we do a Farmer's Wife quilt along together. It was mostly because I thought it would be fun for us but also because I thought it could help her learn in manageable chunks. Well, she agreed and then at a Family Reunion we all went to in the area she lives in we got two more Farmer-a-longers!

First thing we did was order the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt Book from Amazon Canada. I ordered the book for both of us before the Reunion and the two books together got us over the price point to get free shipping so they were $21 each. The other two ladies ordered their books together too so they got them for the same price. 


The book does the whole quilt from templates which you print off from a CD that comes with the book. The author then hand pieced the quilt from the templates. While I did hand piece my Flower Garden quilt, I didn't want a hand pieced quilt this time so I have taken each of the 111 blocks and drew them all out on graph paper to scale. From this I will be able to figure out fairly easily what we need to do in order to machine piece the quilt. I can see the proportions, measurements and just what is needed in general.

Each week I will post instructions as best as I can manage for machine piecing two or three blocks. I do have the methods that I have learned for making things like HSTs (Half Square Triangles) or Flying Geese that I will post but if you have a method that you prefer, by all means, use that one. I am planning to start with what should be the easiest ones for my Mother-in-law and progress to harder ones from there. There are even a few that I have to figure out. One has a Y-seam which I have never done either. Some certainly look like they will be easier with foundation piecing.

The book does not tell you what the fabric requirements are for the quilt blocks. Probably because the author did hers scrappy but it would certainly be nice if she gave you even a vague idea of how much fabric to purchase for the blocks. The book does tell you how much to purchase for the backing, batting, sashing and cornerstones at least. I looked online and got a variety of answers but the answers ranged from 10 to 25 metres.

If you are going to go scrappy, I can only suggest that you have a lot for a variety of options at this point. Personally, I do NOT have anywhere near enough scraps to do this so I went and bought fabric. In about a year, when we should have our blocks complete, I am hoping to be able to post an approximation of what I have used.


At this point I have purchased 0.6 metres of 34 fabrics and 1 metre of two more fabrics. I purchased a full metre of the white-on-white figuring it could work anywhere and a full metre of the darker yellow because when it was cut it was the only yellow of the line I had found. During the cutting, the staff member pointed out a second (and only other) yellow in the line so I added a 0.6 metre cut of the second yellow and left it there.


I didn't bring the book with me on my fabric run so I didn`t have the requirements with me for the sashing and cornerstones and regretted it. I went back later to get what I needed because I realized that I wanted the sashing, cornerstones and binding from the same line consider that the line I chose is somewhat unique.

The fabric that I chose is from the line called Shimmer. There isn`t much yellow and there is no white in the line but other than that I got a full rainbow of colours. Each one has some silver or gold running through it. Not just a yellow gold or a grey silver but an actual shiny gold and silver that shimmers. The fabrics are absolutely scrumptious to me but I did decide that with each block shimmering, I didn`t want the sashing, cornerstones and binding to not shimmer too. The sashing is black and the cornerstones are grey. The binding is one of the lighter blue-greens. I don`t usually make sashing, border and binding decisions this early but since I made the decision of wanting them to shimmer and knowing that I can also count on there not being enough Shimmer in a year, I just went ahead and did it.

Next Friday we will start with the first two blocks. I will post instructions for the method I have used but feel free to use whatever method you like. I am looking forward to quilting along with you this year with my Farmer's Wife Friday!

Tara.