Aren't you glad this was the only block for the Farmer's Wife 1930's Sew-along this week? It is a beautiful block though and worth the time to match up all those points and corners. I hand pieced this block and want to share some tips to make it easier and go together a little more quickly!


Once all the pieces are cut I always lay out my block, this helps me make sure I am sewing the right pieces and for blocks with lots of pieces it means I can work out the best construction. There are four identical segments of this block with 11 triangles in each. I laid these out:


The block assembly in the book seems to suggest making half square triangles and sewing these together but I would rather not stop and start so much. I did split the triangles into the same two rows and then sewed each row without stopping as indicated by the arrows in the pictures below.


For the longer row there is a seam that you need to sew and then stitch back over, so that you travel back to the corner and continue sewing. You can see this seam where there are two arrows below.


I then sewed the short row to the large navy triangle, followed by the longer row - as shown in the block assembly in the book. To attach the two other triangles I again sewed continuously, following the arrows below to attach them to the previously completed piece of the block.


The middle part of the block is a simple nine patch but making sure you centre the points of the adjoining triangles is not so simple! I tried by folding the nine patch in quarters and marking the centre of the middle outer squares in the seam allowance. As you sew the block together you can align the point of the triangle with the pen mark on the seam of the square:



#28 Dolly Sometimes it takes travelling the hard road to make you realise the importance and "quality of quiet living". Those simple pleasures of "old-fashioned Sunday dinners, neighborhood dances, and card parties". I chose the Macrame print because it reminds me of the plant holders my parents had around the kitchen when I was growing up. The metallic gold/navy print represents the "easy road" while the brown stands for the time they "scrimped and saved".


Get the book for this gorgeous block and many more...


The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 Quilt Blocks That Honor Them by Laurie Aaron Hird for Fons & Porter/F+W; RRP $28.99 – Click here to purchase.

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