Farmers Wife Quilt Blocks # 5 - 8

Farmers Wife Quilt Blocks # 5 - 8

This week I've been making progress on my Farmers Wife Quilt. I'm aiming to make 4 blocks in a session.

All started off well.

Farmers Wife Quilt Block # 5 Bat Wing

Block # 5 worked out just fine. I used the templates provided, but I decided I don't like them all that much and decided this would have been much easier if I'd just made two flying geese in the usual way and then added the other components.

Farmers Wife Quilt Block #6 Big Dipper

So for block # 6 I didn't use the templates, I just made 4 quarter square triangle blocks. My decision to press all seams open in this quilt seems to be paying off too.

The back of my work doesn't often look this neat. At this stage I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself!

Farmers Wife Quilt Block # 7 Birds In The Air

Aah! When I turned the page and saw what # 7 was I started to make excuses to myself. I've always been in awe of this block and my resolution to make all the blocks in order nearly flew right out the window. I started telling myself  "I haven't got time to make this one now" and "the light isn't good enough". Anyway, after a stern talking to, I did make the block.

I dispensed with the templates and made 12 teeny, tiny 1"(finished) half square triangle blocks.

I starched the fabric well, made them oversized and trimmed them. These looked so cute!

I assembled the 4 sections and was just about to sew them together when I noticed I had done this to one of them!

What on earth happened here I shall never know, but at least I spotted it before I sewed the sections together. 

Then it was time for block # 8. It didn't look too difficult, I ploughed on….

…..except, what on earth happened to the points on the flower? There was no seam allowance left, so they would be totally truncated when I joined the blocks together. I couldn't understand what I'd done wrong. I was tempted to leave it at is was. I was getting pretty tired of it at this point and wasn't sure that a second attempt would be any better than the first. I walked away and had a cup of tea. tea makes everything better, don't you think?

In the end I decided to paper piece this block.

i drew out the layout at the correct scale.

Then I photocopied it several times and cut it up into sections.

The paper piecing worked a lot better, although it was very time consuming in preparation time.

Farmers Wife Quilt Block # 8 Bouquet

Although I was totally fed up with all things Farmers Wife by the time I'd finished it, I actually like this version of the block, with a patterned background, much more than my first attempt.

So 8 blocks now complete, and put together, they look like this:

Linking up with Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced