Tag Archives: Farmer’s Wife

Scissors workout

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Snip snip here and a snip snip there

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Cutting out more Farmer’s Wife blocks!

Farmer’s Wife blocks

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It’s been awhile since I found time to work on some Farmer’s Wife blocks. The quilt shop where I was taking classes closed. Now that I don’t cart it back and forth, I have put my templates into some containers that are easier to browse through. As I finish each block, I check the size against my 6 1/2″ square ruler to see if it passes muster. Yesterday I sewed the four remaining blocks for which I had pieces cut. Even the scary one turned out fairly well!

A snip snip here and a snip snip there

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Picking up speed

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I’m slowly learning ways to streamline the Farmer’s Wife block making process. I select fabric for several blocks and iron it in layers in a big stack on the ironing board (iron one at a time as you add it to the stack). I also mark my templates so that they share a cutting line which makes cutting go faster. Speaking of cutting, I got these new little Fiskars after seeing a fancy precision cutting demo at the quilt show but they are so tight they made a bruise on my finger. I loosened the screw just a tiny bit and now they feel much better.

Quilt block assembly line

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Farmer’s Wife cutting marathon

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More Farmer’s Wife blocks

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The block at the top is an example of a block for which I really needed Cathy’s help. There’s a y-seam on the flower petals and she made it seam so easy.

Farmer’s Wife blocks

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I’ve been plugging along at the Farmer’s Wife blocks as time permits. Sadly, this week I learned that the local quilt shop where I take Farmer’s Wife class is closing at the end of the year. Suddenly, these blocks are a higher priority as I really don’t want to switch instructors mid-stream.  I am about 1/3 of the way through them and will try to get as many done as I can while Cathy is still available to help out when I get stuck.

Farmer’s Wife Blocks

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Along with Block of the Month, Farmer’s Wife quilt class comes at the beginning of the month. So far I have been doing pretty well sewing these at home. I think Kathy felt bad that I seemed to be doing them all so easily but I knew as the pieces got smaller I’d start having trouble. The green and brown block went together easily but the blue and yellow one has been sewn and ripped out a few times already. I think I must be doing something that stretches those bias pieces because those keep coming out too large. Next month instead of FW class, Kathy’s going to do a precision piecing class and I suspect that will sort my problems out. Meanwhile, I’m planning to cut several blocks out and have them ready to go.