Farmer's Wife Block 65, "Peaceful Hours"

6" Farmer's Wife Block 65, Peaceful Hours

Happy Wednesday!  I did something yesterday that I have not done in years...  I stayed up past midnight because I was in a good groove in the sewing room and didn't want to stop until I finished this 6" sampler block.  This is Block 65 from the original Farmer's Wife sampler quilt book, and it's called Peaceful Hours.  It took me about 3-4 "peaceful hours" to cut and sew this block from start to finish, foundation paper pieced.  I am very, VERY happy with how this block turned out technically, as far as seams matching up where they are supposed to. 

I am not so sure I love how busy this block is, though, with all these crazy fabrics.  At first I was just going to use the large floral print, the tiny blue and white floral, and the solid orange.  However, I dislike having unnecessary seams in my blocks (seams between two patches of the same fabric that only exist to simplify piecing).  I thought I had found a similar enough block in my EQ7 block library (it even has the same name, "Peaceful Hours"):

Peaceful Hours block from EQ7 Library

See how there are no seams dividing the triangles going around the center of the EQ7 Peaceful Hours block?  I added seams in the software to turn the corner squares into HST units and printed out my new foundation patterns and templates for a 6" finished block: 

Block Key and Templates for Modified EQ7 Peaceful Hours Block

And, just for kicks, here's what the block looked like colored with totally different fabrics in EQ7 software:

Modified EQ7 Peaceful Hours Block

But then, just as I was about to cut into my fabric and make a start, I realized that the block in my Farmer's Wife book was different -- the EQ7 block had a different grid proportion (the center square didn't finish 3" for a 6" block) and it had different angles on the star points:

See? Dark Blue Triangles have Different Angles

The version of this block in EQ7 looks like a sawtooth star variation.  And after studying both blocks, I preferred the one in the book because those tricky angles give the block an interesting vintage vibe.  I just didn't like those seams slicing through the gray triangles.

Rather than go back and redraw the block all over again in EQ7, I decided to use two shades of orange in my bisected triangles so the seams would have a functional design purpose.  And I found a few small scraps of this lighter speckled orange fabric in my scrap bins:

The Plan

You can see how I've scribbled on the foundation patterns with colored pencil so I know which fabric goes where, and I've also drawn little arrows to check that the piecing order will result in nesting seam allowances for those tiny triangles around the center of the block (had to change the piecing order for a few segments in order to make that happen).  But alas -- when I cut up the speckled orange scraps, I forgot about the larger corner triangles when I was deciding how wide of a strip to cut, and then I found myself without a large enough scrap to cut them from.  I dug through my scrap bins again, hoping to find another scrap of the same fabric, but no dice.  Boo, hiss!  I found another scrap in a very similar color, but with little orange swirly lines on it instead of dots, and decided to use that for all four corner HSTs because I thought it might be weird to have that fabric just on two patches.  (I regret that now and wish I had continued alternating the two shades of orange so that two of my corner HSTs would have been the dark orange).

Foundation Piecing Completed, Ready to Remove Papers for Traditional Piecing

That's what the block looked like once all of the foundation segments had been paper pieced and trimmed.  I have been starching my foundation segments once the paper piecing is complete, so they are nice and crisp and the fabric doesn't shift around when I'm trimming the units down with my rotary cutter and acrylic ruler.  It is much easier for me to cut and piece accurately when my fabric is stiff and crisp, almost paper-like.

Piecing these segments together went so smoothly.  I sewed the entire block on my 9 mm Bernina 750QE with the straight stitch plate and foot 97D, using Mettler 50/3 cotton thread, a size 90/14 Quilting needle, and piecing straight stitch #1326 shortened to 1.5 stitch length.  I screw the guide into the machine bed, pushed flush up against the presser foot, once my foundation papers are removed and I'm piecing the sections together.  As long as I have trimmed my segments so the cut edge is exactly 1/4" from the seam line, and I've starched my units so they lay flat against the guide rather than bending or curling up the seam guide, things tend to come out looking pretty good.

So I've nested important seam intersections, and I'm using my own tried-and-true "personal recipe" for precision piecing.  I'm also pinning those important seam junctions, especially in instances where I was not able to have opposing seam allowances.  I place my pins with the heads to the left and the tips pointing right, not extending past the raw edge of the fabric, so the pins don't interfere with my seam guide.  In this block, I decided to press some of the seam allowances open to reduce bulk:

Rear View, Showing Pressing Path

I still have my stitch length set to the shorter 1.5 from paper piecing, and that helps to ensure a tight seam even where I've pressed the seams open.

So here it is, up on the design wall with my other 6" sampler blocks.  Maybe it will be fine mixed in with all the others in the finished quilt:

Assorted Sampler Blocks on the Design Wall

Really, there's just not enough contrast between the lighter orange fabric and the light blue ditsy floral fabric for my taste.  Bummer!  Meanwhile, I do still have the foundation papers and templates printed out and ready to go for the EQ7 version of the block.  In a totally different color scheme like this one, with the different angles in those outer triangles and no seams dividing the inner triangles, it really is a completely different block, don't you think? 

Should I make this one, too?

Maybe I'll make this version, too.  I love making these little blocks!  I'm linking up with:

•    Let’s Bee Social at http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.ca/
•     Midweek Makers at http://quiltfabrication.blogspot.com/
•    WOW WIP on Wednesday at www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

Happy Fall, Y'All: Bernie's Sugar Shack Leaves Quilt circa 2004-2006

I know you're all tired of my snail's pace updates on my current projects, and Val's Archives Linky for this week is Fall Themed Projects, so I thought I'd share the Vermont-inspired Sugar Shack Leaves quilt that I made for my husband Bernie back in 2004-2006.  That was before I even knew what a blog was, so I haven't written about this one here before.

"Sugar Shack Leaves," 51" x 51", completed in 2006

The pattern for the leaf blocks came from Quilter's Newsletter Magazine Issue 357, "Shelly's Swirling Leaves, but I changed the borders.  I wanted to evoke the feeling of laying on our backs on that Vermont mountainside outside the sugar shack, surrounded by the forest at peak foliage season, with those brightly colored leaves floating down from a clear blue sky.  My version of the quilt was published in the Quilting Bee section of QN Issue 397, November 2007.

This was my third completed quilt, my first attempt at hand stitched applique (for the leaf stems), and my first and only hand quilted quilt.  It's only a throw sized quilt, but my boys were little at that time and I was only able to work on it in small snatches of time here and there so it took me about two years from start to finish.  Here you can see a much younger, exhausted version of myself working on the hand quilting back in 2005:

Hand Quilting In Progress, back in December 2005

How time flies!  That photo was taken in my in-laws' motor coach after we had spent the entire day in Disney World with toddlers.  Hence the dark circles under my eyes, general exhaustion, and "Really?  You need to take my picture NOW?!" look on my face.  But it's kind of neat now to have an "in progress" shot to share.  I'm using my square Grace lap hoop and my Roxanne thimble.

Hand Quilting Detail

This quilt wasn't really the best choice for showing off hand quilting.  You can't even see it unless you look up close, and my little random leaves quilted in the background look pretty lame to me now.  But it was relaxing hand work and I did enjoy it.  Maybe if I ever get around to setting my Jingle applique blocks, that one might be a good candidate for some hand quilting.

One more shot to share -- the machine embroidered quilt label:

That's it for today.  I'm linking up with Val's Tuesday Archives linky.  Have a great day!

First Block Finished for Anders' Modern Building Blocks Quilt

30" Finished Block

Well, THAT was more bother than I'd expected it to be!  In case you missed my earlier post here, I'm adapting the Moda Modern Building Blocks quilt to fit my 13-year-old son's twin bed.  The finished quilt will look like this:

Moda MBB design in EQ7, Modified to finish 70" x 96", Kona Solids

Since the original Moda pattern is for a Queen bed, I had to resize all of the blocks to make it work, and this block that was originally supposed to be 36" square did not work out to be "ruler friendly" as a 30" block.  I chose to paper piece this monster, which I would not do again (way too many sheets to tape together, and the triangle pieces were so big that they were shifting and flipping around under the foundation papers).  There was much more swearing and seam ripping than anticipated! 

Paper Piecing In Progress

Future blocks like this will be cut with old-fashioned templates and traditionally pieced.  Also, those giant green triangles should have been cut with straight grain on the outer edge rather than bias.  I starched them and was really careful not to stretch the bias edge when I pieced the block sections together, and I have also scolded and threatened them to behave, so they should be fine once they're sewn to adjacent blocks. 

You know, these massively oversized blocks look cool in the finished quilt design, but they are a pain in the arse.  I am going to follow Moda's suggestion to make all of the large blocks first (to ensure that you have fabric pieces big enough to cut them out of), but I'm still going to need to buy more fabric because I've already made a bunch of cutting mistakes.  More scraps for my scrap quilts, as far as I'm concerned.

Since it's Monday, let's take a look at my design wall, shall we?

Design Wall as of Monday, October 10th, 2016

So, I have a few things going on.  I've pinned my first block for Anders' MBB (Modern Building Blocks) quilt right over top of the completed and abandoned baby quilt that was based off a doodle in Lars's 8th grade math notebook (he's in 10th grade now).  I'll quilt that top later, when I get a Round Tuit.  To the right you can see the assorted 6" sampler blocks, sourced from both Farmer's Wife sampler books as well as a few from Charise's Vintage Quilt Blocks Quilt Along that I resized to 6".  Above those you can see the completed first block of my needleturned applique FWR (Frankenwhiggish Rose), and to the right of the 6" sampler blocks you can see another of those blocks in progress.  Just above the partially completed applique block, you can see some pieces of interfacing or something for the yoke of the skirt I was making (not in the right mood for that at present, as I've hit a roadblock and haven't yet decided how to proceed),  and in the very upper right corner, there is a memo sample of my bedroom drapery fabric pinned to my wall to remind me to incorporate some of those dusty, muted teal blues and sage greens into my pineapple log cabin blocks.

I'm still working on those FWR blocks here and there.  Since I was combining and adapting a couple of different patterns, I made one block first in its entirety and now I'm making 8 more just like it, but assembly line style so as to be more efficient.  I've got all of the large layered petals assembled off block, and I made all of the stems and managed to glue baste them to my pieced block backgrounds last week. 

Positioning Applique Stems with a Light Box

This is much, MUCH faster and easier with the light box than with the vinyl overlay method I was using before, by the way.  It only works with the stems because the edges are preturned and I'm glue basting them instead of pinning them, though. 

Now I'm stitching the stems down, but only on Tuesday afternoons while I'm sitting in the carpool line outside the school and then during Anders' violin lesson.  I don't really have much free time lately.  I have a work event coming up this Saturday, the usual demands of home and family, and 75 Christmas carols that I need to review Alto harmonies on prior to the first Holiday Singers rehearsal at the end of the month.  It will be time to climb into the enormous Victorian Christmas caroling dress again before I know it!

I'm linking up with:

·       Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times www.patchworktimes.com

·       Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts http://www.cookingupquilts.com/

·       Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/


·       WOW WIP on Wednesday at www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

·       Let’s Bee Social at http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.ca/