This week's block, Lady, is just like any lady who invited you to sit down, rest a minute and have a relaxing cup of tea. The block provides a moment to relax halfway through the 1930s Farmer’s Wife Sew-Along. Had you noticed this is post #50? Yes! We have reached the summit and are now on the downhill side!
It is also a good moment to reflect on the farmer’s wife letter associated with the block. It is a very nice reminder to pause and think sweet thoughts or “Look for the silver lining and find the sunny side of the street.” Those words are from a song the farmer’s wives of the 1920s and 1930s might have enjoyed on the radio. It was written in 1919 and published in 1920. The music was by Jerome Kern and lyrics by B.G. DeSylva. Judy Garland renewed the song's popularity in the 1940s and Andy Williams again in the late ’50s. According to Wikipedia, those of you who watched Downton Abbey may remember hearing it during a memorable dance scene between Lady Mary and Matthew Crowley (Season 2, Episode 8). For the record, for all of the period accuracy portrayed in the show, that episode would have actually pre-dated the publication of the song, but only by several months.
The large central square in Lady called out to me for a novelty print. It would also have been a perfect space to show off a fussy cut, carefully centered motif. And that suggestion gives me the opportunity to mention one of our latest tools, the Fussy Cutter, Product #8297.
About the Block
Even though we included information about mirror image pieces on the template conversion chart, this is really one block where it will not matter if the seams aren’t reflective, as long as the triangles are. It is just another chance to practice mirror image techniques.My favorite part of this block is that I do always love being able to accurately cut a shape for which I don’t actually have a template, as we did with A-7.
Along that line, I haven’t mentioned More Bang for the Buck! recently. One of the many things I love in this book is the section on template tricks that shows how to cut many other shapes for which you don’t have the actual template. However, the entire book is geared toward helping you see more opportunities to use the templates you own. We know that the more you use them, the more you love them! Here are some of the things you are missing if you don’t own “More Bang for the Buck.”
• More ways to use Perfect Patchwork Templates
• Ways to convert ruler-cutting instructions to template cutting
• Rotary cutting tips – More specifically, template rotary cutting tips!
• Why and how to cut strips the Marti Way
• Ways to teach your templates magic tricks for cutting shapes that have no template
• Tips for cutting connector blocks
• Why you want to be a Grainline Geek!
• Why 1.414 is a quilter’s favorite number
• How to calculate fabric requirements – or just use the Strip Yield Charts!
• To make Four Patches the Marti Way –It’s faster than strips!
• To use the versatile Patchwork Trio in hundreds of block designs
• Why Square Within a Square units are so easy and accurate with templates
• And practice new techniques making the Toad in a Puddle quilt shown on the back cover.
My Lady Block
Click the links below to download the Template Conversion Chart for cutting and making Lady.
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.
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