Chart 82: Ruth, our Substitute for Posy, Block 84 in the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt Sew Along

If you really only want to make the block in the book, we recommend using the paper-piecing technique for Posy; it's on the CD that comes with the book. However, we are substituting a template-cut block with a similar profile. It is cut with Template Set S and sometimes called Rhodey’s Square. I’m calling this block Ruth.

Just like my other substitute blocks, Ruth was an Iowa Farmer’s wife in the 1930s, and also a friend of my mother's. Mom was the leader of my 4-H Club and Ruth agreed to be the assistant leader. Looking back now, I can see what a positive influence my 4-H experience was on my life and it couldn’t have happened without the adult leaders. That's me at the right end of the first row:

Our block Ruth is ideal for efficient piecing because you need 4 or 8 of nearly every unit. However, to take full advantage of that, think twice about using fabric with strong directional design. For example, the corner units are identical until they are rotated to complete the design. Then they become mirror image units. If any of the pieces in the corner units are cut from directional fabric, the result could surprise you. For efficient piecing, we'd make 4 corner units just alike:

Then we'd rotate them to create the block -- what happened?

If all the triangles had been cut from fabric printed with trees, some of the trees would be rooted in the ground and some would be growing sideways!

My Ruth Block

Click on the image for a larger view. Click the link below to download the Chart for cutting and making Ruth:

From Marti Michell Chart #82
 

Visit these other Farmer's Wife Sew Along blogs, too, for sewing tutorials and other info about the Posy block:

http://gnomeangel.com

http://catandvee.blogspot.com/

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.

Chart 81: Tirzah, Block #96 in the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt Sew Along

It is fun, especially this late in the list of blocks, to have one block that uses pieces from 3 different Perfect Patchwork Template Sets. It is really unusual to have pieces from Sets A and B used in not only the same block, but the same sub-unit of the block!

True confession: There was very little time between the idea for the Farmer’s Wife Sew Along and the date the blocks needed to be sorted and put in order. When I looked at the basic grid of Tirzah, it was obvious the sub-units would finish at 2 inches square, the size of template B-12, but what about the little pieces? That meant, it got pushed to the bottom of the list to give me time to “think” and in the meantime, many other blocks were made.

When I took time to look more carefully, I saw that N-81 was a perfect match for 96E. However, 96F was a bit of a mystery until I thought to extend the edges of the printed pattern and nub off the corners to match our engineered corners. Then I measured the leg of the triangle and discovered it was our triangle template A-6!

For many of the blocks, information in our book More Bang for the Buck provided the clue for which template set to use. For example, if I knew the finished length of the leg of a triangle, I could look in the appropriate chart in the book and find which set, if any, included a triangle that size -- bingo, I had the answer. At the beginning of the sew along last year, I talked about how helpful this book is in learning more ways to use the templates, and that hasn't changed! If you own several of the sets, this book is a great investment for getting "More Bang for the Buck."

As it turned out, making Tirzah was a lot of fun using a great template trick!

So, now that we are closing in on the last blocks in the sew along, we are giving you the opportunity to win a copy of this book! Anyone who has made at least 40 blocks using the templates -- on your honor -- is eligible. Just make a comment below. Tell us which block or blocks were your favorites to make, for example.

My Tirzah Block

Click on the image for a larger view. Click the link below to download the Chart for cutting and making Tirzah:

From Marti Michell Chart #81
 

Visit these other Farmer's Wife Sew Along blogs, too, for sewing tutorials and other info about the Tirzah block:

http://gnomeangel.com

http://shequiltsalot.com/

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.

Chart 80: Slightly Modified Widow, Block 99 in the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt Sew Along

15 Blocks to Go! We are in the Home Stretch!

Here we are on Post #80, almost done. For those of you who are making every block you can with the templates, but at the same time, you are only making the blocks that are in the book, there are still 7 blocks for which template conversions aren’t appropriate. As we are on the home stretch, when they come up, I won’t always be blogging with a substitution.

I was almost positive that we had already provided 7 extra blocks that could replace the 7 I’m not converting. There was Mabel, chart 12; Alta and Aimee Chart 13 (Aimee is also featured with templates in my 11/13/15 post); Pat’s Basket, post 32; Poppy and Pippa post 54; the Dimensional Carrie, post 58; the modified Mollie (Lorna) post 59, and several still to come. Sure enough when I counted, I have 98 actual blocks I’ve made and have blogged about or will blog about.

Of course, Angie and at least one of the other bloggers will still be blogging about the 7 blocks and, as always, we will link to their blogs on the appropriate days.

But just in case you are looking for more blocks, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few of our design specific template sets that make great 6-inch blocks. I’m not including patterns or writing instructions because if you own or want to own these sets, the instructions for rotary cutting and making the blocks are included with the templates. But, I have made the blocks to share with you.

Set F Sunburst

Follow the instructions included with the template set to make one-quarter of the full Sunburst Block. Click the images for larger views:

The cover of “Sunburst Quilts to Make” book shows another way to use the quarter-block in a quilt:

Sunburst Quilts to Make, Product #30006, $9.98

The Starry Path Block

This is our newest template set. The set is multi-size and you can make 6-, 9- or 12-inch finished blocks with one set.

Starry Path Template Set, Product #8586, $21.98

The 6-inch House or Schoolhouse, Set J

I actually went to a one-room country school for kindergarten and half of first grade. Then the school was closed and we were sent to school in town. The school sat at the top of the hill about a quarter-mile east of our house and we could see it, silhouetted just like this little block, from our yard. (The same house block can be made at 12 inches finished with Set K.)

Template Set J, Small House, Product #8952, $19.98

Now––On to Today's Block, Widow

Make 8 Units with Strip Techniques

As much as I love the Perfect Patchwork Templates, I would never walk away from an opportunity like this to use strip techniques. In fact, you may have heard me say that I think the templates are just an extension of strip techniques. Some of you may have even started quilting in the late 1980s or 1990s and used my best selling book, Quilting for People Who Don’t Have Time to Quilt (over 750,000 copies were sold). I love it when people tell me it was their first quilting book! In 1998 ASN asked me to do an enlarged and expanded version and in 1998, Quilting for People Who Still Don’t Have Time to Quilt! was published. Both books are out of print and often available on eBay.

It is easy to see that Widow is made with 9 equal size units or what is often called a nine-patch layout. Next, the four corner units are actual nine-patch blocks. The four side center blocks are basic Fence Rail blocks. Fence Rail and Nine Patch are two of the easiest blocks to make using strip techniques. The question is what size strips to cut.

Since Widow is a 6-inch finished block each of the 9 finished square units is 2 inches. But a 2-inch square divided by 3 is 2/3 of an inch -- oh, no! how do you measure that? Don’t forget to add 1/2-inch for seam allowances. The answer is a full 1-1/8 inch or a few threads beyond 1-1/8 inch.  One again, if you happen to have a metric ruler, 30mm is a perfect width strip for the Nine Patch and Fence Rail blocks.

No matter which way you measure, we suggest cutting strips for the Fence Rail first and then using the #12 square template in Set B to cut the square and true-up the width of the strips, if necessary.

Simplify or Paper Piece the Center Unit

I’m a big believer in the question “is the result really worth the effort?” So, since it is my quilt, and I had some appropriate ribbon handy, I chose to simplify the center unit of this block.

My Widow Block 

Click on the image for a larger view. Click the link below to download the Template Conversion Chart for cutting and making Widow:

From Marti Michell Chart #80

Visit these other Farmer's Wife Sew Along blogs, too, for sewing tutorials and other info about the Widow block:

http://gnomeangel.com

http://woodenspoonquilts.blogspot.com/

Giveaway Just For People Who Read This Far!

Make a comment below to let us know you are still reading and win your choice of the 3 template sets shown today. One comment will be chosen by a random picker on December 13, 2016. Be sure to check back on that date to see if you won! If so, contact us with your mailing address so we will know where to send your prize.

COMMENT #13 was picked -- Jewel, you won!

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.