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.