Chart 6: Eliminating Seams and Coral, Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew Along

 

Make Flying Geese the No Waste Way

In the previous block, Belle, we added some seams, but in this block we definitely recommend reducing the number of seams. By replacing eight A-6 triangles with four A-4 triangles, we can make classic Flying Geese units and eliminate the extra bulk created where seam allowances would meet.

Most of the Flying Geese Units in this quilt will be made with size-specific templates as in this block. (Please read the information following the link to the conversion chart about our Multi-size Flying Geese Ruler.) 

My personal grainline goals for any quilt are:

• Straight grain on the outside of the sub-units whenever possible
• Straight grain on the outside of the block whenever possible
• Definitely straight grain on the outside edges of the quilt

Why?  To prevent rippled edges and stretching.

Straight grain can be either lengthwise or crosswise. Obviously, you can't have lengthwise grain on all 4 sides.

Having said all that -- Design overrides grain!  The only reason I can think of where you "need" a bias edges on the outside of a unit or a block, is when you want to make a statement with a directional fabric such as a stripe.

The A-4 triangles in the Coral block will be cut with the hypotenuse (long side) on the lengthwise grain, which is parallel to the selvage, for the firmest edges.

Measure the strip width "the Marti Way" using square template A-5.

Here's my Coral Block    

Click the link to download the Template Conversion Chart for this block:

From Marti Michell Template Conversion Chart #6

for Block #24, Coral

In addition to our template conversion PDF download, you will want to read Gnome Angel's tutorials for these blocks.

Speaking of Making Flying Geese Units

We make a specialty Flying Geese Ruler with which you can use to cut both the small and large triangles needed for five popular finished Flying Geese sizes, from 2-1/2 x 5 inches to 4-1/2 x 9 inches.

This ruler will also cut the triangles needed for the zig-zag layout Laurie has selected for this quilt, starting on page 260 in the book.

Cut strips the perfect width, then use the same ruler to cut the small triangles…

    …and the large triangles!

Making Flying Geese units couldn't be easier or more accurate.

For smaller sizes of Flying Geese units, we recommend using the size-specific templates, as in this block. In fact, if you own our book, More Bang for the Buck, you will see on page 29 a chart with 26 additional sizes of Flying Geese, cut with right triangle templates in various Perfect Patchwork Template Sets.

 

Chart 5: Elimnating Set-in Seams and Belle, 1930s Farmer's Wife Sew-along

Cutting Trick

Where is this template?

One of my favorite things to do with the templates is to show people how to cut a shape that looks like a shape for which they know they don’t have an exact size template. Your From Marti Michell templates know a lot of tricks! The Belle block features the first “cut-away” cutting trick of this quilt, in step 1 of the template conversion sheet.

Modification to Eliminate Set-in Seams

If you followed the first Farmer’s Wife conversions, you know I love to eliminate unnecessary seams.  I always say, “If you can eliminate a seam, it is one less piece to cut, one less seam to sew, one less seam to press and” a class member usually breaks in at this point to say, “one less place to mess up!” And, of course any seam you can eliminate makes a quilt easier to quilt.

So, it is a surprise when I choose to add a couple of seams. I chose to divide the #13C squares in the book into four A-4 triangles and make 3 straight rows in the block rather than deal with several set-in corners.

 

Note:  If you want to make your block in rows like I did, choose a print that won't be disrupted by the seam across the center of the "square" where the large light triangles meet. You'll see in the photo of my block (scroll down a bit) that I used a tone-on-tone print with a small scale pattern.

Fussy Cutting? If you want to fussy cut the #13C squares but you still don’t want set-in seams… can do! Divide all of the #13A squares on opposite corners of the block, make 4 big quarter-square triangle units, and join them into a 6-inch block.

Flying Geese Units

If you are modifying as we did, this will be the first block in this quilt with Flying Geese units. However, the next two blocks also have Flying Geese units. I hope you will be pleased with how easy exact-size pieces are to sew with our engineered corners. We call our Flying Geese the “no-waste, no gimmick” method of making Flying Geese. You just cut the three triangles and sew them together.

Are you familiar with this popular method for making Flying Geese? Using this method means cutting and discarding almost twice as much fabric as needed for each Flying Geese unit! It’s cheaper, and easier, to cut and sew three triangles rather than throw away four!

My Belle Block

Click the photo to see a larger version. Clink below to download the next template conversion chart:

From Marti Michell Template Conversion Chart #5

for Block #13, Belle

In addition to our template conversion PDF download, you will want to read Gnome Angel's tutorials for these blocks.

I hope you're having fun making your blocks with From Marti Michell Perfect Patchwork Templates! Come back again soon!

Chart 4: Selecting Fabrics and Caroline in the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew-along

Selecting Fabrics

Experience, they say, is the best teacher so, in this article I would like to share some things I’ve learned about fabric selection for sampler quilts.

First, something I learned about fabric selection when making the 1920’s Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt. Assorted fabrics or a “scrappy look” goes hand in hand with making 100 different blocks. You may have decided to use the 50 fabrics Angie curated for Fat Quarter Shop, Civil War prints, only blues and white, batiks or an assortment of ‘30s reproduction fabrics. However, looking at the comments and pictures in the sew-along's Facebook group, many of you have 50 fabrics or more that you plan to use. And that's great!

Even though I am very experienced at making both sampler and scrap quilts, I have most often made 12- to 20-inch or larger blocks and selected from 20 to 25 fabrics. When I started to make 100 six-inch blocks for the original Farmer's Wife sampler quilt, I began to feel I would need more fabrics, so I pulled every tray and basket that had any possible fabric I could use from my shelves! My cutting table looked like this when I started the first blocks on the 1920s quilt.

After all, how could I make the best decision if I didn’t have every possible fabric to choose from?! Then I started pulling from these fabrics to start making my blocks.

I made 10 blocks this way, using 3 or 4 different fabrics on each block. It got messier and messier on my cutting table.

But then, as I was putting away 3 or 4 fabrics when I was done with them, I got smarter and thought, why not sort out 12-15 fabrics that might go together and have them ready to make the next 6 or 8 blocks?

And that's what I suggest you do. From the big group of fabrics you've selected, put about a dozen  into a cute little basket so they are handy.

Then it is easy to select and cut fabric for 1 or 2 blocks at a time. After making a few blocks, change the mix with a different group of 12 or 15 prints, or just refresh the basket with a few new fabrics that will play well with the others. I took out a few blues and transitioned greens into my yellows.

As long as they still fit into the basket, you can pick fabrics for a few blocks quickly and easily! But if they don't fit into the basket, you've got too many fabrics!

My Caroline Block and Your Next Conversion Chart

Click to download the next PDF:

From Marti Michell Template Conversion Chart #4

For Block 20, Caroline

In addition to our template conversion PDF download, you will want to read Gnome Angel's tutorials for these blocks.

Use Templates to Confirm Sizes of Pieced Units

Another thing I want to mention about making six-inch blocks like this one is that templates can be used to confirm accurate sizes on pieced sub-units. For example:

Two A6 triangles joined to make a square should be exactly the same size as the A5 square:

And 4 of those units pieced squares sewn together to make the pinwheel should be the exact size of the A1 square.

Likewise, 2 A4 triangles sewn together on their legs should be the same size as an A2 triangle and two of those sewn together should be the size on an A 1 square.

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; RRP $28.99. 
Click here to purchase.

Chart 3: Cutting HSTs, Swirl Pressing and Betty, Block #14 in the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew-along

Cut Half-Square Triangles Right Sides Together

This method will save time and increase accuracy.

The half-square right angle triangle is probably the most frequently used piece in patchwork. Learn to cut the triangle pairs at the same time by putting the fabrics that are to be sewn together right sides together before cutting strips on the lengthwise grain. Here is a short video on Why I cut Strips on the Lengthwise Grain.



Then cut the triangles. Never forget to nip off the corners. Do not separate the triangles, they are ready to chain piece. Sew an accurate 1/4-inch seam. Press toward the dark- most frequently.

If you haven't watched our short video Introduction to Set A, Video 2 Cutting Tips, we really recommend it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Tf8ImWYYg

I'd like to reiterate something I said in the video -- start with smaller pieces of fabric,  the size of a piece of computer paper is good, but no bigger than a fat quarter. Then, if you are using a fat quarter, don’t be afraid to cut a strip the full 18-inch length. Just use what you need and put any leftover strip in your basket of fabrics because the same widths are used repeatedly and that strip will be pre-cut.

Quarter-inch or 6mm Seam Allowances

All of our templates and tools include a 1/4-inch (6mm) seam allowance. That means, for your blocks to finish at 6-inch (6-1/2 inches including seam allowance), you must sew an accurate 1/4-inch seam. The smaller the pieces, the more important that is. A 1/16 inch error on two sides of a 1-inch square makes a big difference, but on a 4-inch square that discrepancy would hardly be noticed.

Some people say that making these 6-inch blocks is great for perfecting a 1/4-inch seam allowance! We have a short video on our website with a quick seam allowance tip:
http://www.frommarti.com/vid_check_seams.shtml

Or you can read a short article here (there's a PDF you can download, too!):
http://www.frommarti.com/quarter.shtml

Another way to make a seam guide is using sticky notes and our Deluxe Corner Trimmer #8217. In the photos below, I used red wool thread in the machine so you can see it. It looks like the corner trimmer is floating! It's not; there is a clear table insert around my machine. Remove the sewing machine foot and put the needle into the hole in the template.

Tear off a stack of 8-12 sticky notes (keep them together) and align your ruler on the sticky side at about 3/4-inch. Trim off the excess and discard the loose papers. Align the sticky stack with the trimmer template and stick it to your sewing machine.

Remove the template and begin sewing perfect 1/4-inch seam allowances!

We Love Swirl Pressing

Well, actually we love a well-pressed block and we reject any inference that it is a mental problem for someone to take pleasure in a well-pressed quilt block! LOL That said, one of our favorite pressing tricks is swirl pressing, detailed in this block.

In the right hand column of the conversion chart, you will also see some extra notes about pressing. “Press to the dark” is just the first rule most people learn in patchwork pressing.

The reason we are showing both the front and backs of the blocks is so you can see the pressing. Betty has wonderful swirl pressing examples in the units with the smaller triangles:

And it also has a perfect example of a block that just doesn’t have a “perfect” way to press every seam! You can see where we “twisted” the center seam just beyond the bulky center area to prevent piling up seam allowances and creating a bumpy, bulky spot in the quilt.

P.S. I use steam all the time - the more the better! But remember, I am very grainline conscious, which means I rarely have a stretchy edge, which can be disastrous with steam.

And Here's Betty! 

This is my Betty block, front and back to show you how we pressed. Click the photo for a larger view):

Click to download your next PDF: 

From Marti Michell Conversion Chart #3

for Block 14, Betty

In addition to our template conversion PDF download, you will want to read Gnome Angel's tutorials for these blocks.

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; RRP $28.99. 
Click here to purchase.

Chart 1: Ready, Set, Sew! Becky and Bonnie in the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew Along

I am so excited about being a part of the Sew Along with Gnome Angel and all of you! I’ve looked at Facebook pages and heard the buzz, I can’t wait to see your blocks and quilts as we sew along. Here’s a link to the blog post I wrote about the templates and tools that are used the most to make this quilt plus other tools that come in handy.

http://frommartimichell.blogspot.com/2015/08/2015-16-farmers-wife-1930s-sampler.html

Click to download your first PDF template conversion chart:

 From Marti Michell Template Conversion Chart #1

For Block 12, Becky, and Block 16, Bonnie

If you have any trouble locating this PDF on your computer after downloading, copy and paste the following into a search window: 01_Block_12_Becky_Block16_Bonnie.pdf

Also, note that, because we are a US company, our documents are US letter size (8.5 x 11 inches). This might cause a conflict with your computer printer if your default paper size is A4; if you have printing problems, check the paper size settings on your printer.

We had a "two in one sitting" day with Becky and Bonnie. As you can see, we're not piecing the blocks in numerical order. We've organized them by the things they have in common, and we'll be sprinkling in a few surprises along the way, too! I'm making my blocks in reds, blacks, grays and whites.

This is my Becky block, front and back:

    


And this is my Bonnie block, front and back:

    

In addition to our template conversion PDF download, you will want to read Gnome Angel's tutorials for these blocks.

A Little Bit About Us

In case you don't "know" me or aren't familiar with the From Marti Michell product line, my husband Richard and I work together. We are often called “pioneers” in the current quilt revival because we were involved in the quilt industry before some of you were born!

If you were quilting back in "the early days" you may remember our first company, Yours Truly, Inc., and your first quilt may have even been our Woman's Day Log Cabin quilt, dubbed the World's Quickest Quilt! (People still ask us about that quilt, so we included the pattern in my Log Cabin ABCs book.)

I’m happy to say I have never lost my enthusiasm for or love of quilts and quilting. If I were to describe my “area of expertise”, I would say I thrive on teaching beginning and intermediate quilters skills and techniques that they will use forever! Since 1995, we have focused on developing From Marti Michell Perfect Patchwork Templates and specialty rulers for rotary cutting. It excites me to develop tools that make accuracy easy and help people make quilts they can show with pride. (I think Mr. Reifschneider, my high school geometry teacher would be pleased.) I’ve written (and sold) lots of books and patterns and designed fabric and kits along the way. I’m honored to have received several industry awards, but the best reward is meeting and working with quilters around the world. I’m fortunate to have been invited to teach in all 50 states and 25 other countries.

All of this would not be possible without help and we have a great staff. Patti Bachelder, our graphic designer, is also deeply involved in the blog posts for the Sew Along. Patti is a long-time quilter and before coming to work for us, she was a quilt magazine editor. Harriett Fox is my studio associate and helps with sewing, writing and testing. Helga Kemp is our customer service supervisor. We are located in Atlanta, GA, USA.

Please join me in a big round of applause for Gnome Angel for getting this all organized! And Laurie Hird for writing the book!

Now, let’s have some fun!

 

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; RRP $28.99. 
Click here to purchase.

Chart 2: Aunt in the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew-along

Here is my Aunt block

This is the front and back, so you can see the pressing. Click the photo for a larger view.

Click to download your next PDF:

From Marti Michell Conversion Chart #2

for Block 8, Aunt

Most of the blocks for the next 8 blog posts will use Template Set A. I hope you will be amazed at the versatility of patchwork designs you can make with just those 7 shapes.

In addition to our template conversion PDF download, you will want to read Gnome Angel's tutorials for these blocks.

A Few Notes About the From Marti Michell Perfect Patchwork Template Conversion Charts:

1. When we use color in the how-to diagrams, we are using the colors of the blocks in the book, not the colors in the blocks we made and photographed.


2. Our blocks may have a different number of fabrics or slight changes to eliminate seams, make them more template-friendly, etc. But we let you know if we have made a modification. Even though we are all following the same book and I love the idea of making the same quilt with people all around the world at the same time, we are also all making our own quilts.


3. Our templates include grainline arrows. For cutting the block pieces, the arrows should be placed on straight grain most of the time. We have written directly below the conversion chart at the top of the page if there are any pieces to be cut with a grainline override.


4. Please note the reference in the upper righthand corner of each PDF (FMM 2, for example). That is the numerical order of the block conversions, in case you want to file them that way.

BONUS! Square Within a Square Quilt Pattern

We love making Square Within a Square units. We think you will, too, when you cut the pieces with the engineered corners on our templates, so we are including a free scrap-friendly quilt pattern that is a fabulous example of using Square Within a Square units. You'll be surprised when the stars pop out after the last rows are added! Click here to download the complete three-page pattern. Enjoy! And scroll down for 2 more sizes of Square Within a Square that you can make with Set A!

Two More Sizes of Square Within a Square to Make 

with Set A

The Ramblin' Stars bonus quilt is made with 8-inch blocks and Set A. Because there are 3 complementary sizes of squares and triangles in Set A, you can also make 3-inch and 6-inch Square Within a Square units. You dan download the 3-page pattern here: Click here to download the 3-page pattern.

That's a built-in bonus! Go Set A! (Did you know the same square and triangle partners are available in 3 other sizes in Set B?)

P.S. We received a very nice comment from Cyndi at the same time we were updating some of the type in this article -- now her comment won't publish, so I've copy/pasted it below.

Thanks for the bonus! I've been working on a Rambling Stars with scraps and old denim and sharing my progress at Marti and Me Club meetings at Stitchin' Tree Quilts in Woodbine, Iowa. THANK YOU so much for taking part in this sew along, Marti! I wouldn't even attempt a Farmer's Wife Quilt without your template, now that I've been working with them for just over a year. You rock, Marti!!

Thank you, Cyndi, for taking the time to write such a nice note!

Wow! The Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew-along goes live on Monday, September 28, at 7:30am AEST -- that's Australian Eastern Standard Time -- when Gnome Angel, Angie, posts a "Welcome to the Sew-along" informative greeting on her blog. Because of the difference in time zones, many of us  will see her post on Sunday. 

Angie will be posting block tutorials on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:30am AEST, and most of us will see these on Monday or Wednesday evening.

We will be posting links to download PDF Template Conversion Charts to coincide with Angie's tutorial being published, so you will have access to them both at the same time. We made a test file, and if you have a notebook to keep your Farmer's Wife 1930s materials in, you can use it for the cover.

Which means, your first From Marti Michell Template Conversion Chart will be available on Monday at 5:30pm EDT -- Eastern Daylight Time! We're in Atlanta, which is in the Eastern US time zone (Eastern Standard Time), but  we're still on Daylight Saving Time, hence "EDT"!  (Whew! If you're interested in converting time from one time zone to another, use this link: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html)

See you on Monday!  :)

Note for future visitors

You can join the sew-along any time!  The PDFs will remain available here in my blog archive for the duration of the Sew-along.  Details about the Sew-along are here on Angie's blog - http://gnomeangel.com/announcing-the-farmers-wife-1930s-sampler-quilt-sew-along/

Following the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew-along Blogs

Guest Post by Patti  :)  

A few weeks ago, Angie posted introductions of the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew-along bloggers on her Gnome Angel blog. Every week, beginning Sept. 28, a different blogger will write about the method(s) she used to make 2 of the blocks in the book The Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt by Laurie Aaron Hird. There are 30 bloggers taking turns from week to week... Angie will be posting weekly tutorials and a Sunday "link party" for sharing photos... Fat Quarter Shop's blog will feature a monthly overview...  and every week, we'll be posting links here on Marti's blog for you to download PDF template conversion charts, so you can make your block using Perfect Patchwork Templates. And if you're late getting to the party, it's okay, the PDFs will still be here. 

That's 3 blogs to follow each week, promising lots of fun and helpful tips, encouragement and sharing, plus a 4th that will change from week to week. You'll want to follow them all so you can read at your convenience. If you're not used to "following," there are a few different ways you can do it. I'm not an expert! I'll give you some options and tell you how I do it. :)

It's not hard! We'll use Marti's blog as an example. The photos below don't do anything; they're just screenshots.  (If you want more info about the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew-along, details are here on Angie's blog. And if you want to meet the bloggers, that info is on Angie's blog here - http://gnomeangel.com/introducing-the-farmers-wife-1930s-sew-along-bloggers/

Bookmarks
You could bookmark Marti's blog and the others. Use the "manage bookmarks" tool in your browser's menu bar to make a "Farmer's Wife" folder to keep all the links in one place. You could even move the folder to your toolbar so it's a visible reminder to go to the blogs to see what's new. If you decide to follow this way, make sure you're on the front page of the blog before you bookmark it, so your link won't take you to the same article each time you click the link. (The easiest way to get to the front page of a blog is to click on the artwork at the top of that page. You'll notice the address in your browser bar will get shorter, too.)

Emails
Most blogs have options to "follow by email" or "subscribe" to receive updates. If you choose to follow Marti by email, each time we post a new article, you will automatically receive an email version of it.  And if you make a new mailbox and create a filter, you can have all Marti's blog emails show up in a  specified mailbox. You could organize all the Farmer's Wife blogs you follow this way in one mailbox. If you follow by email, you don't have to subscribe.

Subscribe 

NOTE:  If you've never used a blog reader, print this page so you can refer to the following info as you set up your blog reader and learn how to subscribe.

If you subscribe, you don't have to follow by email. (Which to choose is a personal preference; I like to subscribe to keep my email lean.) Blog readers or news feeds are special web pages that notify subscribers when something new has been posted -- The new post automatically goes into your blog reader so you can read a preview of what's new the next time you log in. So you can get an idea of everything that's new in all the blogs you follow in one handy place -- unlike bookmarks, which you have to remember to check and, depending on how you set the bookmark up, you may not see some previous articles.

Blog readers are free, although you can pay for additional services (that you don't need if, like me, you're not a power user). Using a blog reader is like bookmarking but is more efficient; it corrals all your favorite blogs in your own personal online "reading room," with options for organizing them into "collections" or folders. That way you can keep all your favorite quilting, decorating, etc. blogs in one place. Depending on your preferences, a bit of artwork and a teaser will show up for unread blog posts; that may be a title or the first sentence or the first paragraph. This page of teasers is like looking at a table of contents and picking an article to read first. When an image or title catches your attention, you can click on it and go to the blog to read the entire article.

If you haven't used a blog reader and you want to follow this way, first you need to pick a blog reader and set up an account. Do a little online research, and ask friends what blog readers they use. A lot of people like Bloglovin. I started using Feedly after Bloglines went defunct, so the example below is about Feedly, but they all work about the same way. I use it on my computer and it may be a bit different on mobile devices.

Go to the site of your chosen blog reader and make an account there. Once you have your account set up, then you're ready to subscribe to your favorite blogs.

To subscribe to Marti's blog, log into your chosen blog reader (it just saves time to already have it open). Then, back on Marti's blog page, look on this page at the right near the top, where it says "Subscribe". Click that and choose "Posts".

In Feedly, doing that offers 3 choices -- Netvibes, My Yahoo and Atom. They are all news feeders. On some blogs, you will see "RSS"; it depends on what browser you use.

If you're in Feedly, select Atom and then on the next page, "subscribe to this feed using (select feedly)" and "subscribe now."

It should work similarly in other blog readers. Now it will go to your Feedly and you'll see the name of Marti's blog with a green "+feedly" button after it.

Click on that button and a vertical bar will roll out on the left side of the page. It will roll in and out as you roll over it -- to make it static, click on "Pin". (Some of my folders are shown below "All".)

Scroll down to the bottom and click "Add." You are now following Marti's blog! It will show up in "Uncategorized" at the bottom of your feed column.

See "+Add Content" in the image above? You can paste a url there, too, and add blogs that way, too. You'll see a neat little box that has an "Add" button where the image below says "Added." Click "Add" and select a checkbox to add it to one of your folders.

To make a folder, go down to the bottom of the column and click "Organize."  The last thing you should see on the new page is "New Collection."  You can rename it FW Bloggers and drag Marti's blog name from "Uncategorized" to your new FW Bloggers folder.

 

When you click out of "Organize" your FW Bloggers folder will show Marti's blog along with any others you've added.

When you have folders set up for your link collections, you can use "Add Content" and select the check-box for the folder you want to put my blog in and then go down to the bottom and click "Add" to save a step. (Since all the Farmer's Wife bloggers are already in my reader, I found another blog and added it to my general "Quilting" folder so I could take a screenshot.)

While you're on a roll, visit a few more of the blogs Angie listed and add them -- http://gnomeangel.com/introducing-the-farmers-wife-1930s-sew-along-bloggers/

I added them all to my Feedly at the same time. It took about 10 minutes to copy, click on "add content", paste, and click "Add."  Once they're in there, all you have to do is to remember to open your blog reader each week!

To log out, go all the way to the bottom of the vertical rollout bar and look for "logout" in tiny type.
I hope I didn't miss a step. Marti's blog was already in my Feedly, so I unsubscribed and re-subscribed to get screenshots, but it may have remembered and taken a shortcut! I think Feedly is pretty well covered, though. :)

It's a big worldwide web and there are probably other news feeders and new ways to keep up with all the cool stuff that bloggers write about. If you have any questions, ask your friends! Seriously, they may have a quicker, better answer for you, but I'd be happy to help you if I can. :) Also, there are loads of videos on how different blogs work and an online search should come back with a good answer if you get stuck.  I had to Google "how do I log out of Feedly" the first time I used it!

Feel free to comment below about how you follow your favorite blogs!  

Introducing Template Set A for the Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt Along

We'd like to introduce you to Perfect Patchwork Template Set A, which we'll be using at the beginning of the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew-along. 

Set A celebrated a big birthday this year -- we started selling this set 20 years ago!  Twenty years and still cutting!