Agri-Spouse Friday - Week 37

Welcome back to our Agri-Spouse Quilt Along.

I have four blocks to share this week, all from Suzanne! First we have Checkerboard:

Then we have Attic Windows:

Third we have Buckwheat:

And last, but not least, we have Country Path:

Lovely! I still love how just changing the fabrics can so change the look of a block.

We are at the end of the second week of summer break for the children and I have to admit that I haven't gotten much done since they got off school. I haven't even gotten much done with my longarm since I no sooner get in there but I get interrupted. I do love my children and a big part of starting my own home business was to be able to be where my children needed me to be but I do like my work too. Then I think about the fact that these types of summers are almost over with our boy heading into grade six in September and what else can I do but smile at the little man he is becoming.

It also didn't help to have my van broken into last Friday and have my purse, that I unfortunately forgot in the vehicle, pretty much emptied out. That has been a royal pain in the you know what and it isn't all fixed yet but at least it was just stuff. Stuff I needed and have to replace but just stuff.

I have a husband that I love with all my heart, who is a true partner in life, a boy who is growing up into such a little man, even if he is a turkey sometimes and a girl who plays the angel but has a stubborn streak a mile wide. Life is good!

Our first block this week is Block #14 - Butterfly at the Crossroads.

Cut one 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" pink square.
Cut four 1 1/2" x 3" green rectangles.
Cut four 1 3/4" x 1 3/4" green squares.
Cut four 1 3/4" x 1 3/4" pink squares.
Cut four 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" green squares.
Cut four 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" pink squares.










Place one of the 2 1/4" pink squares RST with one of the 2 1/4" green squares and make them into HSTs. Trim your HST to 1 3/4" square. Repeat for the other three pink/green pairs.

Organize your pieces the way you want them to look.

In the four corners, you basically have a four patch. Sew each of these four patches together, watching that you nest the seams together properly.











Now as you look at your pieces, you once again have a nine patch to put together.












Sew together your pieces like you would any other nine patch.

Trim your block to 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" and your first block for this week is finished!

Our second block this week is Block #23 - Country Farm.

Cut one 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" purple square.
Cut one 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" pink square.
Cut four 2 3/8" x 2 3/8" orange squares. Cut these on the diagonal.
Cut two 2 3/8" x 2 3/8" blue squares. Cut these on the diagonal.
Cut four 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" blue squares.

Place the large pink square RST with the large purple square and make it into HSTs. Place your ruler diagonally across the HST square and cut your HST in two perpendicular to your seam line. Place two of your triangles RST so that the colours alternate. Sew a 1/4" seam along the long side of your triangle, set the seam and press to one side. I repeated this with the other set and made the extra QST.





Centre the long side of the orange triangle RST along the edge of a blue square. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat with another orange triangle on the next side of the blue square. Repeat with the other three blue squares and six orange triangles.








You now basically have a nine patch to put together. Make sure while doing this that the right angles of the blue triangles match up with the right angle of the orange triangle.

Flip the last large triangle RST onto the larger piece, sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Trim your block to 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" and your second block for this week is finished.

Our third block this week is Block #28 - Duck and Ducklings.

Cut one 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" pink squares.
Cut four 1 3/4" x 1 3/4" pink squares.
Cut four 1 3/4" x 1 3/4" blue squares.
Cut two 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" pink squares.
Cut two 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" blue squares.
Cut two 3 3/8" x 3 3/8" pink squares. Cut these on the diagonal.
Cut four 2 3/8" x 2 3/8" blue squares. Cut these on the diagonal.

Place one 2 1/4" pink square RST with one 2 1/4" blue square and make them into HSTs. Trim your HSTs to 1 3/4". Repeat with the other 2 1/4" pink/blue pair.

Flip one blue triangle RST onto an HST so that the right angle corners match. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Flip another blue triangle RST onto the next side of the HST so that the right angle corners match. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other three HST/triangle sets.

Flip a 1 3/4" pink square RST onto a 1 3/4" blue square. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other three pink/blue square sets.

Flip one pink triangle RST onto a pieced triangle so that the right angle corners match. Sew a 1/4" seam along the long side, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other three triangle sets.







You now basically have a nine patch to put together. Sew together like all the other nine patches and your third block for this week is complete.

Our fourth block for this week is Block #17 - Cats and Mice.

Cut five 2" x 2" red squares.
Cut two 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" red squares.
Cut two 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" blue squares.
Cut two 2" x 2" blue squares. Cut these on the diagonal.
Cut two 3 7/8" x 3 7/8" blue squares. Cut these on the diagonal.

Place a 2 3/4" red square RST with a 2 3/4" blue square and make them into QSTs. Repeat with the other two 2 3/4" red/blue squares. Flip a red square RST with a QST. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat with the other three red squares/QSTs. Centre the long side of a small blue triangle RST along the edge of a red square. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other three small blue triangles and red square/QST sets.





You now have a diagonal nine patch to put together.











Make sure that the right angle corners match up when piecing this together and your fourth block for this week is finished!

I think that the next post should finish up the last of the simple piecing posts. After that, by my quick count, we should have just the foundation piecing posts, a post that has the blocks that include a bit of applique and then the dreaded (to me) "Y" seam post! The end is in sight ladies!

See you next time!

Tara

Agri-Spouse Friday - Week 36

Welcome back to our Agri-Spouse Quilt Along.

I don't quite know what to call the next bunch of posts since the weeks are getting jumbled together. I had a plan initially but when I got closer to the end I found that some of the more complicated blocks that we now have didn't make sense the way I had them organized so I am kind of jumping around my plan. I had 48 weeks planned but I know now that I will be combining some weeks and some posts could end up pretty big but with pretty repetitive instructions. 

Foundation piecing doesn't seem to require many instructions once you know how to do it but I will e-mail the ladies that have been quilting along with me a pdf of the foundation pattern. Remember to print to scale I think it is called and NOT "Fit to Page". I also usually print at least the first page on regular paper, double check measurements are accurate and then print again on the foundation paper and confirm the measurements again. This way I find that I waste less of the foundation paper with a printer that I haven't set exactly the way I need it. I will post these instructions again on the foundation piecing posts as well so don't worry too much about it yet.

Things have been pretty busy here for the last little while and in such an exciting way for me. We finished up our studio renovation and I will do a studio tour soon. My longarm has arrived and so the studio is now looking pretty much complete. Longarm services will be offered at competitive prices very soon!

I don't have any block photos to show so I will get right on to instructions for this week. I have done up the instructions for four blocks in this post.

We will start with Block #58 - Mother's Dream.

Cut one 2 5/8" x 2 5/8" blue square.
Cut four 2 5/8" x 1 1/2" blue rectangles.
Cut four 2 5/8" x 1 1/2" brown rectangles.
Cut two 3 3/8" x 3 3/8" green squares. Cut these on the diagonal.
Cut two 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" green squares. Cut these on the diagonal.

Place one brown rectangle RST with one blue rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other three brown/blue rectangle pairs.

Centre the long edge of one small green triangle RST along the long edge of one blue rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other three brown/blue rectangle pairs.









Organize your pieces the way you want them to look. You now basically have a nine patch to put together like any of the other nine patches that we have pieced. Flip one of the green triangles RST onto one of the rectangle/triangle sets. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat with with other sets until your pieces look like the left.

Sew the final pieces together like the other nine patches.

















Trim your block to 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" and the first block for this week is finished.

Our second block this week is Block #19 - Checkerboard.

Cut two 1 7/8" x 1 7/8" pink squares.
Cut two 1 7/8" x 1 7/8" dark blue squares.
Cut two 1 7/8" x 1 7/8" purple squares.
Cut two 1 7/8" x 1 7/8" green squares.
Cut one 1 7/8" x 1 7/8" red square.
Cut four 1 7/8" x 1 7/8" light blue squares.
Cut four 2 3/8" x 2 3/8" light blue squares. Cut these on the diagonal.
Cut two 2" x 2" light blue squares. Cut these on the diagonal.

Organize your pieces the way you want them to look. Place one of the 2 3/8" triangles RST with one of the dark blue squares with the right angle corners matching. Repeat with another light blue triangle on the opposite side of the dark blue square. Repeat with the other dark blue square and the two green squares.

Centre the long side of one of the remaining light blue triangles RST along one of the remaining edges of the dark blue square. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other dark blue square and the other two green squares.

Piece together the centre nine squares like you would any other nine patch.






Centre the blue triangle piece RST along the edge of the centre nine patch you pieced, making sure to line up the seams. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other blue triangle on the opposite side of the nine patch.









Centre the green/blue triangle piece RST along one of the remaining edges of the centre nine patch you pieced, making sure to line up the seams. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other green/blue triangle on the opposite side of the nine patch.






Trim your block to 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" square and your second block for this week is finished!

Our third block for this week is Block #13 - Buckwheat.

Cut two 1 7/8" x 1 7/8" yellow squares.
Cut four 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" red squares.
Cut four 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" grey squares.
Cut four 2 3/8" x 2 3/8" yellow squares. Cut these on the diagonal.
Cut two 2 3/8" x 2 3/8" red squares. Cut these on the diagonal.
Cut two 1 7/8" x 1 7/8" grey squares.

Place one of the 2 1/2" red squares RST with one of the 2 1/2" grey squares and make these into HSTs. Trim your HST to 1 7/8" x 1 7/8" square. Repeat for the other three red/grey pairs so that you have eight red/grey HSTs.

Organize your pieces the way you want them to look.






Flip the right angle corner of one of the red triangle RST with the corner of one of the HSTs. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat with the other three red triangles and four of the yellow triangles.








Flip the right angle corner of one of the remaining yellow triangles RST with the corner of one of the HST/triangle pairs. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat with the remaining three yellow triangles so that you end up with four triangle pieces. 


Flip one of the remaining HST/triangle pairs RST with another HST/triangle pair. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other two HST/triangle pair.

Sew together the centre four squares into a four patch.

Flip one triangle piece RST onto another triangle piece. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other two triangle pieces.

Flip one house shaped piece RST onto the four patch you pieced. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side. Repeat for the other house shaped piece on the opposite side of the four patch.










Flip one large triangle RST onto the larger piece, making sure to match the seams. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side.








Repeat with the remaining triangle piece. Trim your block to 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" and your third block is finished!

Our final block for this week will be Block #1 - Attic Windows.

Cut one 5" x 5" blue square. Cut this on the diagonal.
Cut one 2 7/8" x 2 7/8" green square. Cut this on the diagonal.
Cut one 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" orange square.
Cut two 2 1/2" x 5" pink rectangles.










Flip the green triangle RST with the orange square so that the corners match. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side.











Flip the other green triangle RST with the opposite side of the orange square so that the angles of the triangle go the opposite way. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side.










Flip a pink rectangle RST with the orange/green piece. The corner of the green triangle that is furthest away from the orange square should line up with the corner of the pink rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side.









Flip the remaining pink triangle RST on the opposite side of the orange/green piece. The corner of the green triangle that is furthest away from the orange square should line up with the corner of the pink rectangle. Sew a 1/4" seam, set the seam and press to one side.








Centre the long edge of the large blue triangle RST with the centre piece along edge of the green triangle and sew a 1/4" seam. Place your ruler along the seam you just sewed and trim off the extra little pink triangle. Set the seam and press to one side.






Repeat with the remaining blue triangle and our fourth block for this week is complete!

I have been working on drawing out the foundation patterns for the twenty or so blocks that I simply couldn't figure out how to piece. I will likely post all of those blocks in just a few posts since the instructions are kind of similar to each other. I find foundation piecing a bit slower and often more wasteful because of all the trimmings but I do find it much easier to be accurate with awkward angles. 

We do still have a few blocks left though with regular piecing. Then there are the two blocks that I have left until the very end due to the "Y" seams. I haven't ever done "Y" seams so I am not looking forward to those two but when I am finished with this quilt I want to know that I have done all 111 blocks so I will do them once I work up the nerve for it! These two blocks won't likely be so difficult for someone who has done "Y" seams before or even has someone beside them that has done a "Y" seam.

Oh well, that is still a few weeks away so I guess I will just cross that bridge when I come to it. Until then, have fun!

Tara