Wishing all my fellow American friends a Happy 4th of July.  I took this photo from our back patio a few days ago.  The Wasatch front can have such lovely Summer sunsets.

This was a photo we took last night from our back patio.

We are spending an uneasy 4th of July, as a forest fire burns the mountain behind our home.  Our neighbors just down the street have been evacuated.  Luckily we haven’t been and I doubt that we will be.

This is the roof our neighbors home and a photo we took from our front yard of the fire this afternoon. The photo cannot capture how truly terrifyingly large the plumes of flame and smoke are.

We are praying for calmer winds and cooler temperatures.  We pray for our neighbors whose homes are nestled against the mountainside.  Most of all we are praying for the firefighters and pilots that are in harm’s way working to save homes and keep us safe.

I have a little problem.

I’m having way too much fun making Farmer’s Wife blocks…

I love playing with the pretty fabrics.   This is block 61 – Northern Lights.

I’ve loved picking fabrics that match the name of the block.  For block 77- Seasons, I chose the orange and light brown for Autumn and the light green for Spring.

Block 11- Broken Dishes- This Lecien Old New Green makes me think of old tea cups.  This block is the most complicated I’ve made so far – 32 pieces of fabric in the 6 inch block.

Block 54 – Kitchen Woodbox.  Just like in the book, I’ve made my “box” in brown.

This is Block 109 – Windows.  I liked the idea of a dark “walls” and cheerful green out the window.  But this is a block I’m not sure about.

The other block I’m not sure about is this one.  It might just be too bright.  But maybe when it’s all laid out, it’ll be a nice zinger.  If it turns out to be too garish in the quilt, I may try tea-dying it or just make a new block.   When’s it’s not with the other blocks, I love the fabrics.  This is #64 – Peace and Plenty-   love, love, love the name of this block.

So far I’ve made all my blocks without printing a single template from the CD.  I’m pretty sure the templates will lead me to swearing, so I’m happy to get along as far as I can without them.

I’ve been over-sizing the parts of my blocks and cutting them down.  This is a trick my mom taught me to help with accuracy.  If I’m making a half square triangle unit with a finished size of 1-1/2 inches, for instance, I start by cutting my fabric squares 2-1/2 inches.  That gives me just a little extra fabric (about an 1/8 inch) to cut it down to a perfectly sized unit.