Happy New Year to you all!

December was the hardest working month of my life.  So ever since Christmas, I’ve been doing next to nothing.

I’ve been mostly unplugged… loving the time I’ve been able to spend with my family.

The snow has been falling here… making our home feel cozy and warm.  We’ve been enjoying good books, board games, yummy food and sleep.

Finally, yesterday, I decided I had the energy to do something somewhat productive.  So I got out my sewing machine and worked on a few Farmer’s Wife blocks.

The block above is no. 57 – Morning

and no. 72 – Railroad

And last, no. 14 Butterfly at the Crossroads.

I’ve been avoiding using the templates like the plague… but I finally used them for this block since I couldn’t easily wrap my brain around dividing a 6 inch block into 5ths.

I still broke the rules a bit by making oversized half square triangles, two at time, using my favorite method.  Then I cut them down to the square template size.

Most of the blocks have been so easy to draft and make without using the templates, even if it means making the block differently than the book suggests.

For block no. 57, you can see I really changed things up by making the whole block in 5 rows.

Here’s how I made my block:

I made flying geese for the center outer units by cutting rectangles 1.5″ x 2.5″.  I cut two squares 1.5″ x 1.5″.  You can get away without drawing the line on such a small block… but I like it there.

I stitch off the line (toward the corner) one thread width, to help with accuracy.

And once I’ve matched and pressed my corner back, I trim the back fabric away.

For the rest of the block, I made my half square triangles (HST) two at a time.  I cut (4) 2.5″ squares from my blue fabric and (4) 2.5″ squares from my white/red fabric.  I drew a line down the middle diagonally, and stitched down either side of the line using a scant 1/4″ seam.  Cut the two apart.  The 2.5″ measurement gave me a little extra (1/8″) so that I could square up my HST unit.

Then I sewed the rows together. (Pressing in alternating directions on each row really helps when putting the block together, since you can butt the seams.)

It just goes to show you, there are lots of ways to achieve the same results…. so do what works for you.

I love laying out the blocks and seeing them all together.

I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions.  But I did resolve to get cracking on my Farmer’s Wife… and get it done.  I can’t wait to see the lovely quilt hanging on my wall.

And by the way, thank you, thank you for the wonderful game and book suggestions.  Santa brought us Perpetual Commotion, which we’ve loved playing, and I was lucky enough to receive the wonderful Appalachian story, Silver Packages as a gift.

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