Thursday 26 May 2016

1930s Farmers Wife - Doris


***Hey folks! This will be my last post on Blogger! Woohoo! All going to plan, I'll be hitting the LAUNCH button on my new website next week! Stay tuned and follow me on Instagram (@talesofcloth) in case all my old link self destruct!***
 
Sometimes I amaze myself with my organisational skills. I am actually the opposite of organised. I am creative and chaotic and messy. I grew up with a very organised mother, so I just figured it was something you grew into. You became an adult and you got organised. But I never did (perhaps to her dismay!).
My turn for the 1930s Farmer's Wife Sew Along has been up on the Calendar (I know! Very Organised!) and I had set aside some time yesterday to sew it up. As the date was drawing nearer, I decided I should just machine sew the block, (instead of my original intention to hand stitch them) because my hand-stitching is piling up around me due to a crazy, disorganised notion for joining in #the100dayproject on Instagram with #100daysof EPP. (The motive behind this crazy notion will become apparent when we launch our new business in a couple of weeks!)
So I got out the handy little CD from the Farmer's Wife book to print out templates for lovely Doris, and wouldn't you know? Since embarking on these blocks last year, we have moved on from CD technology. It no longer exists in our house. Welcome to the modern world folks. (Maybe I should ask Nana to pay for our Netflix subscription instead of the usual DVD gifts at Christmas??)


But, in what could only be called a miracle, I had printed out the block diagrams last year AND could still find them yesterday. (Who is this woman!?) So I cut them them out, and used my ruler to measure a 1/4" seam around each piece, totally chuffed with my former, organised self. Pat on the back.


First I sewed the teeny triangles to each side of the centre square. Press, and sewed two more to the other sides. I did not think to arrange the trees, but how sweet is that placement?


Then I moved on to the star points. A word of warning to the creative, disorganised: Make sure you cut those points in two opposite directions! They don't work simply flipping them over! Can you tell I'm also not the kind of person to read directions first?


For the half-square triangles, I used my favourite method of cutting the triangles too big, sewing them together and trimming them to size. Then I sewed the block together in rows. 


Sweet and easy! And rocket speed on the sewing machine after all that English Paper Piecing!
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with my hexies!

The 1930s Farmers Wife Sew Along is hosted by Angie of Gnome Angel, and Marti Michell.

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.