The process of making these fiddly little Farmer’s Wife blocks is so much fun. I spent a couple of hours last week (watching The Americans on Amazon) pairing up fabrics for the next 30 blocks on my list. That bit was just as enjoyable as actually finishing the blocks.

The method I’ve figured out so far involves:

1. Pairing up fabrics with the same feel as the ones in the book

2. Add a sticky note with block name and number to the chosen fabrics

3. Use Marti Michell conversion guides to cut the pieces from her templates for each block and lay out the pieces on a small design board

4. Sew, press, and photograph! Post on blog and Instagram, of course! It’s much more fun when you share your progress and poke around the various quilt-along hashtags to see the blocks others are making.

I added some more fabric since I posted last week, bringing my fabrics used up to six collections:

Bread N Butter by American Jane

Lighthearted by Ayumi Mills

Morningside Farm by Darlene Zimmerman

Retro 30s Child Smile from Lecien

30s Playtime Basics by Chloe’s Closet (I absolutely adore this entire line but have restricted myself to a few fat quarters I picked up at my LQS – Urban Spools)

Milk, Sugar & Flower by Elea Lutz (I’m adding some scraps as I finish cutting out my Star Blossoms quilt. This line will be sparse in the final quilt.)

Some of my blocks have ended up a bit too large and I’ve lost my points – like the Mrs. Keller block above. I suppose I need to square up some of the components and be especially careful with the blocks that have so many pieces. I wonder if others who are using their own templates from the book are having this issue or if this is an issue with the Marti Michell templates? Or an issue with me?!

I’m collecting my blocks under a single hashtag if you’d like to see them all together (If you are also making this quilt, please do the same! I love seeing different quilters’ blocks all gathered in one spot.) Click {here} to see mine.

Well, it’s about a million years since I last blogged. Whenever I look around and realize what day or month it is, I think “I can’t believe it’s the first of March already!” and look, here we are on the first of March and it’s practically spring. Life really does go by so very quickly.  I spent a good chunk of February extremely under the weather and now I’m making up for lost time.

I’ve been cutting out blocks to get going on my Star Blossoms quilt. I could not dig up the matching background fabric for the first and only block I made last year so I’m really starting over completely. Just plain, easy white Bella Solids 9900-98, my go-to white.

The fabric is Milk Sugar Flower by Elea Lutz. The cutest ever. Pink and mint and orange and red and aqua!

I’m also working on my Farmer’s Wife 1930s blocks! I bought the book for the first one and made zero blocks. This go round I bought the Marti Michell templates (which is quite an investment). The acrylic templates make the process much easier, at least for me. I hate making templates from template plastic. Marti’s templates all have those trimmed corners which make the blocks go together so smoothly, even with the tiniest pieces.

So far three fabric collections have made it into my FW basket – Bread N Butter by American Jane, Lighthearted by Ayumi Mills, and Morningside Farm by Darlene Zimmerman. There’s plenty of fabric there but I may add a few fun FQs here and there as I go.  I absolutely love making these blocks and I think after I’ve finished the 99 (!!!) for the 1930s book, I’ll go back and do the original Farmer’s Wife.

Happy early spring to you all…