Katherine is Block 49 of Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt
I adore red, so it seemed like a great time to get some red fabrics out and have fun with my Farmer’s Wife block. I loved how quickly this block came together and how playful you can get with those odd angled shapes. I love the impact that this block provides by just changing the placement of the fabrics and their values. I think this block will provide a little bit of light relief before we get into some more of the trickier blocks. A rose amongst the thorns if you will…
Tutorial: Block #49 “Katherine”
General Information
- I pressed my seams open.
- I used a Schmetz 70/10 needle.
- I used 50wt Aurifil #2600 (Dove) thread for piecing.
- I used the From Marti Michell Patchwork Templates Set A.
- I used Flatter by Soak in Yuzu 248ml as my starch.
- Fabrics shown in the tutorial are from the Gnome Angel Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Bundle from Fat Quarter Shop.
If you’d like to know “My Top 10 Beginners Patchworking Tools” you can find them by clicking here.
Measurements for the pieces needed to construct this block will not be provided in this tutorial. It is a pre-requiste of making this block that you have a copy of the book, 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 – available from: Amazon | Pink Door Fabrics | Fat Quarter Shop | The Quilting Company | Interweave (Affiliate Links). Measurements can be found in this book and it’s associated media.
On Point Blocks
Please note I am not doing my blocks on-point. If you are fussy cutting your blocks please be mindful of your fabric placement so that the motif will sit correctly if you decide to put your blocks on-point.
Conversion Chart
You can find the From Marti Michell Patchwork Template Conversion Charts by clicking here.
Helpful Links & Videos
Marti Michell shows you how to cut using your ruler and templates:
For another video on this template set click here.
How to Make the Block
General advice:
- Tolerance Levels: you need to decide what is an acceptable tolerance level for “mistakes”. For example if your blocks are consistently 6¼” instead of 6.5″ are you ok with this. Or if your seams matching are less than an eight of an inch “off” are you ok with this. There’s no hard or fast rule and it’s different for everyone, so remember it’s your quilt so make your decision for you.
- Press your seams at each step. Click here for a great article on how to press your seams for patchwork.
- You can iron and starch your fabric prior to cutting. I also starch when pressing bulky seams.
- When pinning, pin away from you so that you don’t move your pieces when pinning.
- Where possible I chain piece all the pieces I can in one step. If you’re unsure of what chain piecing is, click here for a tutorial on how to do it. However, for the purpose of the tutorials I will step you through all the seams individually.
Please note: This tutorial shows how to use the From Marti Michell Patchwork Templates Set A to cut out the block pieces 49A. If you are not using the Mart Michell templates you will find the template for cutting this shape in the information included with your book.
1. Cutting 49A with the From Marti Michell Patchwork Templates Set A: Choose the 2 fabrics you wish to use for piece 49A. For the fabric that you’re using to correspond with the light pink pieces in the block image (on page 208 of your book) you will need to cut 3 – 2″ x 6″ strips of this fabric. For the fabric that you’re using to correspond with the orange pieces in the block image (on page 208 of your book) you will need to cut 1 – 2″ x 6″ strip of fabric. See diagram 1.
2. Stack these strips on top of each other, right sides (print) facing up on all pieces. Take the time to line the pieces up as accurately as possible. To cut your first shapes lining up the template on your stack of stripes as per diagram 2.
Pay careful attention to the direction of the template. I remembered the direction by thinking that the right angle corner was on the top of the strips on the left side. See diagram 2 for assistance. (Note: For the purposes of this tutorial I have put a pieces of what paper under my template so you can easily see it against the fabric.)
3. Use the template to cut the remaining pieces. Pay careful attention to the direction of the template. I remembered the direction by thinking that the right angle corner was on the bottom of the strips on the right side. See diagram 3a for assistance. (Note: For the purposes of this tutorial I have put a pieces of what paper under my template so you can easily see it against the fabric.)
4. Use your rotary cutter and ruler to cut all remaining pieces required for the block as per the instructions in the book. Cutting instructions can be found on the disc that came with the book. Block directions are located on page 208. You can also use the cutting instructions on the conversion chart. I have used the From Marti Michell Patchwork Templates Set A and accompanying conversion chart to cut all my pieces for this block.
5. Join 49B to 49A as per diagram 5. This step can be chain pieced to make all 8 rectangle units that make up this block. Diagram 5 shows how to line up the engineered corners of your pieces if you’re using the From Marti Michell Patchwork Templates Set A templates to cut your pieces.
Tip: For this tutorial I’m going to be showing you how it would come together if you chain piece each step. You could chain piece the entire block if you feel comfortable doing so.
6. Join Unit A to Unit B (as per diagram 6a). This step can be chain pieced to make all 4 square units that make up this block.
7. Join Unit C to Unit D, join Unit E to Unit F (as per diagram 7a). This step can be chain pieced to make the 2 rows that make up this block.
8. Join the top row to the bottom row. Pay careful attention to lining up the middle seam (indicated by the arrow in diagram 8a).
9. Huzzah! You just made Katherine! Now, while you’re still warm let’s make another block!
Book Details
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 – available from: Amazon | Pink Door Fabrics | Fat Quarter Shop | The Quilting Company | Interweave (Affiliate Links).
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a very small commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link, in fact in some cases I can offer you a better price via an affiliate link. I will not recommend something that I do not use myself. These commissions help me keep being able to provide you with great content for free. Thank you, in advance for your support!
Iam paper piecing the blocks. How can I tell which blocks need to be printed in mirror image.
Hi Grace – if the block is symmetrical it doesn’t need to be printed as a mirror image. If the block isn’t symmetrical you can either print it as mirror image or just print it normal and it will “point” in the other direction of the image in the book. Hope this helps.
I’ve already made this block and it’s simple and fun:-) Love your red version but the orange one is even better!
Thanks Hildy! I’m a big fan of orange. I really should make an orange quilt one day…
Your red block is very striking!
I am enjoying using the templates, but found it simpler to make these blocks cutting a C19 rectangle and snowballing the corner with the triangle x
Oh thanks for the tip Jodie! I think this is the great thing about this type of project – there’s so many ways you can make the blocks and work to your own strengths!
i am not getting email for the block . I am only seeing them on Facebook. Can you please check my emails. Thanks
Hi Rose – The emails are sent on Sunday only (information about the email schedule has been included in all previous emails). Emails were sent for the 4 first blocks because we were able to provide the PDFs of the blocks to help those having trouble locating a copy of the book. You can see all previous emails by clicking here.