I'm so excited to be one of the bloggers for the Farmer's Wife 1930's quilt along, and so glad you came by. I have challenged myself to have a finished quilt by next year...so I'm not just a blogger, but I am also a participant and will be sewing all of the blocks along with you. I do have some catching up to do, but luckily Angie from Gnome Angel, has planned some down time specifically for people like me that need to play catch up during the holiday break. Thank you Angie.
Being that we are in the third month, I was a little worried I wouldn't have much to share for tips, tricks or secrets on my first (#55 Malvina) block, that hasn't been done already with others. It seemed pretty straight forward with lots of half square triangles and four squares, but after much thought - I think I came up with a few things to help save time which Malvina otherwise wants to take a lot of.To get started here's what I used to make my Malvina block:
You will need the Farmer's Wife Book, the templates from the book - or the Marti Michell Templates Set D (D28), two different fabric selections, and liquid washable glue with a micro fine tip for glue basting (I buy mine from Cristy at Purple Daisies). You'll also need a rotary cutter, ruler, mat and iron, all of which are not pictured above with the other supplies.
Step 1:
Start by cutting 1 1/2" strips. You'll need 1-2 of each print depending on the length of your fabric. I was using fabric from my fat quarter stash and needed 2 of each.
Step 2: (This step is optional. If you prefer to press open your seams, you won't want to glue baste them.)
Glue baste two long strips right sides together. You only need a little thin line approx 1/8" away from the edge on one strip. Flip the other strip over on top so right sides are facing, line up the edges and press with an iron to heat set the glue. The glue will not gunk up your machine as you are using so little, it's dry, and it won't be near your 1/4" seam allowance. However - I make no guarantees that if you use a regular tip that comes with the washable glue and use too much, that it won't make a mess somewhere (be it on the iron, table, fabric or machine). I've been glue basting now for over a year and haven't had an issue though.
Step 3:
After you have pressed your seams (either open if you didn't glue baste, or to one side), use your D28 template and cut out all of your half square triangle sets into squares. Be sure to line up the edges on the top and bottom of each color (the template will be set on point), as well as line up the sides so the center seam is smack dab in the middle of the square, from one point to the other. (Warning: This is the time saver method, but not really the fabric saving method. There is some triangle waste here - but you can always use it for something else.)
Step 4:
Once you have all of the half square triangle sets cut out, you will also need to cut out your four center squares, as well as 12 more squares for the end of each row. I decided to be crazy and fussy cut many pieces in my various blocks, so I didn't skimp on Malvina here. I fussy cut the four center squares as you can see above, and randomly cut my other 12. (Tip: If you really don't want to do the squares on the outside to reduce waste - you can always cut those using the B template Marti advises and continue on.) Layout your entire block and double check it or triple check it like I did before you continue on.
Step 5:
Glue baste sets together. Flip one square or triangle square set to the left on top of another, to sew the right edge seam. I was glad to have my camera for this so I could reference which pieces went where. If you have an awesome set up to have everything all around you, this will be easier. If you are all scattered like me, take a picture or go line by line. The glue basting helped too, because I knew which edge to sew and not once used a seam ripper. Yay.
Step 6:
Press all your seams and line up all your pairs. Before continuing, double check again that all your pieces are in their right place.
Step 7:
Continue glue basting sets together so all you have left are six rows. (I went a little thick on this line and got close to my seam allowance because it's hard glue basting and taking pics at the same time - lol).
Step 8:
Press the seams again and line them up accordingly.
Step 9:
Flip the top row down on top of the second row, the third row on top of the fourth row, and flip up the sixth row on top of the fifth row.
Step 10:
Match up your center seams whether you are glue basting or pinning. Then match up the other seams in the longer row so you have all points lined up as well. Sew the edges and press your seams.
Step 11:
Sew the top section to the top edge of the middle section by matching up all seams, and then sew the bottom section to the bottom of the middle in the same way. Press all seams and your block.
Step 12:
It's starting to look a little like Malvina, but we have some excess fabric along the edges we need to trim off.
Using a clear ruler, your mat and a rotary cutter, line up the center seams with lines on your mat, and then your ruler 1/4" away from the points on each of the edges. The 45* angle works too - just know mine looks a little wonky because of my quick placement and the camera angle. Trim off all four edges, checking each time that your block is going to be 6 1/2" unfinished and that you aren't cutting off too much. Now that you are done, save the scraps for something fun and move onto the next block with all the time you just saved on Malvina.
If you want to join in on the fun, you can find Angie's Malvina tutorial on her website Gnome Angel, as well as grainline tips from Marti on her blog. You can get the book and all your fabric needs from The Fat Quarter Shop (Angie got to put together a big Farmer's Wife fabric bundle just for this sew along), and the Marti Michell templates from Marti's website!
Step 1:
Start by cutting 1 1/2" strips. You'll need 1-2 of each print depending on the length of your fabric. I was using fabric from my fat quarter stash and needed 2 of each.
Glue baste two long strips right sides together. You only need a little thin line approx 1/8" away from the edge on one strip. Flip the other strip over on top so right sides are facing, line up the edges and press with an iron to heat set the glue. The glue will not gunk up your machine as you are using so little, it's dry, and it won't be near your 1/4" seam allowance. However - I make no guarantees that if you use a regular tip that comes with the washable glue and use too much, that it won't make a mess somewhere (be it on the iron, table, fabric or machine). I've been glue basting now for over a year and haven't had an issue though.
Step 3:After you have pressed your seams (either open if you didn't glue baste, or to one side), use your D28 template and cut out all of your half square triangle sets into squares. Be sure to line up the edges on the top and bottom of each color (the template will be set on point), as well as line up the sides so the center seam is smack dab in the middle of the square, from one point to the other. (Warning: This is the time saver method, but not really the fabric saving method. There is some triangle waste here - but you can always use it for something else.)
Once you have all of the half square triangle sets cut out, you will also need to cut out your four center squares, as well as 12 more squares for the end of each row. I decided to be crazy and fussy cut many pieces in my various blocks, so I didn't skimp on Malvina here. I fussy cut the four center squares as you can see above, and randomly cut my other 12. (Tip: If you really don't want to do the squares on the outside to reduce waste - you can always cut those using the B template Marti advises and continue on.) Layout your entire block and double check it or triple check it like I did before you continue on.
Glue baste sets together. Flip one square or triangle square set to the left on top of another, to sew the right edge seam. I was glad to have my camera for this so I could reference which pieces went where. If you have an awesome set up to have everything all around you, this will be easier. If you are all scattered like me, take a picture or go line by line. The glue basting helped too, because I knew which edge to sew and not once used a seam ripper. Yay.
Press all your seams and line up all your pairs. Before continuing, double check again that all your pieces are in their right place.
Continue glue basting sets together so all you have left are six rows. (I went a little thick on this line and got close to my seam allowance because it's hard glue basting and taking pics at the same time - lol).
Press the seams again and line them up accordingly.
Step 9:
Flip the top row down on top of the second row, the third row on top of the fourth row, and flip up the sixth row on top of the fifth row.
Match up your center seams whether you are glue basting or pinning. Then match up the other seams in the longer row so you have all points lined up as well. Sew the edges and press your seams.
Sew the top section to the top edge of the middle section by matching up all seams, and then sew the bottom section to the bottom of the middle in the same way. Press all seams and your block.
It's starting to look a little like Malvina, but we have some excess fabric along the edges we need to trim off.
Using a clear ruler, your mat and a rotary cutter, line up the center seams with lines on your mat, and then your ruler 1/4" away from the points on each of the edges. The 45* angle works too - just know mine looks a little wonky because of my quick placement and the camera angle. Trim off all four edges, checking each time that your block is going to be 6 1/2" unfinished and that you aren't cutting off too much. Now that you are done, save the scraps for something fun and move onto the next block with all the time you just saved on Malvina.
If you want to join in on the fun, you can find Angie's Malvina tutorial on her website Gnome Angel, as well as grainline tips from Marti on her blog. You can get the book and all your fabric needs from The Fat Quarter Shop (Angie got to put together a big Farmer's Wife fabric bundle just for this sew along), and the Marti Michell templates from Marti's website!
Have an awesome day, and thanks for stopping by. To be notified of all the latest and greatest - sign up for my emails below and find me @kidgiddy on Instagram for all my daily happenings.
Disclaimer: Because I am a blogger in this quilt-a-long, I graciously received a copy of the Farmer's Wife book and gift card from the Fat Quarter shop (yes I picked up more Cotton and Steel fabrics for my quilt) as well as a full set of templates from Marti Michell. The links above are not affiliate links - because my state won't allow that. The opinions as always, as well as the tutorial and photos, are all my own.
1 comments :
It is so lovely!
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