Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt Along - Nan #75

Hey everyone -

Kinda feeling sad this is my last tutorial block with Angie @GnomeAngel for the Farmer's Wife 1930's book. Although I haven't had the time to make every block during this sew along I have enjoyed the ones I made and enjoyed reading the letters that each block comes with.

Say hello to Nan - block number 75. I selected these two Cotton and Steel prints based on the really sad letter. Mrs. J.D.K lost her 16 year old son in April of 1930 after he drowned during a class picnic day. Weeks later she was feeding chickens and found pages from an old book providing words of peace and comfort. So being this is a cross pattern I decided to use the Sardinha print (representing the fish that Christ feed to the 5,000 during the Sermon on the Mount) as the Cross, surrounded by the beautiful Rifle Co. flowers. I also decided to paper piece the block because I'm not a master patchworker.

I don't normally precut my paper piecing fabrics in a specific way (I just tend to cut pieces off the corner of a fat quarter), but wanted to make sure this looked seamless. I guess if I wanted it to be exact I could have stuck with patchwork. LOL.

I've gotten better about not wasting as much fabric as I used to when I first started paper piecing but still don't measure each section with a ruler. As I cut my pieces I lay the fabric down on the pattern piece and cut it off. Some pieces are easier than others. If there are triangles - I fold the corner back and cut it as a square, then cut diagonally to separate. 

Before you begin sewing, make sure your pieces are just past the seam allowances for each section as above to avoid having pieces that are too small, and trim off any excess seam allowance.

I know this tutorial wasn't ground breaking, but it's a very simple block, maybe a level 2 for beginners. You can check out my other Farmer's Wife tutorials or paper piecing tutorials for more tips and tricks to paper piece your Farmer's Wife blocks. by clicking on the Quilt Along tag. Thanks so much to Angie for including me in this sew along. I'm looking forward to seeing your Nan blocks on social media!

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