Modernizing the FWQ: Episode 9

Finishing the Blocks~

Once all 30 blocks were made, I needed to add borders to each block.  Remember that this was my layout which was inspired by Katie's Sampler from the book Vintage Revival Quilts.  She blogs at Swim, Bike, Quilt.

In the book and on her blog, she mentions cutting the border strips a little extra wide and then trimming down the blocks to the size you want. This method works so well on sampler quilts if your scant quarter inch seam isn't perfect.  It really helps for those times when someone turns on her machine and forgets to move the needle one position to the right.  ;)

So I cut all my strips a quarter inch wider and a half inch longer than necessary.  I cut my cornerstones out (4.5 inches square) at the same time.  It used about 14 inches of each fabric to cut these out.  (Some used a little bit less because they only bordered three blocks or I was able to get pieces from the strips left over after making the blocks.)

I was able to do chain piecing and worked on one color at a time.

After the border was on each side, I trimmed it down to 14.5 inches with my 15 inch square ruler.  (I love this ruler!)

There is more waste doing it this way, but I think the accuracy is worth it.

As I was squaring up the blocks I put the trimmings into this quart sized jar.  It was nice keeping the trimmings off of my cutting table.

When I was to the purple layer Cheetah walked in.  I asked him, "Isn't this the prettiest garbage you have ever seen?"

He looked at me like I was a little nuts and said, "What?  Are you putting that on your blog?"

A little while later (now at the blue layer) my husband walked in and said, "Oh, do you want me to throw this away for you?"

I quickly said, "No," as he was already reaching for the jar.

Without missing a beat he said, "Oh, is it going to be a decoration?"  Isn't he the sweetest?  Please tell me I'm not crazy or a hoarder for keeping this.  I am thinking about making the top into a pin cushion, but wonder if I should put it in a smaller pint sized jar instead or if they would look too squished.  :D

Once the blocks were finished with borders I put them up on my design wall and played with the placement... for an hour... or two.  I don't know if you noticed, but there are seven blocks of every color, plus one pink and purple combo, and one blue and green combo.  I am so glad I chose to make the blocks that way.  I like this rainbow layout better than the scattered one in my original drawing.

I totally love how the blocks turned out with the borders and recommend this method for sampler quilts and bee blocks.  It really helps preserve points if your blocks are not all exactly the same size.

My next post will show how it looks with the sashing and cornerstones.  Spacing out the blocks makes a big difference.

Click on the Modernizing the Farmer's Wife link if you have missed any of the episodes in this series.  It will take you to the introductory post with links to every episode.

XX,
Jasmine

Calculations for Race Quilt Variations

I have made three traditional jelly roll race quilts (here's one) using the tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I really enjoy the mindless sewing and the random placement of these type of quilts.  Basically, you make one really long strip by sewing all the pieces end to end.  Then you keep folding it in half and sewing down one side.  The only thing I do differently is iron the strips to one side after I sew each long seam.

I wanted to use up scraps and yardage from my friend, but had no idea how big it would end up.  So I made some calculations to make an educated guess.  Every time you fold the strip in half you are doubling the length of the quilt.  The number of rows grows in this order:  1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32...*

My scraps were all cut 4 inches wide to finish at 3.5 inches.  So I multiplied 16 by 3.5 to get a length of 56 inches.  I decided that I wanted to make the width about 42 inches (making the backings easier to piece).  So I multiplied 16 by 42 to get 672 inches.  672 inches is about the length I want my very first super long strip to be.

My four inch strips ranged in length from 16 to 21 inches.  I guess that the average length was about 18 inches.  So I took 672 and divided it by 18.  This gave me  37.3 strips.  Through these calculations I estimated that I would need 37 or 38 of these four inch strips per quilt.

Happily my estimation was very close.  I made five of these quilts with 37 strips, and they all ended up between 42 and 45 inches wide.  I just trimmed one side to make it the size I wanted.  I was able to use what I trimmed as part of the backing.

One thing to note when using strips which are not all the same length is that the chunks will stagger in places and almost match in others.  

I think that is part of the charm.  I also love that although you may start with nearly identical quilt kits, the quilts are not identical.  

To see more of these quilts and the story behind them, check out this post.  :)

You can use these calculations to make a jelly roll race type quilt using any size of scraps or yardage.  I will use 6 inch cut, 5.5 inch finished width of fabric strips as an example to make a quilt top that is 70 x 88 inches.  

1. Start by multiplying the finished width of your strip (5.5 inches) by the number of rows (16) and you end up with  the length of your quilt (88 inches)  Remember that the number of rows doubles each time: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32...*
2. Multiply what you want the width of your quilt to be (70 inches) by your number of rows (16).  This gives you the length of your very first strip (1,120 inches -- not too bad considering the length of the regular jelly roll race is 1600 inches)
3. Divide the length of the long strip (1,120) by the length of your strips (42 inches with straight seams) and you get the number of strips you need.  (26.6).  Just remember that first strip should be half the length of the others to make it stagger.  

I may just have to make one that size.  I think that would be a quick, fun stash busting quilt!  

*An exception to this doubling rule for the number of rows is if you stop after a few seams and divide the strip set into thirds.  Then you could multiply the number of rows by 3 instead of two.  For example, it could go: 1, 2, 4, 8.  Stop and cut the strips into thirds. Then sew the three sections together to get 24 rows.  Dividing it into thirds can be helpful with larger quilts like queen size.  You could even divide all your fabric strips into thirds before you start and sew each third individually.  It would help distribute the prints more evenly if you were using repeats.

Clear as mud?  Please let me know if you have any questions.  I LOVE quilty math!  

XX,

Jasmine

P.S.  I am linking up with Cynthia for Oh Scrap and Lorna for Let's Bee Social.  

Modernizing the FWQ: Episode 8

Using Individual 6 Inch Blocks

Some people who want to modernize the Farmer's Wife Quilt may already have some intricate 6 inch blocks that they don't want to repeat.  I have two ways to share with you today which use individual 6 inch blocks to make a 12 inch finished block.

The first way is to combine blocks.  I used one six inch block, and enlarged another to create a pieced border around it.   I chose blocks to enlarge that naturally had a simple six inch center when finished at 12 inches.  I have altered some of the outer sections of these blocks to use only squares and HST sections. It used more pieces, but made things easier for me.  :)

 I will be sharing the sizes for rotary cutting the large blocks that I made.  For more information (and cool letters) refer to the original FWQ book by Laurie Hird.

The first combines FWQ blocks #100 Weathervane with #29 Economy Block

• Dark Purple:  four 4 inch* squares; four 2.5 inch** squares
• Light Purple: one 2.5 inch square; four 1.5 inch squares; four 2 inch* squares
• Background: four 4 inch* squares; four 3.5 inch squares; twelve 1.5 inch** squares; four 2 inch* squares

The second combines FWQ blocks #69 Practical Orchard with #31 Evening Star

• Dark Blue:  one 3.5 inch*** square; four 2.5 inch squares
• Light Blue:   four 4 inch* squares
• Background:  four 4 inch* squares; four 3.5 inch squares; one more 3.5 inch*** square; four 2.5 inch squares

The third combines FWQ blocks #9 Box with #103 Whirlwind

• Dark Green: four 4 inch* squares; four 3.5 inch squares
• Light Green: four 3 inch* squares; one 2.5 inch square
• Background: four 4 inch* squares; four 3 inch* squares

The fourth combines FWQ blocks #41 Friendship Star with #15 Buzzard's Roost

• Dark Pink:  two 3 inch* squares; one 2.5 inch square
• Light Pink: six 4 inch* squares
• Background: six 4 inch* squares; two 3 inch* squares; four 2.5 inch squares

The second method for using individual 6 inch blocks is to combine four separate blocks.  Once combined they can make one 12 inch finished block.  

This fifth block (a bonus) combines FWQ blocks #2 Autumn Tint, #10 Bowtie, #20 Churn Dash, and #111 Wrench.  

• Dark Purple:  six 2 inch** squares
• Light Purple:  four 3.5 inch squares
• Dark Pink:  four 3 inch* squares; four 1.5 x 2.5 inch rectangles
• Light Pink: four 1.5 x 2.5 inch rectangles
• Background:  two 3.5 inch squares; four 3 inch* squares; two 2.5 inch squares; four 2 inch squares; eight 1.5 x 2.5 inch rectangles

*All of the 4, 3, and (some) 2 inch cut squares are used to make HST blocks with this method.  (Tutorial by Jeni of In Color Order.)

**I used 1.5 inch squares to "snowball" two of the corners of the 2.5 inch purple squares in the Weathervane block.  I also used four 2 inch squares to snowball the 3.5 inch squares when making the Bowtie block.  This tutorial explains how to snowball the corners.

***I used the two 3.5 inch squares to make the 2 inch finished hourglass block in the center.  It makes two blocks, but I only used one.  I used this method to make the hourglass blocks.  (Tutorial by Red Pepper Quilts.)

Tip:  Because I used HST blocks instead of flying geese, I pressed half of the triangles to the dark and half to the light.  This helped me get better points.

After making the six inch blocks for these blocks, I was very grateful I decided to enlarge so many of the simpler blocks in the original quilt!  ;)

Click on the Modernizing the Farmer's Wife Quilt series link to view other posts in this series.  It will take you back to the introductory post with links to all episodes.

XX,
Jasmine

Mindless Sewing Break

{A Picture Heavy Post}

After I finished all my blocks for the Modernized Farmer's Wife quilt, I needed a little break from the intensity for some mindless sewing.  I decided to go through the fabric my neighbor gave me last week.  She gave me three big bags full of fabric.  I pulled out anything that was not 100% cotton, and decided not to keep it.  Then I separated all the baby flannel, and added it to my flannel stash.  (I like to make baby gifts with it.)  Then I decided what else I wanted to keep.  The rest will go to family, friends, and goodwill.

I didn't want to add the fabric to my general stash, because not all of it was quilt shop quality.  However, I knew the fabric would be perfect for some baby quilts to practice free motion quilting and then donate.  For my sewing break, I separated out the fabric that I didn't want to use in baby quilts.

I looked through all the rest and noticed that there were many fat quarters with chunks missing, and yardage pieces with chunks missing.  I believe that a lot of those chunks must have been used for applique (because I could see little bits of the Heat-n-Bond type product).  There were also some pieces ranging from an eighth of a yard to a quarter of a yard.  After thinking about what would be the best use of fabric and my time, I decided to make some simple stripe quilts and what I call short and chunky race quilts.

I went through the large stack of fabrics (probably more than 40 yards) piece by piece.  Anything that was not the full 42 inches width of fabric, I cut into four inch strips.  Anything larger than a third of a yard, I put in the yardage pile.  I cut narrow pieces into strips ranging from 4 to 6.5 inches wide.  Everything else I put in a bag to give to my friend's daughter.

I separated the four inch strips into a girl pile and a boy pile.  I separated the boy pile into brights and soft colors.  (I wish I took a picture of the piles.)  Once the strips were separated, I decided that I only wanted to use pieces that ranged in size from 16 to 21 inches long.  Anything bigger than that I cut in half.  Anything smaller went in the little scrap bag.  However, each quilt starts with one piece that was about 4 x 8 inches to get the staggered effect.  Then I sewed each quilt kit* together just like a jelly roll race.  I made five of those and they all finish about 42 x 56 inches.

The strips that were the full width of fabric, I separated into three piles for baby quilts.  These all finish about 42 x 55 inches.  Evidently I needed to make some somewhat symmetrical quilts after all the chaotic piecing of the race quilts.

This was exactly the break I needed.  Instead of spending 45-60 minutes on one block for the Modern Farmer's Wife, I could sew and press a whole top for a baby quilt in less than 60 minutes!  I was going to make just one quilt top, but once I got going I couldn't stop.  LOL.  I made eight quilt tops in a couple days.  I got extra sewing time by my hubby working from home one day and staying up late another.

Once all the tops were made, I went through the yardage pieces I separated to make backings and bindings.  There was only one piece large enough (1 2/3 yard) for a simple backing.

Some backings only required three pieces.

I had a couple big stripe pieces, but I decided to break up the stripe with inserts.

I tried to get the best use out of the fabric.  The backing for the light colored boy quilt has one blue section along the lengthwise grain, and one section along the crosswise grain.  I added some yellow fabric for length and to make the different directions less noticeable.

Others I had to get more creative on.

I was running out of girl fabric, but I was able to make it work.

I was able to make all eight quilt sets out of the fabric in the bags from my friend.  How awesome is that?  All I had to add was thread and time (and now batting).  Now all I have left after making the backings and bindings is this little pile.

I am going to hold on to it for now, but I may decide to let someone else play with it.

So now I have eight tops...

And eight backs...

Plus their bindings.  All waiting for me on this quilt rack I borrowed from the family room (so I don't have to press them again).

I estimate that there are 32 yards of fabric on the rack  (four yards per quilt set).  Feel free to give me a hard time for going against my norm.  I went from two WIPs to ten in less than a week.  ;)  I can totally justify it by saying that it feels like one project because it was one stack of fabric, but what's the point?

I am excited to play with the quilting on all of these, and plan on using some as part of my Feather Boot Camp.  And I'm now ready to get back to the Modern Farmer's Wife.

*On Monday I will be sharing how I calculated the number of pieces I needed for each quilt.  Calculations to make variations of the jelly roll race can now be found here.

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  Eight flimsies counts as a finish, right?

P.P.S.  I will be linking up with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop, Finish it up Friday, Oh Scrap and Let's Bee Social.  (Buttons on sidebar)

Modernizing the FWQ: Episode 7

Repeating Simple 6 Inch Blocks

Some people who may want to modernize the Farmer's Wife quilt may already have some six inch blocks made.  One way to use them make them a twelve inch block is to make four of the same block.  This creates some interesting designs.  (I will have two more ways to use six inch blocks in the next post.)

I have four 12 inch finished blocks to share with you today.  I will be including the sizes I used to rotary cut the entire block.

The first uses FWQ block #21 Contrary Wife ~ four of a kind.

• Dark Purple: eight 3 inch* squares
• Light Purple: eight 3 inch* squares
• Background: twenty 2.5 inch squares

The second uses FWQ block #61 Northern Lights ~ two of a kind

• Dark Green:  two 4 inch* squares; eight 2 inch squares
• Light Green:  two 4 inch* squares; eight 2 inch squares
• Background:  four 4 inch* squares; sixteen 2 inch squares

The third uses FWQ block #81 Snowball ~ two of a kind

• Dark Blue:  four 3 inch* squares; eight 2.5 inch squares
• Light Blue:  four 3 inch* squares; eight 2.5 inch squares
• Background:  eight 3 inch* squares; four 2.5 inch squares  

The fourth uses FWQ block #84 Spool ~ two of a kind

• Dark Pink:  four 3 inch* squares; six 2.5 inch squares
• Light Pink:  four 3 inch* squares; six 2.5 inch squares
• Background:  eight 3 inch* squares; eight 2.5 inch squares

*All of the 4 and 3 inch cut squares are used to make HST blocks using this method.  (Tutorial by Jeni of In Color Order.)

I love how repeating some of the blocks creates interesting designs.

Click on the Modernizing the Farmer's Wife Quilt series link if you have missed any of the posts in the series.  It will take you to the introductory post with links to all of the episodes.

XX,
Jasmine

Modernizing the FWQ: Episode 6

Enlarging Blocks Divided into Fifths

I have four blocks to share with you today which include some of the blocks from the book divided into fifths.  I have enlarged the block itself to finish at 10 inches. A one inch finished border can be added to make them up to a 12 inch finished block.

I am including the sizes to rotary cut the enlarged blocks which finish at 10 inches.  For more information (and to read the special letters), refer to the original FWQ book by Laurie Hird.

The first is FWQ block #32 Farmer's Daughter

• Dark Pink: four 3 inch* squares; five 2.5 inch squares
• Light Pink: four 2.5 inch squares
• Background:  four 3 inch* squares; eight 2.5 inch squares

The second is FWQ block #33 Farmer's Puzzle (altered to use both the light and dark blue)

• Light Blue: one 2.5 x 10.5 inch rectangle, two 2.5 x 4.5 inch rectangles
• Dark Blue: eight 3 inch* squares
• Background: eight 3 inch* squares

The third is #50 Honey's Choice (in green, because that is my Honey's favorite color)

• Light Green: four 2.5 x 4.5 inch rectangles
• Dark Green: eight 3 inch* squares
• Background: eight 3 inch* squares; one 2.5 inch square

The fourth is FWQ block #101 Wedding Ring (altered to use only the dark and light purple)

• Dark Purple:  two 3 inch* squares; four 2.5 inch squares
• Light Purple:  six 3 inch* squares
• Background: eight 3 inch* squares; five 2.5 inch squares

Here are all four blocks, together again with a border to make them finish at 12 inches.  That is the size I want all of my blocks to finish in this sampler.

I really like the way the light colored fabrics frame the blocks and seem to continue the design.  (It makes me really excited to get the borders around the rest of my blocks.  These four will end up with two borders.)

• Border: two 1.5 x 10.5 inch rectangles; two 1.5 x 12.5 inch rectangles

*All of the 3 inch cut squares were used to make HST blocks using this method.  (Tutorial by Jeni of In Color Order.)

Click on the Modernizing the Farmer's Wife Quilt series link if you have missed any of the posts in the series.  It will take you to the introductory post with links to all of the episodes.

XX,
Jasmine