Farmer's Wife QAL Blocks 39 and 40, Grandma and Grandmother

We're in week 20 of the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along and this post covers blocks 39 and 40.  Melinda of Quirky Granola Girl, who shared her original Farmer's Wife quilt at the beginning of the quilt-along, is guest blogging for this block.  You can see her Grandma block here and she's written a very interesting choice about her colour experiments and value for this QAL.  Here's my version of Grandma,  block 39 (p.198, letter p.22):

Fabric credits:

Kona Melon

Kokka Light Hearted Kitchen Floral in Yellow by Ayumi Takahashi

Windham Tiger Lily Butterflies in Brown by Heather Ross

Block 40 (p.197, letter p.144) is Grandmother and there is a far easier to sew the block together than following the foundation paper piecing instructions from the book.   Amanda from Patchsmith made this block a few weeks ago found the same thing.  You can read her changes here  she also adds a handle to the basket and kindly provides a template for this on her blog if you wish to do the same.  I left mine without, I welcomed the chance to have a bit of space for this gorgeous Heather Ross floral.

Fabric credits:

Windham Tiger Lily Rose Blush by Heather Ross
Kona Sour Apple
Kona Citrus

The book instructions  for foundation paper piecing use an inset seam which is easy to omit.  I didn't use the original pattern and instead I printed out the block diagram (if printed at 100% it should come out at 6" square) and redrew and labelled the different sections.   The example below is an illustration and is not to scale.  Instead print the block diagram from the CD and add the lines and labels as below.

Cut along the blue lines that mark the different sections A, B C, D and E.  You can add ¼" seam allowances around the outer edges of sections A, B, C, and E but these will have to be allowed for on the other edges when you add the fabric pieces. 

Precut the fabric pieces using the measurements below, I've included my colour choices for clarity but substitute with your own.  These are not precise, instead they will give you the larger seam allowances that provide the necessary wiggle room in paper piecing!

Rotary Cutting for Foundation Paper Piecing

B4, C4: Cut (2) 1 ¾" x 5 ¼" rectangles

A3: Cut (1) 3" square and sub-cut in half across the diagonal to make 2 half square triangles.  You will need 1 of these.

B2, D2, C1: Cut (3) 1 ¾" squares in yellow

B1, C2: Cut (2) 1 ¾" squares in green

C3, D1, D3: Cut (2) 2 ½" squares and sub-cut in half across the diagonal to make 4 half square triangles.  You will need 3 of these.

A2: Cut (1) 2 ½" squares and sub-cut in half across the diagonal to make 2 half square triangles.  You will need 1 of these.

Top tips for this block

• Pre-cut all pieces
• Use a water based glue stick. I use Sewline, to stick the first piece of each section
• Chain piece- the four sections are identical
• Nest seams where possible to match seam points

I sewed up sections A, B, C and D adding on the extra ¼" seam allowances where needed. My labelling is slightly different from the block diagram, I changed it a little for the diagram to create better seam nesting for you!

Join A to B and press seam open.  Join C to D, pressing seam open.  Join AB to CD pressing seam open.  

Use the completed ABCD triangle as a template to cut piece E.  Place it right sides together on top of fabric for E and cut out with a rotary cutter.  Whilst the two sides are still together, pin along the diagonal and stitch the joining seam.  Press towards E.  Carefully remove paper, starch if desired and press.

Remember you can:

• Hashtag  #fw1930sqal on Instagram and add photos to the Flickr group if you like to share there.  
• For individual blocks, you can use #grandmablock and #grandmotherblock on Instagram, Fat Quarter Shop and Angie are using these hash tags, #fw39grandma,  #fw40grandmother, I'm using both hashtag systems.
• You can also copy and paste links to any blog posts you do on these blocks in the comments and I'd love to visit and take a look. 
• You are welcome to watch and join in the chat on Periscope at 2.30pm GMT today, I'm periscope.tv/@verykb.  It will be available for 24 hours to replay before it disappears! Link will be in my twitter feed @verykb and I'll post on Instagram and twitter about 15 minutes before it goes out.  

Please note:  I have linked to my sponsors on items bought through them and elsewhere for anything that has come from other shops.

See you next Monday with guest blogger Justine from Sew Justine Sew.