Farmer's Wife QAL Blocks 41 and 42, Granny and Heather

I hope you are all making good progress at your own pace in the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along.  We are now in week 21.  Justine of Sew Justine Sew is back as a guest blogger for this block.  She started her blocks a second time in a new colour way that she's much happier with.  You can see her Granny block here and read all her hints and tips.  This is my version of Granny (p.200, letter p.96):

Fabric credits:

Lecien Yarn Dyed tiny gingham

Riley Blake, Lori Holt Flowerpatch - Flower berries in orange

I found block 42, Heather, (201, letter p.39) relatively quick to sew once I had pre-cut all the fabric pieces.  I did make some easy alterations to the foundation piecing pattern: I changed the number order on sections C and E (details below) to maximise seam nesting.

Fabric credits:

Kona Sour Apple
Kona Carnation
P+B textiles: Toy Chest Florals, Trailing Blooms in Yellow
Riley Blake? Sewing text print- scrap from stash

I pre-cut all the block pieces using my usual generous rotary cutting measurements for foundation paper piecing.  These create seam allowances larger than ¼" so that your fabric pieces are larger than needed- if you like more wriggle room, cut even bigger!  I've referenced my colour choices- substitute your own.

Rotary Cutting for Foundation Paper Piecing

Pink

A1: cut (1) 2" square 

A3, A7, F3, G3: cut (4) 1 ¾" x 2" rectangles 

Yellow

A2, A4, A6, A8, F2, F4, G2, G4 : cut (8) 1 ¾" x 2" rectangles 

B2, B4, C2, C4, D2, D4, E2, E4: cut (4) 2 ¼" squares, sub-cut each in half diagonally to make 8 half-square triangles.

Green

A5, A9, B1, B5, C1, C5, D1, D5, E1, E5, F1, G1: cut (6) 2 ¼" squares, sub-cut each in half diagonally to make 12 half-square triangles.

Text

B3, C3, D3, E3: cut (4) 2 ¼' x 3" rectangles 

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- especially identical sections
• Nest seams where possible
• Remove paper when needed- I leave it on as long as possible as it stabilises the sections.
• Stitch around the edge of the block within the seam allowance to stabilise any bias edges

To maximise seam nesting, I changed the order of piecing on sections C and E:  

C1 became C5 

C2 became C4

C3 remains the same

C4 became C2

C5 became C1

Repeat on section E.  Sections B and D are unchanged.  Following this easy change allows your sections to fit together more easily at the seam points.  I pressed the final section joining seams open.

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 #grannyblock and #heatherblock on Instagram, Fat Quarter Shop and Angie are using these hash tags, #fw41granny,  #fw42heather, 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.

Next week, Jo Avery will be back with me as guest blogger.