Farmer's Wife Blocks - 56 Maple Leaf - 85 Square Dance - 101 Wedding Ring

 

Block 101 - Wedding Ring

I am now 1 week ahead on the Farmer's Wife Blocks.  I've been working on them after work.  We seem to be in a phase of 90-minute blocks rather than the 3-hour type now.  

This one is called Wedding Ring.  No paper piecing (Yay!) Just a lot of fussy cutting squares to 1-11/16ths.  I just look for the 5/8 mark on my ruler, and go half-way to the next mark.  Making the half-square triangles now is a breeze.  ;-)   That lovely purple batik is nearly gone ...  Though I did purchase a substitute.  In future blocks, we'll see how that fits in.

 Block 56 - Maple Leaf

Because I live in WI with maple trees all over the neighborhood, and as a lover of brilliant fall color, I had to deviate from the usual blue-green-purple color scheme.  And so orange and French toille.  There is one other block that uses these colors -- The Ozark Maple.   A quick and simple 9-patch block, easy to work up.  A satisfying finish on a week night.  

  Block 85 - Square Dance

I guess you'd call this block the missing link between the usual blues and greens and the orange and reds.   Handmade Karma recommended using a focus fabric for the center.  I auditioned a number of options, and settled on this one.  With (so far) only 2 other orange / red blocks in the whole quilt, I felt like I needed a few more blocks with orange and red to show it wasn't just a mistake, or an afterthought.   Having a few more of these colors in the overall quilt mixes it up a bit more, and makes it more of a design choice.   With this one being named Square Dance, I thought it was appropriate to mix it up even more by swapping out some of the colors in the corners.  You change partners in square dancing, and so the colors can act like new dance partners.  A bridging block. 

Tutorials from Handmade Karma for Week 26.

See Handmade Karma's full set of Farmer's Wife blocks and tutorials.