Farmer's Wife Quilt-Along | Block 78 Old Maid

I've been really slacking on my Farmer's Wife blocks I've got to admit... but knowing I was guest posting today means I've pulled my finger out and started farming again!

Block 78 Old Maid is one of my favourite quilt blocks, I love how simple it is to piece and yet how striking it looks. I love that you can really let your colour play go wild and create blocks that have totally different feels just by changing up your colour choices!

There are a few tips I can offer, first is be organised! Once my pattern and fabrics are cut {I'm paper piecing most of my blocks} I use a wonder clip to hold the relevant sections together.

As you'll notice from the photo's above I also colour in my block diagram and mark my pattern so I know which colours go where when I'm sewing the pieces together.

My next tip is to use a Sewline glue pen to glue your first piece of fabric down. I also don't always follow the numbers on the pattern with regard the order of piecing. As you can see in the photo below I'm starting from the centre and working outwards as it will eliminate any difficult angles to piece.

I piece all my sections first before giving them a good press, I find that this helps your accuracy when piecing the block together.

At this stage it is important to make sure all your fabric is placed correctly and that their are no errors.

Piecing the block together should be a doddle now! Make sure you pin the intersections so you don't lose any points and so everything is straight.

As you can see I went for the classic red and aqua combination which will sit well with my other bright and modern blocks.

Please tag your blocks on Instagram so we can all have a look! Use #fw1930sqal #farmerswifeblock #fw78farmerswife

You can find out all about the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along on Kerry's blog.