Farm Girl Friday - Week Six - Country Crossroads Cushion!

Are you ready for week six of

Farm Girl Friday?

YeeHaw!

Let's get started:)

Grab your Farm Girl Vintage 

book and turn to page 22.

We are going to be playing with 

Country Crossroads

This is a simple block in design 

and is easy to put together.

It's made up of four traditional snowball blocks…

and I added an "intersection"

to form the look of a roadway that you might 

find way out in the country!

For the block sample in the book

I used the same fabric for all 4 snowballs

but I just knew all along that

 I would be doing a scrappy version

for our sew along!

It takes no time at all for me to

 cut out scrappy blocks

 because of the way that I 

save, cut, store and more importantly 

USE my leftovers.

If you've never read about

 my scrap saving method…

CLICK HERE

if you want to know more:)

I also have a YouTube tutorial

that I've done from 

my studio showing you.

You can find the link 

to those on the top 

right sidebar here on my blog.

I decided to make nine

 6" Scrappy Crossroads blocks

and make them into a 

scrappy happy cushion:)

I cut out all of the pieces and 

laid them out onto one of my design boards.

Then I started sewing away on the snowballs!

One scrappy happy block!

Pretty soon

I had 9 scrappy happy 

Country Crossroads blocks.

I laid them out for placement

on a larger design board 

and then sewed them together.

When I sewed my nine 6" blocks together

 I ended up with an 18" square…

but it would be super cute in the 12" block size as well

and it would finish a 36" square:)

By the way…

I pressed all of my seams open:)

Then I cut 2 strips of the background fabric

3" x 18 1/2"

and sewed to the sides.

Then I cut 2 more strips

3" x 23 1/2"

 and sewed to the top and bottom.

My cushion finished at 23" square 

and I used a 24" pillow form

because I like my pillows stuffed full:)

I decided to use a scrappy binding.

I cut 16 - 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" strips.

I joined them together end to end

and pressed my seams open.

CLICK HERE

to see my scrappy binding tutorial:) 

I prepared my binding…

 and kept it in a stack of cute little

 vintage toy mixing bowls

 while quilting the pillow top:)

All bound and ready for the cushion insert!

It looks super cute on the 

minty green chair 

that my Grandma Crane gave to me:)

Now for our second block…

turn to page 21 of 

Farm Girl Vintage

And let's make a 

Corn and Tomatoes block!

I love red and yellow together

and I love fresh corn and 

REAL tomatoes fresh from the garden

(I don't care for the fake ones that they sell in the chain grocery stores:(

This block is one of the

 very easiest in the book.

Only a few pieces and 

a few colors but 

I think it packs a punch…

don't you?

I also think that this block 

would be a great scrappy quilt

in all different color combinations 

but that will have to want for another day

when I have a few less deadlines:)

I made another 12" block using Feed Company fabric.

Now I have 4 so far for my Square Dance

quilt on page 118.

Thanks for sewing along

 with me this week!

Don't forget to use these hashtags 

when posting your blocks

 on social media:

#ScrappyCrossroadsBlock

#CornAndTomatoesBlock

#FarmGirlVintage

#FarmGirlFridays

Be sure to visit this weeks guest bloggers

and also go see Kimberly and the Girls

at Fat Quarter Shop's Jolly Jabber

to see their Farm Girl blocks so far!

Chat at you next week!

xx

Lori

Farm Girl Friday - Week Five - Churn Dash Love and I Heart Gingham!!!

It's time for 

Farm Girl Friday

and its week five already!

Sorry if you did not

 grow up in the 70's

and don't understand 

why I named

my block

Cool Threads …lol

This is when I was sewing my 

6" Cool Threads block

for my Quilty Barn Along...

And it eventually 

ended up in this quilt!

Pattern is on page 92

of Farm Girl Vintage:)

This is my 12" Cool Threads block 

on page 20…

I just had to play
 in my gingham stash

to make this one!

It's no secret that I love gingham.

It's been a classic for a long time…

 I even loved it as a little girl

and my gingham crush

 continues to this day!

That's why I needed/wanted to

play with it a little more 

when making my

 Churn Dash block for this week's

Farm girl Friday:)

More on that in just a minute…

first let's talk about the 

classic Churn Dash block.

Instructions for both the

 6" and 12"size blocks are on

 page 19 of Farm Girl vintage.

Churn Dash is a traditional block and 

another that I have always loved.

It's simple to construct 

and there are several ways.

You can vary the 

look of the block by

using the background fabric

 for the large center square...

Or by using something different

 in the corners

for this kind of look.

Using a different color 

for the center square

makes it scrappy happy as well!

I decided to create a new

 Farm Girl Block called 

Churn Dash Love

I mixed the 12" Churn Dash

with the 12" Heart from the 

Baby Chick Block

on page 10.

The heart fits perfectly in the center!

P.S. It also works when you

 use the 6" churn dash

and the 

6" baby chick heart as well.

Nifty!!!

One of my goals when writing

my book

was to show you 

several different methods

 on constructing patchwork

segments like for example

 half square triangles.

I wanted you to 

try them all out

and then be able to 

choose your favorite

according to your project

and cutting choices.

Knowledge is Power!!!

(another throwback phrase from the 70"s…

thank you Schoolhouse Rock)

Because of the method I used 

for the Churn Dash block

in my book…

You will have enough leftover fabric 

if you are sewing the

 12" size to use.

YaY!

I Love leftovers!

I use them for 

all of my 

scrappy happy blocks:)

When I have leftovers 

from sewing 

Easy Corner Triangles

I either;

 cut them into the 

largest size square

 that I can 

and add them to my scrappy stash.

 

or... 

I sew another seam 

 and end up with a smaller size

 half square triangle

for a leftovers project!

"Use it up - Wear it out 

MAKE IT DO 

or

Do Without!!"

I'll be using the 

Harvest Tablerunner setting

pattern on page 124

and making the large runner

with my Churn Dash Love blocks.

I have four made so far…

and YES!!!

I'm using some gingham for

 all of the hearts:) 

I'm making the large runner

because I already made a small 

Harvest Tablerunner 

using the Churn Dash:)

So grab your scrappy stash...

 make sure there is a few ginghams …

and make a 

#ChurnDashLoveBlock

 with me:)

Don't forget to use the 

#CoolThreadsBlock

and

#ChurnDashBlock

for your Farm Girl Friday's 

sewing this week!

Click Here

to check out the schedule

to visit this weeks guest bloggers!

Have a quilty farming

kind of day!

See you here next week:)

xx

Lori