Farmer’s wife: Duck & Ducklings

Bird-related blocks seem to be very common. We had geese (Wild Goose Chase, Wild Geese), a swallow, hawks (Hovering Hawks), and birds in general (Hovering Birds, Flock, and coming up next Darting Birds).

Duck & Ducklings

© 2012 by Heike Scharmann

I am pretty much satisfied with the two prints I picked for this block. I think they are working together very well. Sometimes, I wouldn’t want to bring two fabrics together because one is very geometrical and the other more—let’s say romantic, or one is very bold and the other is rather bland. And sometimes it is better to keep them apart, but this time it came out as a pleasant surprise.

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Farmer’s wife: Economy

Economy is one of the few blocks I could paper piece in whole. I can only remember one block so far, Gentleman’s Fancy, where I did the same. Truely, Economy is a very simple block. The more stress I laid on finding the right fabrics.

Economy

© 2012 by Heike Scharmann

Obviously, I fussy cut the centre piece. Next had to be a print with a high contrast, and the outer triangles should take up the centre’s colour again to give the block the feel of being a unit. Laurie used only two different fabrics but I think this robs some of the pattern’s potential. With three different prints you can much better capture the reality of a square in a square in a square.

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Farmer’s wife: End of Day

End of Day

© 2012 by Heike Scharmann

At the end of the marathon, things are slowing down. Am I running out of breath? I hope not. I am just collecting my strength for the final leap. 29 more blocks to go. I’ve enjoyed sewing these tiny blocks so far so much, and if the final quarter will take a little longer, joy will last longer, too. I’m in no hurry.