WIP Wednesday #6: Farmer with Lanterns

Despite crazy schedules last week and work being done on the house this week (the boys are helping get it ready to be painted), I've been getting some sewing done.  I'm finally beginning the quilting on my mother-in-law's Japanese Lanterns quilt.

I am relieved to finally be working on it, but I sure wish I could keep the stitching smoother.  Those big white squares are terrifying to quilt in a variegated thread.  I'm hoping the overall effect will be good.  Finished is better than perfect, right?  The good thing is that my mother-in-law doesn't really like super-close quilting, so I just have to do squiggle motifs in the bands of the lanterns and in the corners (and probably centers) of the white squares, and it will be done quickly.  After all this time worrying about it.

I had fun with the Farmer's Wife quilt this week too.  Here's block 20: Churn Dash.  Super-easy 9-patch: central square cut 2 1/2", HST's cut 2 7/8", rectangles cut 2 1/2" x 1 1/2".  Dark fabric is from an old shirt of Steve's, gingham from the thrift store, and the cute background is a vintage scrap from I don't know where.

Block 21: Contrary Wife.  I think she's pretty and demure, actually.  Another simple 9-patch: the orange gingham from a thrift store shirt, leftover yellow plaid from another quilt, and red dots from the thrift store.

Block 22: Corn and Beans.  I used a flash for this picture and the colors show up a little better.  I like how this turned out, but it was a pain to piece.  The fabrics: thrifted background; the black and brown fabrics are from my mother.  I tried to pick corny and beany colors.  The cutting: central hourglass triangles are actually HST's cut 2 7/8".  Then I cut 10 background 1 7/8" squares and 2 each the same size of yellow, black and brown for the small HST's.  Of these you piece (very carefully, because they're very small and most of them don't go into squares) the triangle units of 1 yellow and 3 backgrounds, and when they are together you sew them to the diagonal stretchy edges of the center diamond, and you have a square.  Then you need to cut a green square 3 1/4" for the smaller green QST's: add background HST's to turn it into a flying goose unit, then add black and brown HST's to the sides.  Those trapezoid units are pieced onto the sides of the center square, and then finally, you add four background HST's (2 7/8") to the corners.  Unfortunately, there aren't many fast-piecing methods that make sense for this block, and at each stage you're working with stretchy bias edges.  You have to take it slow and cut and sew very cautiously.  But this is close to being my favorite block yet!

Group shot.  I wouldn't have expected these little 6" blocks to be so much fun.  Be sure to check out the other WIPs over at Freshly Pieced.