Bonnie is all squares and rectangles which is perfect for rotary cutting with your ruler. I machine pieced this block and it came together really quickly. The impact in this block comes from the strong lines created by accurate piecing. The key here is to spend the time lining up the two important seams. You can either pin or use clover clips to keep your pieces together while joining.  If you’re inclined to you could even use glue to baste the pieces together prior to joining. It’s well worth paying attention to your accuracy here – if you have to unpick, do it, you’ll be thankful later. If you find that your seams won’t line up it’s better to be a little short one end and over a little at the other end then to have them line up perfectly and have the seam off. You can always fudge the difference later on, trust me. (But if you’re any more than 1/8″ short/long I’d recommend unpicking and testing to make sure your seam allowance is an accurate 1/4″.)

Tutorial: Block #16 “Bonnie”

General Information

• I pressed my seams open.
• I used a Schmetz 70/10 needle.
• I used 50wt Aurifil #2600 (Dove) thread for piecing.
• I used the From Marti Michell Patchwork Templates 6.5″ Squaring Up Ruler and From Marti Michell Patchwork Templates 3/4″ to 1 1/2″ Log Cabin Ruler.
• I used  Flatter by Soak in Yuzu 248ml as my starch.
• Fabrics shown in the tutorial are from the Gnome Angel Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Bundle on Fat Quarter Shop.

If you’d like to know “My Top 10 Beginners Patchworking Tools” you can find them by clicking here.

Measurements for the pieces needed to construct this block will not be provided in this tutorial. It is a pre-requiste of making this block that you have a copy of the book, The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 Quilt Blocks That Honor Them. Measurements can be found in this book and it’s associated media.

The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 Quilt Blocks That Honor Them by Laurie Aaron Hird – available from: Amazon | Pink Door Fabrics | Fat Quarter Shop | The Quilting Company | Interweave (Affiliate Links)

On Point Blocks

Please note I am not doing my blocks on-point. If you are fussy cutting your blocks please be mindful of your fabric placement so that the motif will sit correctly if you decide to put your blocks on-point.

Conversion Chart

You can find the From Marti Michell Patchwork Template Conversion Charts by clicking here.

Helpful Links & Videos

Marti Michell shows you how to cut using your ruler and templates:

Block Construction PDF

The Author and Publisher have made available a PDF file of the block rotary cutting instruction and construction details as provided for in the book to assist those that are waiting on their books to be delivered. You can download them by clicking here.

The block PDF’s and the Marti Michell Conversion Charts are provided to your as a courtesy and are not for further distribution. Anyone found to be circulating these PDF’s via their own website, Facebook Group, Guild, social media, etc. will be removed from all emails, the Facebook Group and details will be passed on to the publisher. We take our responsibility to respecting copyright seriously and we will not endorse, support or tolerate breaching it. Thank you for your understanding.

How to Make the Block

General advice:

• Tolerance Levels: you need to decide what is an acceptable tolerance level for “mistakes”. For example if your blocks are consistently 6¼” instead of 6.5″ are you ok with this. Or if your seams matching are less than an eight of an inch “off” are you ok with this. There’s no hard or fast rule and it’s different for everyone, so remember it’s your quilt so make your decision for you.
• Press your seams at each step. Click here for a great article on how to press your seams for patchwork.
• You can iron and starch your fabric prior to cutting. I also starch when pressing bulky seams.
• When pinning, pin away from you so that you don’t move your pieces when pinning.

1. Use your rotary cutter and ruler to cut all pieces required for the block as per the instructions in the book. Cutting instructions can be found on the disc that came with the book. Block directions are located on page 175. You can also use the cutting instructions on the conversion chart.

2. Join 16A to 16C = 1.

3. Join 16C to 16D = 2.

4. Join 1 to 2 = 3 make sure to secure in place when joining by pinning if needed. I use Clover Wonder Clips instead of pins.

5. Join 16B to 3 = 4.

6. Join 16B to 16D = 5.

7. Join 4 to 5 – make sure to secure in place when joining by pinning if needed. I used pins for this step.

Accompanying Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt Block Tutorial

When I hosted the 2015 Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt Sew-Along I had some blogging friends jump in and make the blocks and share their thoughts, tips, tricks and alternative fabric choices with everyone. These tutorials provided a great way for participants to find some new bloggers to follow, learn more about the craft we all love and get some alternative ideas for fabrics and colours.

You can find this blocks accompanying tutorial here*: Lucy @ Charm About You & Melissa @ Oh How Sweet

*Please note: Where possible I will link to the accompanying tutorial, however given the time that has elapsed since the first event in some cases the tutorial may be missing. In this case I will link to the blogger directly so that you can check out their work.

Book Details

The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 Quilt Blocks That Honor Them by Laurie Aaron Hird – available from: Amazon | Pink Door Fabrics | Fat Quarter Shop | The Quilting Company | Interweave (Affiliate Links)

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a very small commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link, in fact in some cases I can offer you a better price via an affiliate link. I will not recommend something that I do not use myself. These commissions help me keep being able to provide you with great content for free. Thank you, in advance for your support!