Cowboys and Pipe Dreams

A Happy Monday to Everyone!

And once again we will start this week out with:

 And a note about last week's block:

Please lodge any complaints to Dori @ The Red Feedsack.com

It's all her fault!

Did you count those pieces? 72!!

Okay so on to Cowboys and Pipe Dreams:

Our cattle ranch was in the middle of the desert.

Our house stood atop a man made hill,

and overlooked all the pastures almost on a 180 degree turn.

Out in those pastures, each week, us girls had to drive the tractor while 2 cowboys

picked the pipe up off the trailer we were hauling,

and lay it out in a straight line, hooking one pipe to the next.

If there was only one cowboy,

we let the tractor drive itself, us making corrections here and there,

and us young teenagers helped those strapping boys!

Now really,

how did Dad expect us not to get into trouble?

But for some reason, they flirted with us....but never went any further.

Hmmm....somehow the boss man must have put the fear of God in them.

I have a great story about my sister laying pipe for next week.

You all might say,  "shame on me"! But hey...fair is fair!

Cutting Instructions:

From White Print:

A Cut (4) 2 1/2" X 1 1/2" Rectangles

B Cut (2) 3 1/2" X 1 1/2" Rectangles

C Cut (4) 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" Squares

From the Red Print:

D Cut (2) 3 1/2" X 1 1/2" Rectangles

E Cut (4) 2 1/2" X 1 1/2" Rectangles

F Cut (4) 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" Squares

   

It's always a good idea to draft the block out for a key.

Here's a close-up of the block. I did it on a bigger grid for you this time:

Keeping it all organized....

Stitch B and D's together to create first and last row.

NOT like this:

(Where is my head this morning? Oh...that's right....I kept baby for Mama Tory over the weekend!)

Stitch A's to E's

Stitch F's To C's

And then stitch into 4 patches:

Stitch Center Row Pieces Together:

Stitch Rows Together:

Done!

Now did you count the pieces?

20

20!!

You have to love me again.

You just have to.

Remember Dori!

I cannot take responsibility for last week!

'Til Next Time!

Prayers Needed!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

It's kind of a sad day around here.

Tory's hubby deployed today...

to a bad part of Afghanistan.

 Steven is a crew chief on a Chinook.

He called me today a few hours before he deployed to say goodbye and to tell me he loved me.

I've been tearing up the rest of the day. 

So many of you have emailed me telling me you still think of Tory and pray for her, and I can't thank you enough.

I know I have a lot of new followers and subscribers,

so for you,

Tory lost a fiance over there in 2011, 15 days before they were to be married.

If you'd like to read about it

Click Here!

Hope you all are having a romantic day!!

Toodles....

The Rancher's Daughter Quilt Along ( Tutorial for Dori's Block '6') )

Okay Girls!

Time to saddle up!!

It's Monday.....ready for another block?

Now this time there is no way I am going to tell you how many 1 1/2" squares you have to cut!

You can count them when your done....and be drooling with pride at your amazing-ness!

Here it is:

Dori's Block (6)

And here' s the story behind it.

When a rancher's daughter has to live in the city,

she is always begging, borrowing, stealing,

whatever it takes to get an invite out to the country!

Really!

Now don't get me wrong....

I love being 5 minutes from Books a Million....Starbucks...Olive Garden...

etc. 

I received an email from a gal I met years ago at a church function in Utah  a few weeks ago.

She and her husband had also moved out here to Tennessee.

"John'aLee would you like to come out and help me with a quilt block project I am

contemplating?"

"SURE!"   Happy Dance....Smiles, giggles....I got an invite!!

She was wanting to make a quilt block on to wood for a big wall in her new house she was building.

Like the old blocks you find on barns across America!

Now this sounded fun!

Here's Dori with her darling Grand Girls!

So I drive up into Tennessee hill country....

God's country...

 Can you imagine those hills in Summer??

and got to work:

I showed her how to draft a block with graph paper...

while she made us a fabulous salad with organic greens

and strips of steak she stepped out of her camper to barbeque.

They are living in it while they build their home...

mostly all on their own.

Check out her blog here!   

So here goes Dori's block.

I will tell you the picture she showed me was done in all the

same values of paint colors and had no pattern.

When I started drafting it out on paper,

we noticed a neat Chevron pattern taking place.

(I would show the barn block, but it is copyrighted.)   

Cutting Instructions 

(All will be 1 1/2" Squares)

A Cut (8) Red Floral Print

B Cut (8) Green Floral Print

C Cut (4) Small Red and White Print

D Cut (32) Green and White Print

E Cut (4) Red Tone on Tone Print

F Cut (16) Red and White Print

The following tips I give are crucial to keeping your block pieces lined up right.

Make a Key:

TIP: Make another Key for your Half Square Triangles to keep them straight too.

Put the two 1 1/2" squares together that you will be sewing to make HST's. Mark them with appropriate letters.

 

Every block is a Half Square Triangle

I made a mistake here but caught it because of the key. There are no A/C's. So don't let this confuse you.

Make Half Square Triangles.

Click Here for a Refresher on how I do my HST's

Just one set of mine.

Now go back to your Key and lay them where they belong:

Line out Block Making sure you have your "Row" paper at top.

TIP!! (Once you finish positioning them your sheet will be empty,

so at this point I went to the trash, pulled out scraps and made a Color/Fabric Key

so I could keep it all straight once again.

 I then propped up this by my sewing machine so I could look at the drawing, to help me position all the HST's right.

Stitch Row 1 HST's to Row 2 HST's

Stitch Row 3 HST's to Row 4 HST's

Sttich Row 5 HST's to Row 6 HST's

Stitch Row 1/2 to Row 3/4

Sew Row 5/6 to Rows 1/2/3/4

Now stitch horizontal rows together:

Row 1 to Row 2

Row 3 to Row 4

Row 5 to Row 6.

Stitch sets together and your block is finished:

Tip:

After sewing each row together, turn block over, unstitch a couple of stitches where all 4 corners meet.

Sorry about the pic quality...the hubby wasn't here to help.

Spray Starch up and down the seam and press open:

Now here's a promise to you ladies!!

I promise...promise....

The next few weeks blocks will be easier!

Also I created a Group Flickr Account for any who would like to add their blocks to it:

Click Here!

Thanks for traveling the back roads of Tennessee with me!

Hope you enjoyed!

The Rancher's Daughter Quilt Along Block 5 (Nancy's Friendship Block Tutorial)

It's time to show you how to do another block for

Nancy's Friendship Block

If you look close you can see that is 4 little friendship blocks!

Many years ago Nancy and I met at a women's bible study when

we both lived in a little po' dunk town an hour outside of Las Vegas.

We both had mini farms....goats, chickens, gardens,

we both milked goats, gathered eggs

and came into each others lives when we both really needed a good friend.

Today she still tops the list on my friendships.

My best girlfriend, the one I turn to when I need a prayer warrior...

or a shoulder to cry on.

No amount of words could ever express what she means to me.

Do you all know what I'm talking about??

Here's Nanc playing with my grand kids at her house!

I remember walking into her kitchen this would have been like 13 years ago,

and she said, "Check this out John'aLee. I've learned a new block!"

(It was the Friendship Block)

We were both just getting into quilting...

and thus began our weekly Quilt Nights were several of us ladies would take turns hosting the night, do all the cooking and all we had to do was come and sew. Sweet memories.

If you don't have a group like this, I encourage you to start one.

And hint....hint, I'm wanting to start one here in Nashville if anyone is interested.

So the block!

It has 52 1 1/2" Squares!!

But don't be afraid!

It's really not that hard,

with the system I have to show you.

Now I always draft my block out on graph paper so I have a guide to go by.

And I color in the squares or triangles where I want a dark or medium

leaving  the ones blank where white or a lighter color will go so I can get a handle on the arrangement I want to do.

You can see my 'key' below.

I then start playing with fabrics and mark them before I began cutting pieces.

Your Cutting Directions: 

All pieces are cut 1 1/2" X 1 1/2"

A Cut (2) Red Print with White Background

B Cut (8) Green Print

C Cut (8) Dark Red

D Cut (8) Red Print with White background 

E Cut (2) Red and Green Print with White Background

F Cut (8) Green Print

G Cut (8) Dark Red 

H Cut (8) Red Print with White Background  

I then lay them out beside the letter they coordinate with on my key:

 

When it has a lot of pieces, I put post it notes on it so I won't get confused. Especially with the small pieces:

First make all of your half square triangles:

 All (8) C/D Half Square Triangle Units

All  (8) H/G Half Square Triangle Units

Click Here to See Tutorial for HST's 

 Next step is to take a blank piece of paper and lay the whole block out, 

being very careful that everything is pointing in the right direction

and write the Row Numbers at the top. This will really help!

Sew Row 1 to Row 2

Sew Row 3 to Row 4

Sew Row 5 to Row 6

 Sew Row 1/2 Units  to Row 3/4 Units

Sew Row 5/6 Units  to Row 3/4 Units

Now I'm going to show you my set up by the machine to help  me keep it straight:

 Now sew the 3 sets of rows together and your block is complete!

So what do you think of the block ladies?

And are any of you blessed like me to have 

a friend like Nancy in your life??

It sure does make life's journey sweeter!

Love ya Nanc!

I've got to get Block of the Months out today...

make soup and homemade bread for my elderly neighbors...

so I'd better get a hoppin'!

Toodles...

P.S. Make sure to share the blog button on your blog!

I sure do appreciate it.

Let's get as many of our quilting buds that we can to join in!

Also, I've decided to do a Linky Party once a month.

What's your take on that too gals?    

 

The Rancher's Daughter 1st Linky Party

Time for our 1st Linky Party!!

We've created 4 blocks so far....

and I'm hoping you all want to share any or all that you've

finished!!

Can't wait to see  your color choices!

Link up below to join!!

  And let your friends know in case they want to join in too!!

(If any of you are new here, click on the blog button on the top right hand side of my blog to see what this Quilt Along is all about!)

Here's some of mine:

  

Have a fabulous Friday everyone...

January's gone...

let's get lots of sewing done in Feb!