August's Block

As soon as I'm finally unpacked from our family vacation that we take every July, it's August.... August has a way of creeping up on me every year! It usually signals it's time for me to get ready to get back to school, but this year... I don't have to worry about that! It's very strange for me not to worry about meetings and getting the library ready for the kids. I'm a little out of sorts about it and need to set some goals for Quilt Doodle Designs... One thing I know for sure is I will have more time to spend in my garden. I also look forward to having time to do some canning when my tomatoes are ready. You are wondering what this all has to do with the BOM. Well, I learned all my canning skills from my mom and grandma. I remember the huge garden that grandma used to plant on the farm. I have spent plenty of time helping her husk corn and shell peas. I have fond memories of all those gardens past. I smile when I think of my dad, uncle and grandpa working night and day to get the wheat harvest in. August was a golden time of year that we got to spend on the farm in North Dakota. The red river valley back in the 70's was a sea of wheat and sunflower fields. This month's blocks are inspired by those memories... now let me share a few old photos before I present this month's blocks. I had fun and dug through mom's old pictures... these are well before my time, but fun pictures to share!

My grandma Gena, I think she's hoeing beans, but I'm not really sure.

She had a green thumb, which she passed onto my dad.

Here's a picture of my Grandpa Huard when he was in 

the army serving during WWII. (he's the fellow with the lighter colored cap)

While grandpa served, my grandma Huard kept the farm running.

I spent many summers on their farm (many years later).

My grandma on the tractor...I love this picture.

I wonder if she was bringing lunch out to the guys in this picture.

Thrashing in the 1940's

Now onto this months designs! I have two blocks for you to complete, a tractor and canning jars. You can make your tractor any color, I decided to make mine red. But if you are a John Deere fan, you can make your's green.

Both of these designs will be put on the background white/cream fabric on point.

Find the center of your 12 1/2" square...

The tractor all centered on my block and ironed in place. all ready for stitching.

Here I'm machine appliqueing with a small buttonhole stitch.

Here my pieces for the canning jar and tomatoes are all in place, centered on the background square. 

I made my canning jar red because it's filled with homemade pasta sauce.

My family's favorite.

A close up of how I stitched the 'Ball' lettering.

~ Canning Jar ~

~ Grandpa's Tractor ~

Patterns can be found on the Quilt Doodle website and on Craftsy (Not until the 1st of the month). Did you miss a pattern along the way? The past monthly patterns can be found in my Etsy and Craftsy shops for a small fee.

Fat Quarter bundles of 16 fat quarters are available in my Etsy store to get you started.

Tag me on Instagram with your photos #quiltdoodledesignsBOM2017 #quiltdoodledesigns @quiltdoodles
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's canning jars and tractors.

My favorite picture of grandma and I, taken in front of her flower garden.

 I hope that you have a wonderful week. I'm gonna go run out to my garden and pick some beans, if I'm really lucky, I might have a zucchini and cucumbers too!

          Let’s have some quilty fun!
Cindy