Fab Farm Sew Along – Cow Block 4

Welcome to week 4 of the Fab Farm Sew Along! This week’s block is the cow.

Now, spring is always full of baby farm animals and I remember loving to go to the nearby farms to see the baby cows. There was a small farm at the top of our street, and down a few blocks, near the elementary school. We went to see those cows nearly every day when we were first allowed to travel alone.

three black and white cows
Photo by Matthias Zomer on Pexels.com

I have some exciting news. I have two quilting friends co-hosting in the next few weeks – Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts about Quilting and Nancy of Grace and Peace Quilting. They both do beautiful work and I can’t wait to see what they have done with their Fab Farm blocks.

Cutting The Block

Pieces are cut and prepped

The cutting instructions for the large and small quilts are both on page 22. Again, in order to make the cutting and identification of the pieces easy, let’s use SEPC.

  • Scan the cutting instructions
  • Enlarge the cutting instructions
  • Print the cutting instructions
  • Cut – both the paper and the fabric, attaching the paper label to the fabric pieces.

There was nothing particularly tricky here.

Making Block 4

Gathered pieces for the face.

As I begin, I gather some of the pieces for the first units – the face, nostrils and front leg. The instructions are on page 23. I might have changed the eyes, they are a bit dark next to my black but visible when in the right light…maybe a little quilting around the eye will help make it stand out a bit more.

HINT #1: Take a photo of the cow on page 21 to refer to as you are piecing.

I have begun using a picture of the animal on my phone to check that I am getting all the pieces. This prevents me flipping back and forth to check against the picture of the completed cow, and helps me check that I know where I am going with the units.

HINT#2: Watch out for the extra snout pieces!

Figure 4 on page 23 shows that the snout gets a few more pieces added to it, 3-Ks and 1-AA – don’t miss it as it is embedded in the assembly of the face/nostrils/front leg unit. I didn’t miss them, but don’t want you to!

This cow only has 3 more seams to go!

HINT #3: The finishing piecing for the block is on 45.
I didn’t realize I missed this until I went to write the post. I just used the picture as I finished the piecing on page 22. I wish all the labels were in it, like they are on page 21, it is sometimes hard to be sure you have everything.

The Finished Block

I love the way the cow looks and the piecing went smoothly.

The Schedule

Here’s the schedule. If you want to pick a block and co-host with me on a particular week, I would be thrilled, please email me if you are interested.

DateBlock
Monday, April 3, 2023Fabric Selection
Monday, April 24, 2023Block 1 Strawberry
Monday, May 1, 2023Block 2 Horse
Monday, May 8, 2023Block 3 Goat
Monday, May 15, 2023Block 4 Cow
Monday, May 22, 2023Block 5 Chicken
Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts co-host
Monday, May 29, 2023Block 6 Bee
Monday, June 5, 2023Block 7 Pig
Nancy @ Grace and Peace Quilting co-host
Monday, June 12, 2023Block 8 Sheep
Monday, June 19, 2023Block 9 Short Sunflower
Monday, June 26, 2023Block 10 Tall Sunflower
Monday, July 17, 2023Parade of Quilts

Pattern and Kits Available

I am listing some links for patterns and kits. They are affiliate links, so a little comes to me (no additional cost to you) to support the costs of running the blog.

Coming Up on My Blog

I am looking forward to sharing My Strippy Stars quilt. I was hoping to have it done before the end of the month, but I will share it next week. I will also show you how I helped a friend with a quilt (not well made by someone I don’t know, if you ask me) so that it could be the remembrance she needed.

My Strippy Stars
Fixing a T-Shirt Quilt
Fab Farm SAL – Block 5 (5/21)
Tips and Tutorials on the 22nd (5/22)
Ships Ahoy

Linking Up

Monday Musings

Fabrics Stash

Fabric in this month: 12.26 
Fabric out this month: 4.00
Fabric in this year: 36.25
Fabric out this year: 31.75
NET Fabric: +4.5 yards!

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6 Comments

  1. May 16, 2023 / 9:05 AM

    Having to move to back pages to finish the block kinda threw me at first. I’m slowly getting caught up with the blocks, now that the chicken is done!

  2. Nancy @ Grace and Peace Quilting
    May 16, 2023 / 11:21 AM

    I’m with you and Wendy–not sure why we had to flip to the back for the rest of the cow instructions! And I also noticed the eyes don’t show up well. But that is the way the original quilt is, too. Overall this is a fun block!!!

  3. May 16, 2023 / 3:41 PM

    Kathleen that cow is soooo cute! I’m looking forward to Wendy’s and Nancy’s posts.
    We lived next door to a farmer and his wife, and they milked their cows in a small white concrete block building. When I was 10 I would walk over to their place and watch them milk by hand. Then they got machines and boy was that a cool thing to watch! I’ve always loved everything about them, from the smell (can you imagine!) to their mooing to the calves.

  4. May 17, 2023 / 4:34 PM

    I don’t know if you remember, but several years ago for an RSC project I made a paper-pieced cow face each month. I loved making those cows, and the quilt eventually went to my aunt who lives on the farm. Your cow is adorable and I love seeing all the animals together so far!

  5. May 20, 2023 / 5:15 PM

    Another cute and fun block! I love cows! I received my book and am so glad you are adding your tips for piecing! I just looked at it and set it aside until I can start playing! Thanks for sharing with us at MM.

  6. May 20, 2023 / 5:19 PM

    What a cute and fun block! I love cows and this one is adorable. I really appreciate your piecing tips. When I have a chance to get this started, I will definitely be coming back to re-read them! My book did come and I plan to try making the smaller one, but I had to just set it aside for now!

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