week one - farmer's wife quilt-along



There has been quite alot of buzz in online quilting circles lately for The Farmer's Wife Quilt-Along. I have seen the book many times at bookstores and fabric stores. It has called to me, but I had never purchased it. Last week I started hearing about a quilt-along that was being held online through Flicker.com. I went on the hunt for the book and I was lucky enough to it at my local JoAnn's for 40% off. I was instantly hooked and decided this would be a fun project.

I typically don't piece complicated blocks. I'm all about simplicity, but I do love the look of blocks with lots of pieces. This quiltalong is a great way for me to practice those skills without feeling rushed. At only two blocks per week, this is totally doable for me. I've chosen Sunkissed by Sweetwater for this project. As long as I keep my mistakes to a minimum, I should have enough fabric for all 111 blocks.

I'll be blogging about my progess every week. But, since I got started at the end of week three, I will have four posts this week to catch up.

Block One - Attic Windows

The book includes PDF templates on CD. I started out cutting fabric according to the templates and piecing together. My first block was pretty good, but still not quite right. So, I thought paper piecing would be a good idea. I opened the PDF in Illustrator and created the template. I finished the block only to realize that it was actually a mirror image of the correct layout. I had forgotten to flip the printout. Thankfully, the third time was a charm!

Block Two - Autumn Tints

After Block One, I needed a block like this! Nice and easy. I do have some minor inconsistencies, but fortunately, they are minor enough that I can still use this block. Once thing I've learned about working with such small blocks, even 1/16" variance can make a big difference in the final size of the block.