Two Down!

While the kiddies are in their final count down to the end of school, I got to do something I haven't done in a very long time. . . . . head off to a classroom!!! Yes last Saturday was my first meeting of The Farmer's Wife Club. With great anticipation I loaded up my tote bag with goodies and made my way over to Candlelite Quilts.

While not officially a "class" there were plenty of new techniques for me to discover. Making templates from which to cut each piece individually was definitely an eye opener and has given me a far greater appreciation for all the patchwork done prior to the days of the rotary cutter! I'm sure they didn't have the pleasure of using a sandboard back then either and that's too bad because now that I've been introduced to it I can't imagine trying to trace onto fabric without one. The most surprising tidbit, however, was the concept that one shouldn't do more than to lightly press straight down on a piece of patchwork when using an iron. Shocking! Or at least for me, a huge fan of working my iron into all the little nooks and crannies of my patchwork blocks in order to make them lie flat as a pancake. Apparently, by doing so I am stretching the fabrics out of the proportions so carefully created by sticking to the seam allowances. Unfortunately, I do believe it's going to be very hard for me to kick the ironing habit. I've already cheated a teeny bit . . . . . but at least I know now why I can never seem to have precise piecing when it comes time to assemble my blocks all together!

By the end of the day I had two, slightly wrinkled, 6.5" blocks completed. I present you with Evening Star (#31) and Autumn Tints (#2). Now only 109 to go!