Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along - Block A

 Westward Ho!

Your journey begins today with the first block - Block A! Grab your copy of Prairie Patchwork,

 

Prairie Patchwork

download your fabric requirements and cutting instructions, below, and you're ready to begin!

 As you can see, you'll be making two of Block A:

 

Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along - Blocks A

The techniques you'll be using to construct the Blocks A are foundation paper piecing and applique.

If you have a scanner, you can scan the patterns from the pattern sheet in Prairie Patchwork, and then print them onto your foundation paper from your computer. Be sure to compare your printed patterns to those in the book to make sure there are no distortions. If you don't have a scanner, you can try a copier, or hand trace the patterns from the pattern sheet.

There are a variety of papers that will work as foundation paper. I typically use a paper that is used for sandwich wrap. It's lightweight, transparent, easy to tear, and I can also cut it to size, and print the patterns using my inkjet printer. You can use copy paper, purchased foundation paper, and freezer paper, as well.

Martingale Publishing offers a good tutorial on how to foundation paper piece that you can download, CLICK HERE to download that tutorial.

For the same blocks that I made for the Prairie Spring quilt, I machine appliqued the center and outer circles. For the blocks in the Prairie Patchwork Sampler, I hand appliqued those shapes.

I will see you again here next Wednesday for Block B!

 CLICK HERE to download the fabric requirements and cutting instructions for Block A.

Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along

 

Westward Ho!

Welcome to the Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along!

In my book, Prairie Patchwork, Carrie and her family migrate westward from the hills of West Virginia to the plains of Kansas, in 1871. Join me on our own prairie journey, where our final destination is the 42" x 54" Prairie Patchwork sampler quilt, pictured below!

 

Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along sampler quilt

To make the sampler quilt, you'll need your copy of my book, Prairie Patchwork . If you haven't yet purchased your copy, buy the book at your local quilt shop, shopmartingale.com, wagonswestdesigns.com or Amazon.

Follow along weekly every Wednesday, here on my blog, for each step of the journey, and the instructions for each step. The sampler quilt has been divided into 26 steps, alphabetized A through Z, so you will have plenty of time to complete the quilt! A PDF for each step will be available here, as well as on my website wagonswestdesigns.com.

My sampler quilt design was inspired by sampler quilts of the nineteenth century, and more specifically to those pictured in the book by Sue C. Cummings, Album Quilts of Miami County. Some of those quilts were made using the red, green and cheddar color combinations, and that's the color scheme I chose for the Prairie Patchwork sampler.

I designed a collection of fabrics for the sampler, in colors similar to those found on the antique quilts. Those fabrics, and their corresponding numbers, can be found on the fabric requirements PDF. They're available for purchase on the print-on-demand fabric site, Spoonflower. 

Of course, feel free to use any color combination of your choosing, and fabrics from your stash!

Click Here to download the fabric requirements for the Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along Sampler Quilt.

Instructions for the first block(s) will be posted next Wednesday!

Until next time,

Martha

Live, Love, Quilt International Quilt Along - My block!

Have you been following along on the Live, Love, Quilt International Quilt Along?My block was revealed this weekend, and you can access the free pattern by joining the Facebook group Live, Love, QAL (you can access that easily from several of my posts on the Wagons West Designs Facebook page).

 

 

Each of the designers were given a specific size, all different, for their block design, and mine was the tall rectangle you see above.

I immediately envisioned a tall house with flowers to fill the space! 

Next week, I will be announcing my Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along project, and I hope you'll check in again to see what it's all about!

Until next week!

Martha