Hi ,

Whoa! Josh and I are so thrilled by the excitement and enthusiasm everyone has shown to the new Building Blocks Quilt Along!

We are having so much fun answering questions, creating new videos, and doing our best to teach everything we can about piecing and free motion quilting this year.

This week we kicked off the first block by learning how to Piece a Four Patch Block.

Remember to piece 3 blocks so you can quilt along with us for the next three weeks! We're going to learn three simple free motion quilting designs that will fill the block completely and add additional design and interest to this basic block.

Also new to the Quilt Along this week is the start of our new Facebook Group!  Join in the fun and easily post photos, chat with other quilters, and ask questions all in one place on Facebook.

By now you're probably thinking about preparing your blocks for quilting, so definitely check out today's tip post on Marking Your Blocks.

I'll also be posting more tips later in the week on basting and picking a batting that will give you the finished feel and look you want. Hint - batting deserves a lot more credit!

If you're under a super time crunch, or you just don't need to practice piecing, you might want to check out the new Building Blocks Printed Panel at Spoonflower.com

If you purchase 3 yards of this fabric, you will receive all 42 blocks, which can be cut out, basted, and quilted right along with the Building Blocks Quilt Along!

Warning: This option is expensive ($50+)! So, this is definitely not a money saving option, but a TIME saving option as these blocks come printed with all the piecing and quilting lines marked clearly on the blocks.

Are you missing the steady stream of new free motion quilting designs? I'm continuing to dream up designs on a daily basis, so these posts will return on Thursday each week as soon as the Building Blocks Quilt Along is set to a steady beat.

Josh will also be back on Tuesday with beginner quilting tips, and maybe even some videos! He will be quilting right along with us on the Building Blocks Quilt Along using the Spoonflower Printed Fabric instead of piecing.

All in all, it's shaping up to be a busy, exciting year and we're super happy to be working together with everyone on such a fun project.

Let's go quilt,

Leah Day