Burgoyne Surrounded

Did you ever think you'd be a glutton for punishment? I certainly never did. But, doggone it, that Tone It Down quilt along sponsored by American Patchwork and Quilting magazine just kept calling to me. Knowing that each block has a ga-zillion tiny pieces meant that I would definitely be voluntarily signing on for some tedious work.

I just couldn't stop thinking about it, though! A few days ago I decided that if I did this quilt along, mine would be patriotic. I put together a nice collection of fabrics, just in case I actually did go ahead with participating.

I finally took the plunge on Saturday. Ultimately I decided that the diagonal lines would be blue, while the circular designs would be red. As far as backgrounds go, I decided that I would aim for a very scrappy combination of neutrals - everything from light to tea-stained would be jumbled all together in each block.

I spent a good portion of the afternoon cutting out fabrics for one block, but I intentionally cut more than I knew I would need so that I could get a good mix of backgrounds.

I made sure that I kept my pieces as organized as possible. With so many pieces to keep track of, I knew that being diligent would be beneficial. I'd read some of the blogs, too, explaining the necessity of being organized with this quilt. That was advice I was willing to take!

Another thing I did to help myself was to study these instructions till I practically had them memorized. I knew that I'd get all mixed up with colors so I wrote myself notes to keep my reds and blues where they belong. It really did help.

And here's my first block. There are 89 pieces in it. Yeah, that's a lot. And I may well be a glutton for punishment for doing this, but I think I will be so thrilled with it once it's done that it will be totally worth it. It's the type of quilt that made me fall in love with quilts so many years ago. Traditional designs. Traditional fabrics. Traditional colors. Even though I have evolved into appreciating more modern fabrics and colors, my original preferences were always traditional. I hope this quilt looks old and antique-y when it's finished. 

I have a full day of sewing at Terry's coming up on Friday. I would like to have much cutting done so that I can concentrate on sewing more of these blocks then. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!