Next Block Please

I gathered all my Chester Criswell Blocks together for a family photo.

The new block is in the bottom left hand corner.  If you have signed on for The Second Year you will be receiving it soon.  If you would like to receive it check the website Two Bits Patches, it will be arriving shortly.
If you are expecting it and it doesn't arrive in you inbox, please check your email settings.  One or two addresses have blocked my email and I can't get through to you. 

Giveaway Time 25

I am pleased to announce that this blog has just received its 25,000 visit, and I've done twice twenty-five posts.  Hooray!

My online shop is called Two Bits Patches.  Two bits is a quarter, 25 cents, and I started selling fat quarters on eBay in 2007.

Two bits of a dollar - 25 cents

So it is very appropriate to have a fat quarter prize for this giveaway - three fat quarters in fact.

From left to right - Judie Rothermel's Quaker Quilts; Jo Morton's Lucinda's Needle; and Howard Marcus' Friendship: Collections for a Cause.  Just right for your next few blocks of the Chester Criswell Quilt.  If you are the winner, I will send you a fat quarter of each fabric.

To enter - post a comment on this post about what you are doing today, or what you wish you were doing today.  The winner will be chosen at random; if you link to this giveaway on your own blog you can have a second chance to win.  You may post a comment anonymously, but I can't get in touch with you if you win.  So I will choose someone else to win.

Closing date is 25 April.  In Australia that's ANZAC Day when we remember our involvement in the First World War.  In our family it's also my granddaughter's birthday.  I will spend the morning marching in two parades and then home to sew.

I'm in the back row far corner - I'm the drummer.

Read All About It - the First Block is Here!

Here it is!  The first block of the Chester Criswell Quilt is Jane Wilson's block.  Jane's block is 160 years old, the photo shows my block which is just a newborn.  The pattern is on the Two Bits Patches website now, and the download is free.  You can have your own copy when you click here.  The download includes the pattern, photos of the original block and a story about Jane Wilson.

Each month a new block will be available at the Two Bits Patches website.  The cost for each pattern is $A2.50.  You don't have to sign up for the whole quilt, you can choose to buy one or two or many of the patterns.  A new pattern will be available on the 1st of each month, the next pattern will be available 1st September.

It's quite exciting to launch a pattern, but it's a bit scary too.  For me, the scariest part is the photo you are looking at.  I am very much a beginner at needleturn applique - which I'm sure you can tell on close inspection - but it's so enjoyable!  Twelve months from now I may look at this first block and wonder that I had the nerve to publish a photo of my work.  But that's okay, everyone was a beginner once.

I hope you decide to join in the journey.  You don't have to make any blocks at all, you may want to enjoy the blog about signature quilts and life in the 1850s.  If you do make this block, will you send me a photo?  I'd love to see your choice of fabric and technique.

Free Download at www.twobitspatches.com