Barbara Chainey

This book seemed like an interesting idea. The concept is that you stack fat quarters and cut them into modular shapes that can be mixed and matched to make a variety of blocks. You don't plan beforehand what's going to go where. In theory this sounded cool because you have a lot of different options about how you want to piece the blocks and how you want to lay them out. You can make a sampler, medallion style, or just free-form, placing the units in whatever way suits you.

However, I will say that this did not really work for me. I didn't like any of her sampler-style patterns that give specific instructions about block types and placement, so I decided to go for the more free-form approach. Mistake! I ended up with a fairly hot mess and a lot of leftover pieces that are mostly too small to go back into the scrap bins. I just think this approach does not suit my working style and I felt more frustrated than freed.… (más)