At the Fair Mystery Quilt Blocks: January-May

I thought I would share the blocks we have been making in the At the Fair Mystery Block of the Month.  The quilt blocks are based on the tiled quilt block mosaic which wraps around the Richard O. Jacobson Exhibition Center on the Iowa State Fairgrounds.  We are making 36 blocks - two a month - until June 2016 when we will put them together into an epic 96" x 92" quilt.
 

May's blocks were from Iowa and Audubon county and are 24 and 8 inches square.  I have to say it is really fun to make the bigger blocks.  They are so striking.  But then it is rather a relief to make the second smaller block.  :)    When I first saw the picture of the small Iowa county block I thought it would be a pain to cut and piece, but it came together very easily with some foundation paper piecing.

Two counties, Guthrie and Ida, submitted the same block to the fair.  I am calling it Starburst because there are stars bursting out - and because it is made with Starburst candy colors.  :)  It is 24" square.  The second block for April was from Adair county.  It is a simple little blocks but, like so many of the other blocks, I think a whole quilt of these would be great.

In March I almost froze my fingers off taking pictures of these blocks.  I am so glad winter is over!  The one on the left is 32" square and is from Decatur county.  The one on the right is 24" square and was submitted by Black Hawk county.

February's blocks were fairly simple because everyone in my house had taken turns being sick over and over.  The one on the left is from Dubuque county and measures 12" square.  The other is one of my favorite blocks.  It was submitted by Clinton county and measures 8" square.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  both of these would look great repeated in a quilt.

We started out the year with a bang in January.  The largest block - and my favorite so far - is a 36" beauty from Osceola county.  This "block" would make a great baby quilt.  But after making it, I thought we needed a break, so the second block is a simple 8" bow-tie block.

So...are you tempted to join us?  You can sign up here and on the 1st of every month through June 2016 you will receive instructions for 2 quilt blocks.  After signing up, a pdf with the first 10 block patterns will be emailed to you.  Need more info?  This post gives more details about the At the Fair Mystery Block of the Month.  I hope you will join us.  It has been fun seeing people's blocks pop up in our Flicker group and I know some people are sharing their blocks on Instagram with the hashtag #atthefairmysteryquilt.  We would love for you to join us!