Copyright Issues??

OK - you all know that Sue - at Craft The Final Frontier - has invited me to join her -

In her new blog -

The Leisurely Wife QAL - here -

We plan to make our quilts at a Leisurely pace - ;))

I don’t have the book YET - but I HAVE ordered it - AND the EQ6 Companion CD - and I want to THANK Katie M. for telling me/us that the Companion CD existed - it should help A LOT with whatever fiddly blocks there will be - and I just KNOW - without even seeing the book - that Murphy has made sure that there WILL BE LOTS of fiddly blocks. ;))

Because this is one of the latest quilt world crazes - I have seen a lot of “Farmer’s Wife” blocks on a lot of blogs. I don’t want to violate ANY copyright thingys - and I think that EVERYONE working on ANY QAL should "buy the book".

But -

From the reviews that I have read - in THIS book - the stories are supposed to be fabulous - but the blocks do NOT have cutting measurements or instructions - just a CD with "templates". Well - that's good for the "hand-piecers" out there - but it's bad for the "rotary cutter" quilters. Silly me - I thought it was the letters AND the blocks!!

You gotta admit, though, that we have probably seen ALL of these blocks before. They are most likely NOT new and are ALL PUBLIC DOMAIN. We have them in EQ7 - Blockbase - or any number of books on our shelves. And anyone who has been quilting for any time at all will recognize the ones that break down into a basic 4-patch or a basic 9-patch or variations thereof. (The newbies may not know - but some of the rest of us do.)

I repeat - we have probably seen ALL of these blocks BEFORE.

Amazon says the book comes with a CD with “templates”. The reviews say that the templates print one to a page - what a pain!! That template CD is NOT the same as the EQ6 Companion CD. So when you order the book - you might want to order the EQ6-CD also. (Just don't try to order it from EQ because I tried and EQ doesn't make the CD - they helped the author but they don't MAKE it!) And - be aware of the fact that the EQ6-CD is for EQ6 NOT EQ7 - so you will have to fiddle to make THAT work. (Who has EQ6 and has NOT upgraded to EQ7? Just sayin. ;))

Last time I looked - Amazon had the book for $18.47 and the EQ6-CD for $14.59 - both were eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. (At least they were when I looked - be sure to double check the details before you actually buy it - the price and shipping stuff may have changed.)

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt: Letters from 1920s Farm Wives and the 111 Blocks They Inspired [Paperback]
Laurie Aaron Hird (Author)

The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt - A Companion CD for EQ6 [CD-ROM]
Laurie Aaron Hird (Author)

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All of that stuff above - was written/drafted over the week-end -

Now for some VERY INTERESTING INFO -

I read on Randy’s blog yesterday (Monday) all about how she is Divorcing the Farmer’s Wife (reluctantly). The author apparently is hollering "copyright infringement" because Randy is posting instructions for making the blocks.

Say what?!?!

So - let me get this straight -

If I post photos of what I made and How I Do It - (show the steps I took to make the block - with or without the templates) - am I infringing on the author’s copyright? Can I do that - or am I limited to just showing the finished blocks - so you can all go “ooooooh” and “aaaaaah”? Can I even show that - in case you figure out how I did it?

Can I break it down and show the newbies the basic “Types” of block combinations that will make a 6” block? The sizes of the pieces shouldn’t be copyrighted - they are the mathematical size you need to make a 6” block. Six divided by 2 = 3 and six divided by 3 = 2. Adjust all of that for seam allowances and that information is just the MATH of quilting.

And - I'm no lawyer - but - if the blocks are PUBLIC DOMAIN - how can she claim copyright?

And - how can it be copyright infringement anyway - if I/we are providing information that the author DIDN'T provide in her book in the first place?

I think that the author should be tickled pink that her book is the latest craze and that every quilter in blogland is buying the dang thing so that they can follow along! Talk about FREE ADVERTISING!! Geesh - some people’s kids!!

So anyway - I’m confused and I gotta know -

Before I show you what I made -

If I CAN show you what I made -

And How I Did It - ;))

In the meantime -

BOB is seriously considering cancelling her order and making something else - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -