Civil War Tribute quilt questions
 

Well, I got a little to confident after doing some simpler block of the month blocks. Now I have started a scrappy Civil War Tribute quilt. The first block came out 18 inches instead of 18.5 inches. Good thing it was all scraps of fabric. I love the inside of the block and all the points are ok so I am going to use the block somewhere else and do it again.

Does anyone who has made these blocks have any hints or suggestions to make it easier?

When I first started doing these 3 yrs ago mine were smaller as well. I spoke to my teacher about it. One of the little tips she gave me really suprised me that worked; I switched to Aurifil thread. It's 2 ply. You wouldn't think that wouldn't make a difference but it does. My first blocks were suppose to be 6in and when you have all of those seems going across the block. I also square each section as I go. She's great as she lets us know what each section should be so that we can so that as we assemble the block. I also use less than 1/4 in seems because I need that extra allownance. I love the quilt but even after 3 yrs I still have trouble getting them to come out to size. You could just make them all 18 instead of 18.5

Well, I made a second one and then the 12 inch one. I reduced all the seam allowances to a shade less than 1/4 inch and went back to the foot that has the edge guide. I also made the corner triangles bigger and trimmed down to size. Thankfully a lot better than the first one.

Then I started the four month 2 blocks. I am getting a real lesson in half square triangles. I start them at 3.5 instead of 3 3/8 inches and trim down. Worked very well. So I am on a roll. Every one of the blocks is going to be scrappy so it will certainly be different from the cover.

I found the pattern for $12 at a garage sale and they thought it only had 11 patterns. The missing one was under the cover photo so the pattern was complete.