Great start. It is turning out really nice.

I love Bright and Colorful! This does both so well!

I love it!

Coming along nicely! Very colorful! :)

Looking great - love this pattern for feedsack fabric.

That is going to be beautiful!!

Looks bright and cheerful. Keep up the good work!

I love it. I could never match everything up like that, but it's so cheerful!

Thanks everyone so much! This is going quicker than I thought! I got 46 blocks sewn together last night! Will show a few pics I took too. I made 5 9P units from this! I had 18 loose ones already done so that makes 7 blocks! It will be set 5 bl. x 6 bl. for 30 9P units!

Some of you have commented you could NEVER do this! Well, let me tell you how I did it and maybe that will help you! YES! You CAN do this!

HERE'S A MINI TUT FOR YA!:

1) I assemble all the blocks into a 9P unit. Then all the 9P units are easy to put together. You will have a choice of 2 directions when joining the 9P units. (either one way or its opposite side because of the criss-crossing). My color focus is on at least 6 of the 9 blocks being med. or dark colors. I want no more than 3 lights in a 9P unit. However, my color focus in this quilt are deep reds, blues and purples. Everything else are scraps to be used up and are dull fabrics. Yes, you need dull and brights together! Yes, you need lively prints to keep it interesting! Put at least 2 lively blocks in your 9P units!
2) I pay NO attention to which strips go with which squares only that the strips are all different fabrics with a few repeats of the strips through the quilt.
3) Focus on the blocks and not on the strips when joining it together. You will have a random look in the end by the way you put your 9P units together. Wherever darks are congregated, make sure you have a light print that will highlight your dark area in your next 9P unit. Take a close look at my quilt so far and you will see how I used certain 'light' fabrics to 'highlight' an area. Be selective in your light prints that they will do the job you want!
4) Cut all your squares in half first, join it to a light print for the darks and a dark print for the lights. There is no need to pay attn. to colors. It's all about contrast in this quilt. The colors will happen automatically if you follow some simple rules.
5) I found the easiest way to sew the blocks is to chainsew the HST's and strips and laying the 2nd HST in a pile of one on top of each other. Don't cut them apart at this point. Leave your web intact and start adding the last HST until the whole web is done. You will then have them all webbed together and only need to cut them apart one time! Square them up and you are done!
6) When sewing the HST's together, make sure you offset the 2nd one a little bit so that you get a perfect 3" square! You can either start sewing it above the previous HST or below it. This is an important step as the blocks come together easily when they are all exactly 3".
I wanted to use up feedsack prints that were cut at 3" and this pattern helps to showcase the feedsack print alot! I'll show you a pic of 2 of the feedsack prints as I know some would never recognize them unless pointed out.
Also, I show a few pics where it's not matched very well, but you will find that it is ok to be off a little on these strips. Two pics show that and one pic shows a perfect match. The overall general impression is that they will all look like they are matched very well even if you miss it by 1/8" or more. It's a scrap quilt so I am not too concerned about the exactness of these strips. Btw, the strips are cut 1x5 for the 3" block and they are cut 3/4" for the 2.5" block. I made a 2.5 block last night to see how they would look and they worked great at those sizes. They will then finish at 2"!!! My quilt blocks are finishing at 2.5"!
I hope this helps whoever may need it! Just grab those strings (we all have them) and use them up. Make a pile of darks and lights and pair them up with some lively HST's!
I also show a pic of what my block looks like before trimming to 3". Hope yours turns out great! It is a fun block to really amplify some beautiful fabrics! Have fun with it and don't say you can't do it! I just made it easy for you but telling you all my tricks!


Yes, carolynjo, you CAN do this! We are looking forward to seeing your quilt! :thumbup:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]362029[/ATTACH]Here's what I did last night all webbed together[ATTACH=CONFIG]362030[/ATTACH] See how little waste there is in trimming these to 3"[ATTACH=CONFIG]362031[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]362031[/ATTACH] These 4 don't match well[ATTACH=CONFIG]362032[/ATTACH] it's ok if they don't meet well (as long as it's close)[ATTACH=CONFIG]362033[/ATTACH] these meet right!![ATTACH=CONFIG]362034[/ATTACH] the pink and white blocks are both feedsacks [ATTACH=CONFIG]362035[/ATTACH] A polar bear showed up last night in this one![ATTACH=CONFIG]362036[/ATTACH] 5 more 9P units were added to the right side!!

thanks for the mni-tut!